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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/682626b984171d8ea7e1448b2aa75293.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:''"Whatever colours you have in your mind/I'll show them to you and you'll see them shine."'']]
3
4''Nashville Skyline'' is the ninth studio album by Music/BobDylan, released in 1969 through Creator/ColumbiaRecords. A departure from his previous albums, this album sees Dylan dive in head-first into the developing [[CountryMusic country]] rock genre, even singing a duet with Music/JohnnyCash on "Girl From The North Country". Not only that, this album sees a new singing style for Dylan - one that is arguably the most accessible to those who otherwise can't get into Dylan.
5
6Upon release, it was greeted with positive reviews and did very well commercially. "Lay Lady Lay" was a big international hit and "I Threw It All Away" and "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You", while charting low at the time, have remained fan favourites ever since.
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8In a case of WhatCouldHaveBeen "Lay Lady Lay" was originally supposed to appear on the soundtrack of the later Oscar winning film ''Film/MidnightCowboy'' from 1969, but Dylan could not submit it in time to be included in the movie.
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10Outtakes from the album, including an entire session of Dylan[=/=]Cash duets, were released on ''The Bootleg Series Vol. 15--Travelin' Thru'' in 2019.
11
12----
13!! Tracklist:
14[[AC: Side One]]
15# "Girl from the North Country" (3:41)
16# "Nashville Skyline Rag" (3:12)
17# "To Be Alone with You" (2:07)
18# "I Threw It All Away" (2:23)
19# "Peggy Day" (2:01)
20
21[[AC: Side Two]]
22[numlist:6]
23# "Lay Lady Lay" (3:18)
24# "One More Night" (2:23)
25# "Tell Me That It Isn't True" (2:41)
26# "Country Pie" (1:37)
27# "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You" (3:23)
28[/numlist]
29----
30!! I Troped It All Away:
31
32* AddedAlliterativeAppeal: "Lay Lady Lay"
33--> '' '''L'''ay '''L'''ady '''L'''ay, '''L'''ay across my '''b'''ig '''b'''rass '''b'''ed ''
34* AlliterativeTitle: "Lay Lady Lay"
35* BreakupSong:
36** "Peggy Day"
37--> ''Peggy Day stole my poor heart away''
38--> ''Turned my skies to blue from grey''
39** "I Threw It All Away"
40--> ''I once held her in my arms''
41--> ''She said she would always stay''
42--> ''But I was cruel''
43--> ''I treated her like a fool''
44--> ''I threw it all away.''
45** "One More Night"
46--> ''Oh, it's shameful and it's sad''
47--> ''I lost the only pal I had''
48--> ''I just could not be what she wanted me to be''
49* CountryMusic: Dylan already experimented with the genre on ''Music/JohnWesleyHarding'', but here he immerse himself completely in the style.
50* FaceOnTheCover: Dylan posing with his guitar.
51* GodIsLoveSongs: In "To Be Alone With You" Dylan "thanks the Lord when my working day's through/ I get my sweet reward to be alone with you."
52* {{Instrumental}}: "Nashville Skyline Rag", the first instrumental he officially released.
53* IntercourseWithYou: "Lay Lady Lay".
54--> ''Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed''
55--> ''Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead''
56--> ''I long to see you in the morning light''
57--> ''I long to reach for you in the night''
58--> ''Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead.''
59** Actually, most of this album is made of this.
60* LetsDuet: "Girl From The North Country" is a duet between Dylan and Music/JohnnyCash, culled from an entire session they did together singing each other's songs.
61* LongestSongGoesFirst: It's only 3:41, but "Girl From The North Country" counts.
62* MaliciousSlander: "Tell Me That Isn't True"
63--> ''All of those awful things that I have heard''
64--> ''I don't want to believe them, all I want is your word''
65--> ''So darlin' I'm countin' on you''
66--> ''Tell me that it isn't true.''
67* MinisculeRocking: One of only two Dylan albums in which every single song is under four minutes (''Music/NewMorning'' is the other one). "Country Pie" is a little over 90 seconds (but became a live staple for Dylan later in his career), and several others just barely exceed 2:00.
68* NewSoundAlbum: While ''Music/JohnWesleyHarding'' from 1967 sees Dylan dabbling in Country, it is with this album that he fully immerses himself in it. Not to mention his more smooth, accessible singing here.
69* OneSteveLimit: Averted with the album's Bob-filled sessions, as Bob Dylan was joined on piano by Bob Wilson on an album produced by Bob Johnston.
70* OneWomanSong: "Peggy Day".
