Title Fight: "I Don't Believe You"

Detail of a cover illustration by Robert Bonfils for Brant House's Torture Trust, 1966

The definitive song "I Don't Believe You" is probably the one found on Another Side of Bob Dylan. The title of that album refers to Dylan's then new-found interest in personal subject matter in his songs, the first of many perceived betrayals of his fans (who wanted more protest songs, apparently,) and "I Don't Believe You" is a very personal-sounding song. The song's title is appended with a paranthetical "(She Acts Like We Never Have Met)" a lot of places you see it, but my copy of Another Side just calls it "I Don't Believe You", a phrase which actually never appears in the song. The song is a stand-out on an album of classics, notable for its unusual (for Dylan songs of that era) sing-song melody, as well as its little guitar flourishes and a Dylan harmonica solo that's one of my favorites. The song has no true chorus - each stanza ends with the phrase, "She acts like we never met" - and it has some very memorable lyrical phrases, like "From darkness dreams are deserted, am I still dreaming yet" and, "Though her skirt it swayed as a guitar played, her mouth was watery and wet." It's one of my favorites on Another Side, "My Back Pages" being the only song I like better.

I think the Magnetic Fields' "I Don't Believe You" started out in the band's live repetoire in the mid-'90s, and it was a favorite among fans from the start. It was released in 1998 on a 7" single (for Merge, I think) as a three-minute rush of blippy electro-pop (similar in arrangement to 69 Love Songs' "If You Don't Cry") but this limited edition single didn't get heard by many. When the Magnetic Fields were recording their 2004 album i, the song was an obvious choice for re-recording and inclusion. As part of the band's "no-synths" trilogy, "I Don't Believe You" got a very different treatment on i, with an arrangement of piano, cello, and banjo. I actually like this more organic arrangement (and slower tempo) better, although the original single has its charm as well. Interestingly, the solo after the bridge is almost identical in the two versions.

The weakness of the Magnetic Fields' "I Don't Believe You" is that the lyric gets a little too cutesy for me at times. The wordplay is facile and below Stephin Merritt's normally high standards - the reference to Tom Jones's "They Were You" is also a little too wink-wink-nudge-nudge. I'm going to give this one to Dylan on lyrical merit.

Winner: BOB DYLAN

"I Don't Believe You" by Bob Dylan

"I Don't Believe You" by the Magnetic Fields