Editing Blood on the Tracks (section)

==Autobiographical interpretation==
The songs that constitute ''Blood on the Tracks'' have been described by many Dylan critics as stemming from his personal turmoil at the time, particularly his estrangement from his then-wife [[Sara Dylan]].<ref>{{harvnb|Gill & Odegard|2005|pp=186–188}}</ref> One of Bob and Sara Dylan's children, [[Jakob Dylan]], has said, "When I'm listening to ''Blood On The Tracks'', that's about my parents."<ref>{{harvnb|Gray|2006|p=199}}</ref>

Dylan has denied this autobiographical interpretation, stating in a 1985 interview with Bill Flanagan, "A lot of people thought that album pertained to me. It didn't pertain to me&nbsp;... I'm not going to make an album and lean on a marriage relationship."<ref>{{harvnb|Flanagan|1990|pp=96–97}}</ref> Informed of the album's popularity, Dylan told [[Mary Travers (singer)|Mary Travers]] in a radio interview in April 1975: "A lot of people tell me they enjoy that album. It's hard for me to relate to that. I mean&nbsp;... people enjoying that type of pain, you know?" Addressing whether the album described his own personal pain, Dylan replied that he did not write "confessional songs".{{sfn|Williamson|2004|pp=111–113}} However, on the live ''[[Bob Dylan at Budokan|At Budokan]]'' album, Dylan seems to acknowledge the autobiographical nature of the song "Simple Twist of Fate" by introducing it as "Here's a simple love story.  Happened to me." In a 1978 interview, he responded to an observation that the album was confessional and that "Tangled Up in Blue" drew on his relationship with Sara by saying, "There might be some little part of me which is confessing something which I've experienced and I know, but is not definitely the total me confessing anything."<ref>{{Citation |title=Bob Dylan — Matt Damsker interview. 1978. Hotel room. 1 PM in afternoon before the start of the tour | date=June 9, 2021 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPWPP53lKF4 |language=en |access-date=2022-05-24}}</ref>

According to ''Rolling Stone'', in Dylan's lyric notebook, the working title of "Simple Twist of Fate" was "4th Street Affair"; Dylan and [[Suze Rotolo]] lived at 161 W. 4th St. The narrator of the song memorializes an affair of ten years ago instead of singing about Dylan's marriage.<ref>[https://www.rollingstone.com /music/lists/100-greatest-bob-dylan-songs-20160524 '100 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs.'] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110312000851/http://www.rollingstone.com/ |date=March 12, 2011 }} Rolling Stone, 24 mei 2016. "Simple Twist of Fate" is ranked 15.</ref> In ''Hot Press'', writing about the three known lyric notebooks for the songs, Anne Margaret Daniel noted that "Simple Twist of Fate" was first entitled "Snowbound", and set in part, like "Tangled Up in Blue", in a New York City apartment.<ref>[https://www.hotpress.com/music/full-bob-dylan-cover-story-hot-press-annual-2019-22771539 Daniel, Hot Press]</ref>

In his 2004 memoir, ''[[Chronicles, Vol. 1]]'', Dylan stated that the songs have nothing to do with his personal life, and that they were inspired by the [[List of short stories by Anton Chekhov|short stories]] of [[Anton Chekhov]].<ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.popmatters.com/special/section/all-things-reconsidered-the-35th-anniversary-of-bob-dylans-blood-on-the-//|magazine=[[PopMatters]]|access-date=August 13, 2011|title=All Things Reconsidered: The 35th Anniversary of Bob Dylan's Blood on the Tracks|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131219040655/http://www.popmatters.com/special/section/all-things-reconsidered-the-35th-anniversary-of-bob-dylans-blood-on-the-/|archive-date=December 19, 2013|url-status=live}}</ref>