“Lay Lady Lay” was Bob Dylan’s fourth and final top ten single, and it’s today’s classic song of the day. Released in July of 1969, “Lay Lady Lay” peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, #8 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #19 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart.
Bob Dylan included “Lay Lady Lay” on his country-flavored 1969 album, Nashville Skyline. He originally wrote it for the movie Midnight Cowboy, but submitted it too late to be included in the film. Or, some reports say, he wrote it as a duet to be sung with Barbra Streisand. Or, other reports report, he wrote it for the Everly Brothers but they either declined it or didn’t know it was written for them. Or, still other reports insist, it was written for Dylan’s wife Sarah. Or maybe all of those are true.
Musically, “Lay Lady Lay” is a pretty simple song. The chords go I – vi – VII – ii — in the key of A, that’s A – C#m – G – Bm. It’s that major chord on the seventh of the scale that’s unusual and gives the song its distinctive flavor. In addition, that progression allows for a descending chromatic line, played on the pedal steel guitar, that goes A – G# – G – F#.
It all comes together to paint a portrait of a man trying to entice a young woman to go to bed with him:
Stay, lady, stay
Stay with your man awhile
Until the break of day
Let me see you make him smile
His clothes are dirty, but his
His hands are clean
And you’re the best thing
That he’s ever seen
Stay, lady, stay
Stay with your man awhile
It’s classic Dylan.