71* RearrangeTheSong: "Girl From The North Country" originally appeared on ''Music/TheFreewheelinBobDylan''. Here it's redone as a duet with Music/JohnnyCash. It's slowed down and some lyrics get omitted. As the full session tapes show, it was a totally off-the-cuff choice, with June Carter Cash (who was in the studio with them) suggesting the song to Dylan and Cash.
72* ShoutOut:
73** "Girl From The North Country", just like the version on ''Music/TheFreewheelinBobDylan'' borrows a few lines from the song "Scarborough Fair"
74--> ''Remember me to one who lives there''
75--> ''For she was once a true love of mine''
76** "To Be Alone With You" opens with the lyric "Night Time Is The Right Time", which is a reference to the eponymous 1937 blues song by Roosevelt Sykes.
77** "Country Pie" name-drops the nursery rhyme character Little Jack Horner, who eats a Christmas pie in the original song.
78--> ''Little Jack Horner's got nothin' on me''
79--> ''Oh me, oh my''
80--> ''Love that country pie.''
81** Creator/{{Gotlib}} once spoofed the album cover with his character Hamster Jovial. [[https://berichtenuithetverleden.wordpress.com/2012/12/12/gotlib-hamster-jovial-et-ses-louveteaux/]]
82** AlternativeRock band Music/{{Dishwalla}} recorded a song in 2002 called "Nashville Skyline"
83--> ''I am free as far as I can see is Nashville skyline underneath it all''
84--> ''You yourself are free''
85** ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}'' Walt gets angry at a song Jeremy is listening to, resulting in this exchange,
86--> '''Walt:''' Did I hear what I think I just heard?!\
87'''Jeremy:''' Dad, it's just a song lyric.\
88'''Walt:''' Don't give me that! I'm sick of this new music that's [[MoralGuardians nothing but drugs and sex]]!\
89'''Jeremy:''' You mean like, "Lay Lady Lay", "[[Music/SgtPeppersLonelyHeartsClubBand Lucy In The Sky]]", "[[Music/AreYouExperienced Purple Haze]]", "[[Music/StickyFingers Brown Sugar]]"?\
90'''Walt:''' [[MoralMyopia Hey, that's different! Those are classics!]]\
91'''Connie:''' Ouch. Score one for the teenager.
92** In ''Film/LetItBe'' Music/GeorgeHarrison can be seen performing "I Threw It All Away" during the album sessions, which actually predated the ''Nashville Skyline'' sessions (he learned it from Dylan when he spent some time hanging out with him and Music/TheBand in Woodstock in November of '68), but he never recorded it. The song has also been covered by iconic artists such as Music/{{Cher}}, Music/ElvisCostello and Music/YoLaTengo.
93** Artists as diverse as Music/JeffBeck, Music/JohnnyCash, Music/{{Cher}}, Ben E. King, Music/RickyNelson, Music/TheBlackCrowes and Music/MyMorningJacket have covered "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You" over the years.
94** "Lay Lady Lay" has been covered by Music/TheByrds, Music/DuranDuran, Music/{{Ministry}}, Music/{{Cher}}, Ben E. King, Music/TheIsleyBrothers, Music/NeilDiamond, Music/TheEverlyBrothers, Music/BookerTAndTheMGS, Music/IsaacHayes, Music/RichieHavens, Buddy Guy and Music/BryanAdams to name the most iconic performers.
95* SillyLoveSongs: This album is filled with them. But what do you expect from a Country album? Fittingly, "Lay Lady Lay" and "Peggy Day" were both recorded on Valentine's Day 1969.
96* SpecialGuest: Music/JohnnyCash sings co-lead vocals on "Girl From The North Country".
97* StudioChatter: At the start of "To Be Alone With You" Dylan is heard asking his producer Bob Johnston: "Is it rolling, Bob?"
98* TextlessAlbumCover: There is no text on the album cover.
99* TitleTrack: "Nashville Skyline Rag", but, since it's an instrumental, there's no AlbumTitleDrop.
100* TrainSong: "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You"
101--> ''I can hear that whistle blowin' ''
102--> ''I see that stationmaster, too''
103--> ''If there's a poor boy on the street''
104--> ''Then let him have my seat''
105--> '' 'Cause tonight I'll be staying here with you.''
106--> ''Throw my ticket out the window''
107--> ''Throw my suitcase out there too''
108--> ''Throw my troubles out the door''
109--> ''I don't need them any more''
110--> '' 'Cause tonight I'll be staying here with you.''
111* VocalEvolution: In this album, Dylan's vocal style turns from a nasal, almost unintelligible whine to a smooth country crooning.

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