I gave her my heart, but she wanted my soul

February 27, 2011 3:02 PM

Suze Rotolo, artist, muse and covergirl has died, aged 67. She was Bob Dylan's lover and muse meeting him soon after he moved from Minnesota to New York in 1961. An artist in her own right, Suze explored the idea of books as artefacts, focusing on their appearance rather than their contents. She also published a memoir of early 1960's Greenwich Village. Ironically for an artist concerned with paratext she will most likely be remembered as the girl from the cover of Freewheelin', Dylan's early masterpiece. The image of Rotolo and Dylan strolling along a frosty Jones Street has fixed itself in the popular consciousness and is one that Tom Cruise will take to his death.
posted by tigrefacile (17 comments total)

The start of the Rolling Stone obit is lovely. It's a shame they focused on Bob Dylan rather than, you know, Suze Rotolo.

Also, somehow I had never put those shots together: the cover of Freewheelin' and the street shot (now absurdly clear homage) in Vanilla Sky. Just fantastic, thanks.

RIP Suze, and thank you for inspiring "Don't Think Twice."
posted by swerve at 3:29 PM on February 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

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Note: Fade at cough.
posted by Dr-Baa at 3:34 PM on February 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

Goodbye's too good a word, gal /
So I'll just say fare thee well.
posted by Capt. Renault at 3:35 PM on February 27, 2011 [4 favorites]

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posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:38 PM on February 27, 2011

So sad to hear this. Dylan wouldn't have been Dylan without her. I'm glad the Rolling Stone obituary recognized this:

"...she was into this equality-freedom thing long before I was."

Hard to imagine how he might have turned out without the "equality-freedom thing".
posted by tractorfeed at 3:42 PM on February 27, 2011 [3 favorites]

Thanks for the post, and agreed that it would be nice if the obit focused more on her pre- and post-Dylan life...he sure had a knack for breaking fascinating and talented women's hearts (at least at the dawn of his fame).
posted by nonmerci at 4:21 PM on February 27, 2011

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posted by steambadger at 4:43 PM on February 27, 2011

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posted by Verdant at 5:31 PM on February 27, 2011

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posted by beagle at 5:48 PM on February 27, 2011

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I'm sorry if I'm mourning her because of the album cover and the heartbreaking songs written about her
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 6:46 PM on February 27, 2011

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posted by Kinbote at 8:35 PM on February 27, 2011

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posted by Mister Bijou at 8:54 PM on February 27, 2011

My mind has returned to this news of Rotolo's death on and off throughout the day, and it's made me think about aging. Specifically, it makes me think about the very particular kind of sadness that one must feel (in this case, that Bob Dylan must feel) at the passing, in old age, of one's first or very early love. The heady, exciting and promising days of youth, just starting out, with broad vistas ahead: those times are often, in memory, personified in one's first romance. When such a person dies, one's own mortality is surely thrown into a harsher light.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:57 PM on February 27, 2011 [8 favorites]

Thanks for the post, and agreed that it would be nice if the obit focused more on her pre- and post-Dylan life

Here we are: the Village Voice
posted by Mister Bijou at 5:58 AM on February 28, 2011

Damn, Flap...she wasn't that old!
posted by cookie-k at 8:07 AM on February 28, 2011

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posted by mkim at 4:30 PM on February 28, 2011

Suze Rotolo was a lot more than Bob Dylan's 'chick'.
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posted by adamvasco at 1:10 PM on March 1, 2011