Dylan Songs`

[melon1]

This is probably the least satisfactory of any of my poll endeavors. I'm sure I missed some real gems. I'm just so interested to see who will pick what, that I had to do this. I actually welcome this time for people to list th absolute best of what I didn't include. Being a Dylan fanatic, I want to know what I'm missing out on. There's still alot of Dylan I've yet to hear. Once again, I hope my list found your favorite.

[melon1]

For me "Girl From the North Country" is head and shoulders above the rest.

[Kensterberg]

Like a Rolling Stone.

This was actually really tough for me, as there are so many songs by His Bobness that I absolutely adore. But you asked for "favorite" not "best" (that would boil down to a four way battle with Visions of Johanna, Every Grain of Sand, and Blind Willie McTell making up the balance), and based on sheer play count over the years, Like a Rolling Stone is certainly my favorite. It is also, IMHO, quite possible the greatest single in rock and roll history. It's big competition there would include Hey Jude b/w Revolution, and God Save the Queen, IMO.

And off the top of my head, the big "misses" that I see on this (quite extensive) poll are Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again, Every Grain of Sand, and Blind Willie McTell. But since the latter wasn't part of a proper Dylan album, appearing only on the Bootleg Box (and maybe a GH or Essential set later), and the others are from Blonde on Blonde (which doesn't seem to rank highly with you, based on the order of songs you listed) and Shot of Love (a mediocre record, but this is truly among Dylan's greatest songs), those are certainly forgivable omissions.

Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention that I Shall Be Released is also right there for me, particularly as sung by Bob and Joan in the Rolling Thunder set. IMO that is the definitive reading of the song (followed by The Band's haunting rendition on Music From Big Pink).

[Thorngrub]

Aw, man. There's NO WAY I could pick just one. I can think of half a dozen two dozen tunes (easily) of his equally worthy of the Top Shelf, he's that good. I could pick "Idiot Wind", but that would dismiss "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall"; I could pick "Visions Of Johanna" and that would ignore "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue". I could select "Forever Young" and that would overlook "Knockin' On Heaven's Door". I could pick "Gates Of Eden" but that would leave out "Master's Of War". I could pick "Mr Tambourine Man" and that would leave "Caribbean Wind" out in the cold. Then there are at least a dozen more perfectly viable contenders that are not even on your list of options. For instance, there's "Talking New YOrk", off his first album, a song that so perfectly captures a gleeful innocense, it never fails to bring a smile to my face. And do I pick "The Times They Are A-Changin'" over "Blowin In The Wind" -? How is one to decide -? (Not to mention that there are 2 more eligible candidates on that very album: "With God On Our Side" and "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll" -- two more *serious contenders* for this prize.

Which do I pick, between these two off his 4th album: "All I Really Want To Do", or "It Ain't Me, Babe" - - ? An impossible choice; a perfect conundrum.

Sure, I can see why "Like A Rolling Stone" would be a popular choice. It's off one of the very best albums he ever released, "Highway 61 Revisited". Aside from the title track, there's also "Queen Jane Approximately" and "Desolation Row". Another treasure-chest full of true Dylan gems. And we're only on his 6th album, released the year of my birth.

"Blood On The Tracks" is still a decade ahead in time, and 12 albums further up the line! HotDAMN and we all KNOW that is arguably considered his masterwork.

No; there is just NO way I can properly vote on "my favorite Dylan tune", uh - uh. But I will scour your list again, and see if I can't just pick one lonely song that resonates so deeply with me, that I pick it just for sentimental reasons, or cuz no one else is pickin it, or somethin'.


ok, done.

[Kensterberg]

My ten favorite Dylan songs this morning:

1. Like a Rolling Stone.
2. I and I (from the vastly under-rated Infidels)
3. Trying to Get to Heaven (before they close the door) (from Time Out of Mind, IMHO the most moving piece Dylan has recovered since Blind Willie McTell, and the best song from his best album since (get ready) Blonde on Blonde. Yep, TOOM is a better record than Blood on the Tracks.)
4. Every Grain of Sand.
5. Quinn the Eskimo (the version from GH2)
6. Visions of Johanna.
7. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue.
8. Tangled Up in Blue.
9. Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again.
10. It Ain't Me Babe (esp. the live rendition from the Rolling Thunder set).

[Mary]

IF YOU SEE HER SAY HELLO

she might be living in tangiers...

[Kensterberg]

I'm trying not to think about (still ongoing) relationship woes, so If You See Her Say Hello (and Idiot Wind) didn't make my list this a.m. But Mary's right, it's a killer song ... with perhaps the greatest closing line of any song about love lost (or torn assunder, as the case may be).

tell her she can look me up, if she's got the time

[Thorngrub]

good call, Mary

"We had a falling-out, like lovers often will
And to think of how she left that night, it still brings me a chill
And though our separation, it pierced me to the heart
She still lives inside of me, we've never been apart."

