View source for Not Dark Yet

{{Short description|1997 single by Bob Dylan}}
{{About|the Bob Dylan song|the David Walker book|Not Dark Yet: A Personal History|the Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer album|Not Dark Yet (album)}}
{{Infobox song
| name       = Not Dark Yet
| cover      = Bob Dylan-Not Dark Yet.jpg
| alt        =
| type       = single
| artist     = [[Bob Dylan]]
| album      = [[Time Out of Mind (Bob Dylan album)|Time Out of Mind]]
| released   = August 25, 1997
| recorded   = January 1997
| studio     = [[Criteria Studios]] (Miami, FL)
| genre      = [[Rock music|Rock]]
| length     = 6:29
| label      = [[Columbia Records|Columbia]]
| writer     = [[Bob Dylan]]
| producer   = [[Daniel Lanois]]
| prev_title = [[Dignity (Bob Dylan song)|Dignity]]
| prev_year  = 1995
| next_title = [[Love Sick (Bob Dylan song)|Love Sick]]
| next_year  = 1998
| misc       = {{Extra track listing
 | album  = [[Time Out of Mind (Bob Dylan album)|Time Out of Mind]]
 | type   = studio
 | tracks = {{Time Out of Mind tracks}}
}}
{{Audio sample
 | type        = single
 | file        = Bob Dylan-Not Dark Yet.ogg
 | description = "Not Dark Yet"
}}
}}
"'''Not Dark Yet'''" is a song by [[Bob Dylan]], recorded in January 1997 and released in September that year as the seventh track on his album ''[[Time Out of Mind (Bob Dylan album)|Time Out of Mind]].'' It was also released as a single on August 25, 1997 and later anthologized on the compilation albums ''[[The Essential Bob Dylan]]'' in 2000,<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Essential Bob Dylan {{!}} The Official Bob Dylan Site|url=http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/essential-bob-dylan/|access-date=2021-03-10|website=www.bobdylan.com}}</ref> ''[[The Best of Bob Dylan]]'' in 2005<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Best of Bob Dylan {{!}} The Official Bob Dylan Site|url=http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/the-best-of-bob-dylan/|access-date=2021-03-10|website=www.bobdylan.com}}</ref> and [[Dylan (2007 album)|''Dylan'']] in 2007.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Dylan {{!}} The Official Bob Dylan Site|url=http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/dylan/|access-date=2021-03-10|website=www.bobdylan.com}}</ref> The song was produced by [[Daniel Lanois]].

==Recording==
''"''Not Dark Yet''"'' was recorded in the early sessions for [[Time Out of Mind (Bob Dylan album)|''Time Out of Mind'']] in a version that featured "a radically different feel", according to [[Daniel Lanois]]. "[The demo of 'Not Dark Yet'] was quicker and more stripped-down and [later during the formal studio sessions], he changed it into a civil war ballad".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jackson|first=Joe (1997)|title=The Dylan Companion|publisher=Da Capo Press, 2001|isbn=0-306-80968-0|pages=[https://archive.org/details/dylancompanion0000unse/page/306 306–09]|chapter=Ruminations on Mortality|date=20 April 2001 }}</ref>

In their book ''Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track'', authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon describe the album version, recorded at [[Criteria Studios]] in Miami in early 1997, as one where Lanois "uses multiple instruments to fuel a sonic vision that he alone has the talent and skill to create. All the musicians contribute to this sound: [[Augie Meyers]]'s organ is scored; the two drummers provide a heavy, haunting tempo; and [[Tony Garnier (musician)|Tony Garnier]] on bass moves in the depths of the sound spectrum. The guitars confer a rock-music atmosphere on the piece, but also contribute to its dreamlike ambience. Dylan delivers one of his best vocal performances on the album, touched with sincerity and resignation".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Margotin, Philippe|title=Bob Dylan : all the songs: the story behind every track|author2=Guesdon, Jean-Michel|date=27 October 2015|isbn=978-1-57912-985-9|edition=First|location=New York|oclc=869908038}}</ref>

==Critical reception==
"Not Dark Yet" received widespread acclaim upon its release in 1997 with many critics citing it as the highlight of [[Time Out of Mind (Bob Dylan album)|''Time Out of Mind'']]. The refrain "It's not dark yet but it's getting there" is often interpreted as [[Bob Dylan]], or at least the song's first-person narrator, confronting his mortality.

