Nothing Was Delivered

"Nothing Was Delivered" has country music elements, as do other Basement Tapes songs.^[1] Several authors, including Rolling Stone writer Greil Marcus, have suggested that the song is based on Fats Domino's 1940 standard "Blueberry Hill."^[2][3] But critic Clinton Heylin has suggested that the melody may have been conceived spontaneously by Dylan or else based on a country music riff he may have heard sometime earlier.^[4]

A straightforward interpretation suggests that the lyrics describe a failed deal, possibly a drug deal, in which the promised goods were not delivered.^[2][1] An alternative interpretation is that the song is addressing politicians, or society's elites in general, who lie and don't deliver what they promise and are thus asked in the song to return what they have taken and explain their actions.^[1][3] Oliver Trager suggests a possible religious interpretation; that the singer is a preacher asking a church congregation to forgive an unspecified betrayal, perhaps even that of Judas Iscariot.^[2]

Music critic Robert Shelton considered the song as one of several of Dylan's songs from this period whose theme is the search for salvation.^[5] He also noted that it is one of several songs from the period that makes prominent use of the word "nothing" or "nowhere".^[5] He suggests a possible influence from King Lear, where these words also are used to great effect.^[5] Shelton also points out that the word "nothing" "echoes the artists dilemma: death versus life, vacuum versus harvest, isolation versus people, silence versus sound, the void versus life-impulse".^[5]

Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon describe the lyrics as dark and threatening.^[1] But Andy Gill describes the lyrics as "more sad than angry" about the betrayal, particularly the last line of the refrain, "Take care of yourself and get plenty of rest," which he describes as being an ambivalent expression suggesting both a threat and a caring farewell.^[3]

Dylan and the Band recorded multiple versions of "Nothing Was Delivered" between September and October 1967 at the "Big Pink" house they were using in West Saugerties, New York.^[4][6] Two complete versions are known to exist as well as one fragment.^[4][6] The first version, which Heylin regards as more successful, was used for The Basement Tapes.^[4] This version begins with Richard Manuel playing on the piano.^[1] Dylan plays a 12-string guitar on this version.^[1] The other musicians are Robbie Robertson on guitar, Garth Hudson on organ, and Rick Danko on bass guitar, and Manuel and Danko provide backup vocals.^[1] Margotin and Guesdon note that the contrast between the heavy, threatening lyrics and light music is a key element of the song, and point out that Dylan has used a similar contrast in other songs on The Basement Tapes, such as "You Ain't Going Nowhere."^[1] Gill describes Dylan's vocal and Robertson's guitar being "of a piece, dramatic and intimate as if sharing confidences" about the incident described in the lyrics.^[3]

The two complete versions do not include drums.^[3][4][6] Levon Helm, the Band drummer who temporarily left the group earlier, stated in his autobiography that he played the drums for a recording of this song.^[4][6] The fragmentary version does include drums, but Heylin has suggested that this sounds more like Manuel's drumming style.^[6] He has suggested that this may mean that the Band may have recorded another version for possible inclusion on their own album.^[6]