Lay Lady Lay
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Lay Lady Lay" is a song written by Bob Dylan and originally released in 1969 on his Nashville Skyline album. The words of the song are sung by Dylan in a low, soft-sounding voice instead of his familiar high-pitched nasal-sounding voice. Dylan credited his "new" voice to quitting smoking before recording the song, but some unreleased bootleg tapes from the early '60s reveal that this was an aspect of his vocal persona that he had actually possessed since at least that time. Released as a single in July of 1969, it became one of Dylan's biggest US Pop chart hits, peaking at number seven. The single did even better on the UK Singles Chart, reaching the number five spot. It is often performed live by Dylan, and was included on the Hard Rain and Before the Flood albums.
The song was originally written for the soundtrack of the movie Midnight Cowboy, but wasn't submitted in time to make the final cut.
Phil Everly of the Everly Brothers has been quoted that Dylan offered them the song to record in the following way. The Everlys were appearing at the Bottom Line in New York, and after the show, Dylan went backstage to visit with them. Phil asked if Bob had any new songs they might record, and he said yes, there was one they could have. He picked up a guitar and sang, but so quietly that the Everlys could not clearly make out all the words, and thought they heard "lay lady lay, lay across my big breasts, babe." Thinking it was a song about lesbians, Don Everly said "thank you, it's a great song, but I don't think we could get away with that", and declined to record it. Dylan did not question them about it and went on to cut the track himself. Months later, they heard Dylan's version on the radio and realized they'd misunderstood the words. The Everlys felt they'd missed a big opportunity and later recorded the song on their album, "EB 84".
Dozens of other cover versions of the song have been recorded by numerous performers, including:
- The Byrds, on a 1969 single
- Made In Sweden, on the 1969 album Snakes In A Hole
- Cher, on the 1969 album 3614 Jackson Highway
- Ben E. King, on the 1970 album Rough Edges
- The Isley Brothers, on the 1971 album Givin' It Back
- Della Reese, on the 1973 album Let Me In Your Life
- Neil Diamond, on the 1978 album Stages: Performances 1970-2002
- Everly Brothers, on the 1984 album EB 84
- Richie Havens, on the 1986 album Sings Beatles and Dylan
- Booker T. & the MG's, on the 1992 album Time Is Tight
- Duran Duran, on the 1995 album Thank You
- Ministry, on the 1996 album Filth Pig
- Isaac Hayes, on the 1999 album Tangled Up In Blues: Songs Of Bob Dylan
- Steve Howe, on the 1999 album Portraits of Bob Dylan
- Eddie and Ernie, on the 2002 album Lost Friends
- Cassandra Wilson, on the 2003 album Glamoured
- US Maple, on the 2003 album "Purple on Time"
- Magnet and Gemma Hayes, on the 2003 album On Your Side, also featured in the 2005 film Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
- Buddy Guy (featuring Anthony Hamilton), on the 2005 album Bring 'Em In
- Maria Muldaur, on the 2006 album Heart of Mine: Love Songs of Bob Dylan
- Sparta on a tribute album entitled "My Favorite Song Writers"
- Deana Carter, on the 2007 album The Chain