Gilbert Cruz, writing in a [[Time (magazine)|''Time magazine'']] article about "The 10 Best Bob Dylan Songs", termed it "a moving end-of-life song written and sung by an aging artist who has somehow managed to remain vital".<ref>{{Cite magazine|last=Cruz|first=Gilbert|date=2011-05-19|title='Not Dark Yet'|language=en-US|magazine=Time|url=https://entertainment.time.com/2011/05/23/the-10-best-bob-dylan-songs/|access-date=2020-12-14|issn=0040-781X}}</ref>

''[[Rolling Stone]]'' ranked it 50th on a 2015 list of "The 100 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs", calling it "hauntingly beautiful" and noting that Dylan sang the lyric in "the weary and weathered voice of a man facing the twilight of his life".<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=2020-05-24|title=100 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-bob-dylan-songs-65159/|access-date=2020-12-14|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}}</ref>

In the "Fortitude" chapter of his book ''[[Dylan's Visions of Sin]]'', literary scholar [[Christopher Ricks]] wrote a lengthy analysis in which he compared the song to the [[John Keats]] poem "[[Ode to a Nightingale|Ode on a Grecian Urn]]", whose narrator is likewise "half in love with easeful Death". Ricks claims that, broken down line for line, "similar turns of phrase, figures of speech, [and] felicities of rhyming" can be found throughout "Not Dark Yet" and the ''Ode''. Ricks also argues that "there is a strong affinity with Keats in the way that in the song ''night'' colours, darkens, the whole atmosphere while never being spoken of", just as Keats used ''winter'' to color and darken the atmosphere in another poem he wrote, ''To Autumn''. "Dylan's refrain or burden is 'It's not dark yet, but it's getting there'. He bears it and bares it beautifully, with exquisite precision of voice, dry humour, and resilience, all these in the cause of fortitude at life's going to be brought to an end by death".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ricks|first=Christopher|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/54611300|title=Dylan's visions of sin|date=2004|publisher=Ecco|isbn=0-06-059923-5|edition=1st American|location=New York|oclc=54611300}}</ref>

''Spectrum Culture'' included the song on a list of "Bob Dylan's 20 Best Songs of the 90s". In an article accompanying the list, critic Peter Tabakis wrote, "The song’s languid, fatalistic beauty no doubt makes it his most beguiling composition since '[[Blind Willie McTell (song)|Blind Willie McTell]]'. Regret saturates every raspy couplet. Cynicism pervades this reflexive evaluation of a life lived. The Reaper’s a knock, knock, knockin’ on his front door." Yet Tabakis, writing in 2020, also noted that, in spite of the song's despairing tone, it provides catharsis: “'Not Dark Yet' offers succor, something like homeopathic medicine. There’s a reason many of us rushed to revisit [[Steven Soderbergh|Soderbergh]]’s [[Contagion (2011 film)|''Contagion'']] when a real-life pandemic broke out earlier this year. That impulse goes straight back to [[Ancient Greece]], to the birth of tragedy – ''catharsis''. On 'Not Dark Yet', Dylan is at once our [[Aeschylus]] and [[Agamemnon]], the tragedian and tragic hero. Bad shit may be timeless, but reality can, by contrast, be a little bit better than fiction. Cold comfort. And comforting, nonetheless".<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-10-16|title=Bob Dylan's 20 Best Songs of the '90s|url=https://spectrumculture.com/2020/10/15/bob-dylans-20-best-songs-of-the-90s/|access-date=2021-05-01|website=Spectrum Culture|language=en-US}}</ref>

