If You See Her, Say Hello

"If You See Her, Say Hello"
Single by Bob Dylan
from the album Blood on the Tracks
A-side	Tangled Up in Blue
Released	January 1975
Recorded	December 30, 1974 at Sound 80 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Genre	Folk rock
Length	4:49
Label	Columbia
Writer(s)	Bob Dylan
Producer(s)	Bob Dylan

"If You See Her, Say Hello" is a song by Bob Dylan released in 1975 on his 15th studio album, Blood on the Tracks, and as a single B-side. It is one of five songs on the album that Dylan initially recorded in New York City in September 1974 and then re-recorded in Minneapolis in December that year, the later recording becoming the album track (and single). One of the September 1974 outtakes was included on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991.

The song describes an anonymous lost love, who no longer loves the persona after they had "a falling-out". Although the persona clearly feels wounded by the breakup: "Our separation, It pierced me to the heart", he appears not to resent the anonymous character, declaring "Oh, whatever makes her happy, I won't stand in the way."

Covers and alternative versions

There is an Italian version by singer Francesco De Gregori, called "Non Dirle Che Non È Così".

Jeff Buckley covered the song in a live performance on his album Live at Sin-é.

The Brazilian singer Renato Russo covered the song changing the title and lyrics to "If you see him, say hello".

Dylan has performed alternate versions of the song in concert. His 1976 Lakeland, Florida performance has different lyrics for every verse.<ref name="If You See Her, Say Hello Lakeland, Florida 1976" group===Footnotes==>Abrams, Rick. "http://web1.uct.usm.maine.edu/~rabrams/LakelandHello.html". If You See Her, Say Hello Lakeland, Florida 1976. University of Souther Maine. Retrieved 22 June 2011. </ref>

References in popular culture

Bob Geldof used the title as the opening line to his composition "A Gospel Song" from his 1990 album The Vegetarians of Love.^[1]

It is mentioned by David Duchovny's character Hank Moody at the end of episode five of the Showtime series Californication, describing the album as a "real heartbreak album" and begins to sing the opening verse of the song to his daughter, Becca.

In an interview with The Guardian, Ricky Gervais mentioned the song as the last he ever played while working at Xfm. He also named Blood on the Tracks as his favorite album.^[2]

The song is played in the closing scene of the 19th episode, "Vesuvius" in the 9th season of How I Met Your Mother.

References

External links

• Lyrics

References