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<h1>Simple Twist of Fate</h1><p>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia</p><p><br></p><p>"<strong>Simple Twist of Fate</strong>", a song by American singer-songwriter <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Dylan" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bob Dylan</a>, was recorded on September 19, 1974, and was released in 1975 as the second song on his 15th studio album <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_on_the_Tracks" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Blood on the Tracks</em></a>.</p><h2>Background and composition</h2><p>"Simple Twist of Fate" is a narrative song about a romantic relationship destined not to work out. It is unusual in that it begins in the third person before shifting into the first.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Twist_of_Fate#cite_note-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[2]</a> The song has been interpreted variously as being inspired by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suze_Rotolo" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Suze Rotolo</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Baez" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Joan Baez</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sara_Dylan" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Sara Dylan</a>.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Twist_of_Fate#cite_note-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[3]</a> Dylan has continually revised the lyrics in live performance over the decades (through to its most recent outing in 2021 on the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rough_and_Rowdy_Ways_World_Wide_Tour" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour</a>).<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Twist_of_Fate#cite_note-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[4]</a></p><p>The song was written in the key of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E_major" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">E major</a> and features a descending melody line, with a chord structure almost identical to the verses of "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can%27t_Take_My_Eyes_Off_You" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Can't Take My Eyes Off You</a>", <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankie_Valli" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Frankie Valli</a>'s 1967 hit by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Crewe" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bob Crewe</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Gaudio" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Bob Gaudio</a>. Dylan scholar Jochen Markhorst has described as "brilliant" the purposeful way Dylan fused the music to the lyrics: "It gives a magical sparkle to the rhyme scheme that on paper almost looks like an everyday rhyme (a a a b b c c). The sparse use of the minor chord is masterful too. Everyone else would, given the melancholic lyrics, play the entire song in minor. Song Maestro Dylan senses that he adds to the fascination when he plays in the major, briefly slipping to minor in every fourth line – when the main character feels alone, when he gets hit by the heat of the night, when he feels empty inside, when he is despairing if she would ever pick him again".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Twist_of_Fate#cite_note-5" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[5]</a></p><h2>Critical reception and legacy</h2><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_Stone" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Rolling Stone</em></a> magazine ranked the song 15th on a list of the "100 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs". An article accompanying the list calls it a look "at an idyllic relationship that fell apart for reasons neither party can control" from the point-of-view of a narrator who "has moved on to meaningless one-night stands".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Twist_of_Fate#cite_note-6" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[6]</a></p><p><em>Spectrum Culture</em> included the song on a list of "Bob Dylan's 20 Greatest Songs of the 1970s". In an article accompanying the list, critic notes that it "could easily be a short story" and praises the poetic detail of the lyrics: "The world feels real, immersive, and it is filled with rich details—the 'neon burning bright', the saxophone and the 'ticking of the clocks'. Yet it may be the more abstract lines that hold the most weight. When the character wakes up alone, he feels 'an emptiness inside' to which he cannot relate. It’s one thing to feel empty; it’s another to be estranged from your own emptiness".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Twist_of_Fate#cite_note-7" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[7]</a></p><p>A 2021 article in the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_Independent" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Irish Independent</em></a> named it one of the "all-time top 10 tracks by Bob Dylan", summarizing it as "a man's life in a song".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Twist_of_Fate#cite_note-8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[8]</a> A 2021 <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Guardian</em></a> article included it on a list of "80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Twist_of_Fate#cite_note-9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[9]</a></p><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stereogum" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Stereogum</em></a> ran an article to coincide with Dylan's 80th birthday on May 24, 2021 in which 80 musicians were asked to name their favorite Dylan songs. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R%C3%B3is%C3%ADn_Murphy" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Róisín Murphy</a> selected "Simple Twist of Fate", noting "When he says, 'I was born too late' at the end — you’re thinking about the open windows earlier and wondering if he’s going to throw himself out the window. You don’t know if he’s killed himself or anything at the end. It’s a lovely, bouncy pop song with great equilibrium. You can sing it a cappella, and it bounces around as well — you’d have the whole room jumping. That’s the mark of something rare. His voice is so true to him in that time, but it’s also universal. It’s a great all-rounder for me, his greatest one. It’s absolute perfection".<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simple_Twist_of_Fate#cite_note-10" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">^[10]</a></p>