''Ultimate Classic Rock'' critic Matthew Wilkening rated "Not Dark Yet" as the 3rd best song Dylan recorded between 1992 and 2011, praising it as "a stately, surprisingly clear-sung accounting of a painful life from a man who sees the end closing in on him".<ref name=ucr>{{cite web|title=Top 10 Bob Dylan songs of the last 20 years (1992-2011)|author=Wilkening, Matthew|date=May 24, 2011|accessdate=2023-01-10|publisher=Ultimate Classic Rock|url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/top-bob-dylan-songs-last-20-years/}}</ref>

A 2021 [[The Guardian|''Guardian'']] article included it on a list of "80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know".<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-05-22|title=Beyond Mr Tambourine Man: 80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/may/22/beyond-mr-tambourine-man-80-bob-dylan-songs-everyone-should-know|access-date=2021-05-22|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref>

==Music video==
An official music video for the song, directed by Michael B. Borofsky, was filmed in [[Memphis, Tennessee]], in October 1997. The video juxtaposes both color and black-and-white footage of Dylan and his band (including [[Larry Campbell (musician)|Larry Campbell]] on electric guitar and [[Bucky Baxter]] on pedal steel guitar), performing the song on stage at the New Daisy Theatre on [[Beale Street]], with black-and-white footage of the city outside.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Dylan|first=Bob|title=Not Dark Yet|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZgBhyU4IvQ|via=YouTube}}</ref> The video was released in March 1998, the month after [[Time Out of Mind (Bob Dylan album)|''Time Out of Mind'']] won three [[Grammy Award]]s including one for [[Grammy Award for Album of the Year|Album of the Year]]. Another music video was shot for the song "[[Love Sick (Bob Dylan song)|Love Sick]]" at the same location on the same day, featuring Dylan and model Rachel DiPaolo, but it has never been released.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bob Dylan - Expecting Rain - News Items|url=https://expectingrain.com/newsitems.html|access-date=2021-03-01|website=expectingrain.com}}</ref>

==Cultural references==
The line "She wrote me a letter and she wrote it so kind" is a quote from the traditional folk song "Red River Shore".<ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-04-20|title=It's Not Dark Yet: Bob Dylan And Existentialism {{!}} Untold Dylan|url=https://bob-dylan.org.uk/archives/4291|access-date=2021-10-21|language=en-GB}}</ref>

The line "I was born here and I'll die here against my will" is a paraphrase of a [[Talmud|Talmudic]] passage from the [[Pirkei Avot|Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers)]], Chapter 4, verse 22: "Let not your heart convince you that the grave is your escape; for against your will you are formed, against your will you are born, against your will you live, against your will you die, and against your will you are destined to give a judgement and accounting before the king, king of all kings, the Holy One, blessed be He".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ethics of the Fathers: Chapter Four|url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2032/jewish/Chapter-Four.htm|website=Chabad.org}}</ref>

== Other versions ==
''[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 17: Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996–1997)|The Bootleg Series Vol. 17: Fragments - Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996–1997)]]'', released on January 27, 2023, contains a version of the original album track remixed by Michael Brauer as well as two studio outtakes of the song and a live version from 2000.<ref>{{cite web |last=Murray |first=Robin |date=2022-11-17 |title=Bob Dylan Announces 'Fragments - Time Out Of Mind Sessions' {{!}} News |url=https://www.clashmusic.com/news/bob-dylan-announces-fragments-time-out-of-mind-sessions/ |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews }}</ref> On January 11, 2023, Dylan released a new video of one of the outtakes, in which the song is accompanied by a montage of archival photographs, to promote the album's release.<ref>{{Citation |title=Bob Dylan - Not Dark Yet (Version 1) |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t2su8xEDEU |language=en |access-date=2023-01-11}}</ref>

