A song which could have been a mighty hit for Bob Dylan is instead discarded. Left to rot alongside the likes of Am I Your Stepchild?, another song with classic written all over it yet still abandoned, this Shot of Love outtake, I Want You to Know I Love You, is mesmerising. Much of the written works Dylan put out during the late 1970s and early 1980s were, and so too was the material tucked away, hidden in some archival drawer. But the hunger from feral, modern-day fans who can access almost every and any show by raking through the Dylan-themed bins of the internet, are in luck. Most of these songs crop up on YouTube in one form or another. I Want You to Know I Love You is a rarity, an odd little song from a period when Dylan believed he had captured the essence of gospel music.
What he had done instead was challenge himself and listeners with his studio outputs. Each release beckoned a new horror, be it a sonic representation of Dire Straits’ Money for Nothing music video with Empire Burlesque or an attack on those with ears with Knocked Out Loaded. Those vapid and nonsensical studio changes were preceded, however, by a selection of songs worthy of proper release. Dylan is no stranger to sacrificing this song or that album, for he is already ahead of what was popular. It means hindsight is a major player in these releases. Returning to them, once the albums have grown on you, even when disliked at first, is part of the experience. Keep telling yourself that enough, and you, too, can find something to love about Down in the Groove. All that to say I Want You to Know I Love You is a casualty of the strange and unknowable choices Dylan continually made in the ‘80s.
A Shot of Love song which could have found a nice route from the rocked-out thrills heard on unofficial bootleg Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte to the religious influences heard later, had it ever released. There is a bounciness to this Shot of Love deep cut, an urgency to it which blurs the rock and roll which defined Dylan during the ‘70s with his faith-based gospel adaptations. It is a neat mixture, one which the band are certainly enjoying. More an instrumental piece than anything else, Dylan can barely cut through the roaring, train-like rumble heard from the guitar work here. But that feels intentional, the backing band swelling into some crazed and spirited performance as Dylan sings of home, of faith, naturally. Cut through his muffled stage occasion and you can hear all the usual stop-offs from Dylan.
Perhaps that is why it never made it to a proper release. Hearing “the usual stop-offs” is never a sign of quality. Not from Dylan, anyway. He would continue to push through with fresh ideas of his own, few of them working during this period, but always true to their core and filled with the heart we would expect of a Dylan classic. These may not be the very best in class, but I Want You to Know I Love You has a spirit not to dissimilar to the performances preceding it. The World Tour and Gospel Tour behind it are both examples of where this song could have fit in, but it was not to be. One of the many forbidden fruits of his discography, now free to be munched on as God, and Dylan, are turning a blind eye. Feast upon these creations of Shot of Love, they are worthy of our attention, at least for one listen.
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