A few years back I was lucky enough to be invited to participate in Jack Gallagher and Tommy Dunbar's podcast, "5 Songs." At some point during our conversation, I commented that my approach to music was that the best song ever written "was somewhere out there, but I just haven't heard it yet." It's not a perfect comparison, but Bettye Lavette is a good example of that. She's been out there forever, and it wasn't until I saw her 2018 album included in Greil Marcus' "Real Life Rock Top Ten" column that she was introduced to me. That's to my discredit.
The great thing about her song choices on the album is that, with one notable exception, she didn't go for the obvious songs. To be fair, Dylan did win an Oscar for this song, but if you picked out 100 music fans and asked them to write down their Top Ten Dylan songs, I'd hazard a guess that this one wouldn't be on too many lists.
It's also a classic example of an artist, in a cover version, making the song their own. My guess is that Dylan himself prefers this version.
Top 50 Songs of the Decade, #44 - "Things Have Changed," Bettye Lavette.
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