==Live versions==
Dylan has played the song live 191 times on the [[Never Ending Tour]] between 1997 and 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Bob Dylan Tour Statistics|url=https://www.setlist.fm/stats/bob-dylan-1bd6adb8.html|access-date=2021-03-24|website=setlist.fm}}</ref> Dylan performed the song with [[Eric Clapton]] at [[Madison Square Garden]] in [[New York City]] on June 30 in 1999 at a benefit for the [[Crossroads Centre]] in [[Antigua]], a concert that was later broadcast on television and released on home video.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Crossroads Concert 1999|url=https://www.whereseric.com/the-vault/concert-information/crossroads-concert-1999|website=Where's Eric!}}</ref> A live version from September 22, 2000, performed in Sheffield, England, is included on ''[[The Bootleg Series Vol. 17: Fragments - Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996–1997)]]''.<ref>{{cite web |last=Murray |first=Robin |date=2022-11-17 |title=Bob Dylan Announces 'Fragments - Time Out Of Mind Sessions' {{!}} News |url=https://www.clashmusic.com/news/bob-dylan-announces-fragments-time-out-of-mind-sessions/ |access-date=2023-01-11 |website=Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews }}</ref> The song's live debut occurred at the [[Columbus Civic Center]] in [[Columbus, Georgia]] on October 30, 1997, and the last performance (to date) took place at [[The Anthem (music venue)|The Anthem]] in Washington, D.C., on December 8, 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Setlists|url=http://www.bobdylan.com/setlists/?id_song=26423|access-date=2021-05-29|website=bobdylan.com}}</ref>

==Cover versions==
"Not Dark Yet" has been covered by many artists. Among the most notable covers: 

* [[Robyn Hitchcock]] covered it for his 2002 album of Dylan covers ''[[Robyn Sings]]''
* [[Barb Jungr]] for her 2002 album ''[[Every Grain of Sand: Barb Jungr Sings Bob Dylan]]''  
* [[Julie Felix]] for her 2002 album ''Starry Eyed and Laughing''  
* [[Kirsti Huke]] for her 2007 album ''Deloo''  
* [[Jimmy LaFave]] for his 2007 album ''[[Cimarron Manifesto]]''  
* [[Eric Clapton]] played it live during his 2009 Ireland/UK tour<ref>{{Cite web|title=Not Dark Yet VI: the music and the covers {{!}} Untold Dylan|date=20 May 2020 |url=https://bob-dylan.org.uk/archives/14754|access-date=2021-03-15|language=en-GB}}</ref>
* [[Silversun Pickups]] for the ''[[Chimes of Freedom: Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International|Chimes of Freedom]]'' compilation in 2012  
* [[Trey Gunn]] for his 2015 album ''The Waters, They Are Rising''  
* [[Ruby Amanfu]] for her 2015 album ''Standing Still'', which takes its title from a phrase in the song  
* [[Allison Moorer]] and [[Shelby Lynne]] for their 2017 collaborative album ''[[Not Dark Yet (album)|Not Dark Yet]]'', which takes its title from the song<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cmt.com/news/1781782/shelby-lynne-and-allison-moorers-not-dark-yet-arrives-aug-18/ |title=Shelby Lynne and Allison Moorer's ''Not Dark Yet'' Arrives Aug. 18 |publisher=CMT |access-date=2017-05-27 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525224318/http://www.cmt.com/news/1781782/shelby-lynne-and-allison-moorers-not-dark-yet-arrives-aug-18/ |archive-date=2017-05-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref>  
* [[Calum Scott]] for his 2018 album [[Only Human (Calum Scott album)|''Only Human'']]  
* [[Lucinda Williams]] for her 2020 live album ''Lu's Jukebox Vol. 3 - Bob's Back Pages: A Night Of Bob Dylan Songs''
* [[Tom Jones (singer)|Tom Jones]] for the expanded edition of his 2021 album ''[[Surrounded by Time]]''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Sexton |first=Paul |date=19 October 2021 |title=Listen To Tom Jones Sing Bob Dylan's 'Not Dark Yet' From Expanded 'Surrounded By Time' |url=https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/listen-tom-jones-sing-bob-150929285.html |access-date=21 October 2021 |website=[[uDiscover Music]]}}</ref>
* [[Dave Gahan]] & [[Soulsavers]] for their 2021 album ''[[Imposter (album)|Imposter]]''

