It's All Over Now, Baby Blue

Like "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" and "Positively 4th Street," "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" is one of Dylan's "kiss off" songs, this time sung to someone identified only as "Baby Blue." The song opens with a bitter declaration: You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast By the end of the first verse, however, Dylan's voice lilts in grief and regret: And it's all over now, Baby Blue The entire song oscillates between these emotions of scorn and sadness. The lyrics combine realist and surrealist images seamlessly and contain some of Dylan's best-loved lines: Yonder stands your orphan with his gun Crying like a fire in the sun Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you

Over the years, many critics and historians have made their case for who the "real" Baby Blue was. Folk musicians John Baez, David Blue, and Paul Clayton have all been floated as suspects, but thus far none of it has amounted to much beyond loose conjecture.

The song was recorded for Bringing It All Back Home on January 15, 1965, the same day as "Gates of Eden," "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)," and "Mr. Tambourine Man."