"Love is Just a Four-Letter Word" is a song written by Bob Dylan, first recorded by Joan Baez, who has recorded and performed the song numerous times throughout her career.

[1] Baez immediately took to the song, which was written by Dylan sometime around 1965, and began performing it, even before it was finished.

[2] In the film Dont Look Back, a documentary of Dylan's 1965 tour of the UK, Baez is shown in one scene singing a fragment of the then apparently still unfinished song in a hotel room late at night.

[3] Baez first included the song on Any Day Now, her 1968 album of Dylan covers; she has since recorded it three additional times.

[4][5] Her 1968 recording was also released as a single, reaching #86 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.