==Inclusion on soundtracks==
"Not Dark Yet" has been prominently featured on the soundtracks of many films and television shows, including ''[[Wonder Boys (film)|Wonder Boys]]'', ''The Passion of the Christ: Songs Inspired by The Passion of the Christ'',<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-passion-of-the-christ-songs-inspired-by-the-passion-of-the-christ-mw0000330243 | title=Various Artists: The Passion of the Christ: Songs Inspired by The Passion of the Christ | publisher=[[AllMusic]] | access-date=October 4, 2013 | author=Jurek, Thom}}</ref> ''[[Why We Fight (2005 film)|Why We Fight]],'' the Dylan-starring ''[[Masked and Anonymous]]'',<ref>{{Cite web |last=Wright |first=Brett |date=2022-03-14 |title=Injuring Eternity: 'Masked and Anonymous' (2003), or Bob Dylan's Masquerade |url=https://www.splittoothmedia.com/masked-and-anonymous-bob-dylan/ |access-date=2023-09-22 |website=Split Tooth Media |language=en-US}}</ref> ''[[Life Itself (2018 film)|Life Itself]]'', the [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]] series ''[[Californication (TV series)|Californication]]'' (Season 3, Episode 3),  ''[[Deadwood (TV series)|Deadwood]]'' (Season 2 premiere "A Lie Agreed Upon, Part 1"), ''[[After Life (TV series)|After Life]]'' (Season 3, Episode 2),<ref>{{Cite web|title=Listen to Bob Dylan's 'Not Dark Yet' from After Life, Season 3, Episode 2|url=https://leosigh.com/listen-to-bob-dylans-not-dark-yet-from-after-life-season-3-episode-2/|access-date=2022-01-18|website=Leo Sigh|date=18 January 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref> ''[[Henry Poole Is Here]], [[Knockaround Guys]],'' and [[Richard Linklater]]'s ''[[Last Flag Flying]],'' where the song plays in its entirety over the closing credits.<ref>{{Cite web |title='Last Flag Flying': Richard Linklater Takes A Bittersweet Road Trip |url=https://theplaylist.net/last-flag-flying-review-20170928/ |access-date=2023-09-22 |website=theplaylist.net}}</ref> "Not Dark Yet" played on the soundtrack of the opening of Episode 2, Season 3 of ''After Life''.<ref>''After Life'' Soundtrack, Season 3, E2, 14 January 2022[https://www.tunefind.com/show/after-life/season-3/115290]</ref>

==Track listings for CD singles==
'''CD (COL 665443 2):'''
# "Not Dark Yet" – 6:29
# "[[Tombstone Blues]]" (Live) – 6:26
# "[[Ballad of a Thin Man]]" (Live) – 8:47
# "[[Boots of Spanish Leather]]" (Live) – 6:35

'''2-track CD (COL 665443 1):'''
# "Not Dark Yet" – 6:29
# "Tombstone Blues" (Live) – 6:26

'''''Not Dark Yet: Dylan Alive Vol. 2'' Japanese EP:'''<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.allmusic.com/album/not-dark-yet-live-vol-2-r970415 | title = Bob Dylan: ''Not Yet Dark Live, Vol. 2'' | access-date = 2011-01-29 | publisher = [[AllMusic]]}}</ref>
# "Not Dark Yet" – 6:29
# "Boots of Spanish Leather" (Live) – 6:34
# "[[Tears of Rage]]" (Live) – 7:20
# "[[Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)]]" (Live) – 4:39

==Notes==
* "Tombstone Blues" and "Ballad of a Thin Man" were recorded live at the House of Blues, Atlanta, GA; August 4, 1996.
* "Boots of Spanish Leather" was recorded live at the House of Blues, Atlanta, GA; August 3, 1996.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*{{YouTube|RZgBhyU4IvQ}}
*[http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/not-dark-yet Lyrics] from Bob Dylan's official site

{{Bob Dylan}}
{{Bob Dylan singles}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Not Dark Yet}}
[[Category:1997 singles]]
[[Category:Bob Dylan songs]]
[[Category:Columbia Records singles]]
[[Category:Song recordings produced by Daniel Lanois]]
[[Category:Songs written by Bob Dylan]]