[melon1]

I knew it! After making this list I was certain that I would have to pick out which Dylan album to put next on my wantlist.

It didn't take long after making that list that I was truly disgusted that I forgot "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carrol"(I prefer the version on Live 1964) and "Who Killed Davy Moore?".

Yes, thorny, "Talkin' New York" was definitely considered for the list. Don't know why I didn't include it.

[Kensterberg]

You don't own Blonde on Blonde? It's only Bob's best (studio) album! Seriously.

Bob Dylan's Ten Greatest (Studio) Records:
1. Blonde On Blonde.
2. Highway 61 Revisited.
3. Time Out of Mind. (The best album in rock on the subject of growing older and looking the grim reaper square in the face).
4. Bringing It All Back Home.
5. Blood on the Tracks.
6. The Freewheeling Bob Dylan.
7. The Basement Tapes.
8. John Wesley Harding.
9. Infidels.
10. Oh Mercy!

And Five Essential Bob Dylan Albums (that aren't proper studio recordings):
1. Live 1966. (Anyone who loves rock and roll needs this record).
2. The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (a.k.a. The Bootleg Box). (Bob's scraps beat most folks best efforts, and the stuff on the third disc is nothing short of a revalation. Series of Dreams, When the Night Comes Falling From the Sky, and most of all Blind Willie McTell are among the greatest songs Bob (or anyone) has ever recorded).
3. Live 1975. (The most enjoyable live outing Dylan has ever committed to tape, erm, disc, whatever).
4. Live 1964. (Listen as Bob the protest folk singer morphs into Dylan the psychedelic poet before your very ears. "I've got my Bob Dylan mask on," he tells the audience, who think he's kidding).
5. Biograph. (Yeah, almost everything here is available somewhere else, but there are a few gems you need this for. The definitive live versions of both Isis and Romance in Durango, for starters. But more importantly, in the way it takes songs from throughout Dylan's career to that point and sits them right next to each other, it makes the man's output into a single cohesive whole, something that certainly wasn't obvious as the records came out, or as a neophyte buys his records today. Well worth the investment for at least the dedicated Dylan fancier).

[melon1]

I used to own Blonde on Blonde. Not near Dylan's best IMO.

[Weeping_Guitar]

Blonde on Blonde has "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands", thus making it essential.

I saw both "Like a Rolling Stone" (hard to pick against it as the greatest tune ever) and "I'ts Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" have a vote so I picked "Masters of War," which I find to be one of the few songs that really shakes me down to the core on each outing. There seems to be such a singular passion and energy on that record. It's just so damn righteous. He's scared, but more frightened of not saying anything. He talks about being so sick he wouldn't father a child into this mad world, and in my favorite line, shouts back at hawkish creatures my proclaiming that the truest thing he knows is that Jesus wouldn't even forgive their horrors.

[melon1]

Yes, which isn't necessarily true although I admire his passion in that song.

[Kensterberg]

Context matters so much. Twentysome years ago, when I was discovering Dylan, "Masters of War" sounded like an artifact from a different time. The underlying critique was still valid (obviously the military-industrial complex was very much alive and well under Reagan), but it didn't carry the same weight in a world where the idea of large-scale war was largely unthinkable (that whole mutual assured destruction (MAD) thing with the Soviets, ya know). Today, the song sounds timeless and righteous, whereas in the eighties it seemed dated and leaden.

Part of why I chose Like a Rolling Stone is the simple fact that since I first discovered the song (I think I was 17), no matter what has been going on in the world or in my life, this song has never failed to resonate and connect with me. It is that rare piece of cathartic vitriol and rage that holds up over the years and across the miles. An amazing piece of work.

That said, IMO Blonde on Blonde is Dylan's most timeless album. The songs deal (sometimes obtusely, granted) with relationships, and the imagery of the lyrics is broad enough to make them both extremely personal and universal in a way that isn't always true of Bob's writing on Blood on the Tracks, for example. "Just Like a Woman," "I Want You," "Visions of Joanna," "Temporarily Like Achilles" and more, all sound both shockingly intimate and applicable to almost anyone.

However, of Bob's major works, I think Blonde on Blonde is perhaps the least accesible for modern years. It lacks the obvious anger and vitriol of Highway 61 Revisited or Bringing It All Back Home, or the coherent themes of Blood on the Tracks or Time Out of Mind. And of course, the length can (still) be intimidating for the uninitiated. But it is definitely worth it. Bob's strongest overall batch of songs, absolutely perfect production (Dylan himself calls this "his sound), and enough lyrical subject matter to mull over for a lifetime.

If Dylan had come out of nowhere and recorded only Blonde on Blonde and then disappeared forever, it would still be one of the greatest albums in rock, and he would still be one of America's greatest songwriters. And it has what is perhaps my favorite line in any of his songs ...

"your debuttante knows what you need, but I know what you want."

[Adam]

Come in, she said "I'll give ya shelter from the storm"