Absolutely Sweet Marie
"Absolutely Sweet Marie" is a song written by Bob Dylan, released on his 1966 double album "Blonde on Blonde". Background. During a 1991 interview published in Paul Zollo's book "Songwriters on Songwriting, Expanded Fourth Edition" (New York: Da Capo Press, 1997), Dylan gives an idea of how he sees the song in his explanation of a line about a "yellow railroad": "Absolutely Sweet Marie" was recorded on March 8, 1966, in Nashville, Tennessee. Only two complete takes of the song were recorded. The first take was released on "" in 2015. Dylan did not perform "Absolutely Sweet  Marie" live until 1988, and has intermittently played it since, including during a session for his "MTV Unplugged" appearance. Section::::"To live outside the law you must be honest". The song contains the phrase "To live outside the law you must be honest". Jonathan Lethem points to a very similar line by the screenwriter Stirling Silliphant in the 1958 film "The Lineup": "When you live outside the law, you have to eliminate dishonesty"; without attribution, Lethem imagines that Dylan "heard it…, cleaned it up a little, and inserted it into" this song.