Expecting Rain

I had seen a few comparisons of the two songs, and like my other post was curious which one you guys liked more. Although GFTNC is probably considered more of a classic, I absolutely love If You See Her, Say Hello and would choose that song any day. But what about everyone else?

I echo your thoughts on If You See Her, Say Hello. There's something special in Dylan's vocals here. A really heartfelt song.

Girl From The North Country.

Love them both but if I have to choose then its "If You See Her ..." because there is blood on that track.

Brownsville Girl

If you see her, say hello
She might be in the north country
Where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
She's living there I hear
Remember me to the one who lives there
Though things get kinda slow
Say for me that I'm alright
She was once a true love of mine

(I can't decide)

Excellent! Another random, pointless "Song x" vs "Song y" poll! Keep them coming!

As for me, I´ll go for Girl of the north country, specially the duet with Johnny. Of course if you see her is great, but it´s not one of my favorites in BOTT. Gal, on the other hand, always works for me. Very haunting tune

Yeah it's not supposed to be an important post, it's just talking about songs. If it's so pointless, then why would you contribute to it?

You seem to like the songs, and this is a place where you can talk about them, so maybe the sarcasm isn't needed.

Howdy, Shotofmercy. Don´t take it the wrong way! I think there is no denying that it is totally pointless, but my enthusiasm is real. I love me a good "vs" poll, so please do keep them coming!

Incidentally the new album ("From The Trees") by the Van der Graaf Generator singer Peter Hammill features a song called "Girl To The North Country". I think it's rather good (although his style may not be to everyone's taste).

Ah, sorry wormington! I took the tone of the post the wrong way. But since you did answer, does the original version of "Girl..." move you in a similar way? It's so interesting how different the song is on those two albums, no even because of the vocal (though I suppose that is part of it). Also, while we're at it what are some of your favorite songs off of Blood On The Tracks ?

I love both performances of Girl of the north country, though as I said, I prefer the duet with Johnny. But the first one is also great. I love his vocal performance, although every time I listen to it now I remember Paul Williams comments of it, where he said that his vocals on that one are totally calculated, no real feeling there, or something similar

BOTT? Favorite is possibly Simple twist of fate, closely followed by Idiot wind, You´re gonna me me lonesome when you go, Lilly Rosemary, You´re a big girl now, Tangled up in blue and Buckets of rain. So all of them are favorites except for 3. I´m sure you guys can understand that

The best performance of Girl From the North Country that I can recall is from the boot Bird's Nest In Your Hair (June 26, 1981) with a fantastic interplay between the piano and Dylan's guitar/vocal while If You See Her, Say Hello seems to have reached its peak in the 2002 - 04 NET, depending upon whether you prefer Larry Campbell's fiddle driven work or Freddy Koella's guitar. I am not particularly interested in an either/or... both are fantastic songs but if forced to choose, I would go with the latter. Freddy Koella delivers the goods.

If You See Her Say Hello for sure. Not only is the studio performance better than Girl From The North Country, but once you count the NY outtakes and the Lakeland '76 performance, it's not even close.

I had to go with Hello too.

When I first listened to If You See Her last year - it was in the very beginning of my Dylan obsession - I quite simply couldn't believe how some words, a voice and simple music could be of such a heart-breaking beauty... I'll start crying again just thinking of the first line! So that was a no-brainer.

Girl from the North Country is from very young poet/folk singer trying to form thoughts about an old flame into a song using an already established melody.

If You See Her, Say Hello is a desperate and heartbreaking attempt to try and move on from the only true love in a man's life.

The choice is obvious - If You See Her, Say Hello

yup, no contest
https://youtu.be/7mX3jBD6ePc

Sorry, but I prefer GFTNC and voted thus! By the way, about that girl from the north country - if you see her please say hello from me!