One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)


"One of Us Must Know " is a song written and recorded by Bob Dylan. It is the fourth track on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde, and was released as the album's first single that February. The song is an emotional confession of misconnects and apologies from the singer to a woman who has tragically slipped out of his life. As a single, it peaked at No. 33 in the UK Singles Chart, but only reached No. 119 on US Billboard's Bubbling Under chart.

Background

According to Jonathan Singer, it was Paul Griffin who played the piano section on "One of Us Must Know ".
Musically, the track is typical of the album: a treble single coil guitar adds a base to the song with the acoustic and bass while organs and pianos take the lead in forming the song. Jazz style drumming is used effectively. According to Rolling Stone, it took nine hours and 24 takes to complete the song.

Other versions

An outtake of the song appeared on , while the deluxe version of the album included multiple other versions of the song. According to Dylan's official website, as of 2018 Dylan has performed "One of Us Must Know" 60 times in concert, with all performances occurring between 1976 and 1997.

Covers

English singer-songwriter Mick Hucknall covered the song on the 2012 charity compilation album Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International. Old Crow Medicine Show covered the song on their live Dylan tribute album, 50 Years of Blonde on Blonde.