Blame it on a simple twist of fate

How about some pretentious musical criticism?


Consisting of six seven-line verses, eschewing the all too obvious opportunities for a chorus in favour of an unusual rhyme scheme and repeated titular refrain, “Simple twist of fate” bears all the hallmarks of a Bob Dylan song;
The unusual rhyme scheme of a triplet of lines, followed by two further couplets (A-A-A-B-B-C-C) may seem counter-productive rhythmically, but in fact facilitates the initial descending baseline, giving the song its classic lilting quality.

Lyrically, these opening lines also tend to be more narrative than those more personal ones following, and the addition of the extra third rhyme gives more scope for Dylan’s own brand of storytelling; “He hears the ticking of the clocks/and walks along with a parrot that talks/hunts her down to the waterfront docks...”
With one exception, the opening three lines of all the verses end with long vowel sounds (“park...dark...spark, played...arcade...shade”) which Dylan really exploits with his classic nasal whine, making the whole song sound even more heartfelt and mournful. But surprisingly for a song so steeped in ostensibly melancholy emotion, there’s only one minor chord in each verse, as it moves from A major to A minor in the middle of the fifth line. This progression with the same root note makes for a particularly haunting change, as emphasised by the lyrics of uncertainty, loneliness and possibility which accompany it – “’twas then he felt alone.....felt an emptiness inside...maybe she’ll pick him out again.”

As with all Dylan songs though, it is lyrically where it gets really interesting. Set in the context of the rest of Blood on the Tracks, with its intensely personal, autobiographical songs like “Idiot Wind” and “You’re a Big Girl Now” it is easy to read “Simple Twist of Fate” as a commentary on missed opportunities, highlighting regrets over his family life and marriage breakdown. There is certainly something in this, with plenty of doubt and insecurity – “he wished that he’d gone straight/and watched out for a simple twist of fate.” But it’s interesting to note that only the very final verse is written in the first person; perhaps any analysis of what the song is really about should be focussed here.

There is certainly a feeling in the last verse of more conviction (“i still believe she was my twin...”) perhaps an attempt at resolution and mutual solidarity, but inevitably the disenchantment evident throughout the song wins over, and his despair is clear in the final lines – “but i was born too late/blame it on a simple twist of fate...”)

A chance meeting with a prostitute has been mooted as a possible inspiration for the song, and whether genuine or imagined, she would certainly fit perfectly with the characters of the song – the disillusioned and downtrodden members of society which have held a constant fascination for Dylan over the years. Here, a blind man begs, sailors disembark, and a man has an unhappy love affair. Dylan has consciously removed himself from all but the climax of the song, but this in no way prevents the intimacy which pervades all four beautiful minutes, from the gently wistful opening (“they sat together in the park/as the evening sky grew dark...”) to the tragically understated “he felt an emptiness inside/to which he just could not relate...”
Even the title is slightly contrary – the intriguing “twist” and the juxtaposition of “simple” with the idea of fate, which is anything but. This is by no means classic Dylan; gone are the veiled social comments and tenuous biblical references, but instead we hear a song from as close to his heart as he ever gets – a touching reminder that this master songwriter is human after all.