Kim Ruehl

Bob Dylan's best songs?

I just posted a list of my 10 favorite Bob Dylan songs over at About.com, but figured you folks might be interested in weighing in over here.

So let's have it. What are your favorite Bob Dylan songs of all time. If you feel compelled to say why, go for it!

Tags: american, best, bob, community, dylan, folk, forum, magazine, music, nodepression, More…singer-songwriters, songs

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garryPermalink Reply by garry on September 16, 2009 at 12:56pm
Far too many great songs to choose from for me to narrow it down to ten, so I'm going to self-impose a restriction to "modern era" Dylan - - from 1997 (his 'Time Out of Mind' album) to the present. Here are 10 of my faves in a rough, off-the-top-of-my-head order:

Things Have Changed (from the 'Wonder Boys' soundtrack)
Mississippi
High Water (For Charley Patton)
Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
Cold Irons Bound
Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee
Red Cadillac and a Black Moustache (from the 'Good Rockin' Tonight' Sun Tribute)
Thunder on the Mountain
Summer Days
Rollin' and Tumblin'

...and a few Honorable Mentions (that violate my own restriction):
Blind Willie McTell
Up To Me
Every Grain of Sand (from the Bootleg 1-3)
Come Una Pietra Scalciata (Like a Rolling Stone)

Garry
Tim YoungPermalink Reply by Tim Young on September 16, 2009 at 6:11pm
All right.

1. Tangled Up in Blue...because of his performance of this in 'Renaldo and Clara'

2. Like a Rolling Stone...because people sing along to this in bars and I love to play it too.

3. Gotta Serve Somebody...almost makes me a believer

4. Tweedle Dum Tweedle Dee...because I always think of Bush/Cheney

5. Hurricane...it's about Justice, it's about Freedom and it rocks.

6.The Times They Are a Changin...because I love when lyrics age like fine wine

7. One More cup of Coffee...because of the violin and the poetry and I'm a coffee addict.

8. It's Alright Ma...because of the chills; 'he not busy being born is busy dying...'

9. Highway 61...because of the imagery and Johnny Winter's cover.

10. All Along the Watchtower...speaking of covers, thanks is not enough, is it Jimi?
Bob RosePermalink Reply by Bob Rose on September 17, 2009 at 9:03am
Like A Rolling Stone
Sooner or Later, One of Us Must Know
My Back Pages
Desolation Row
Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands
Blowin' In the Wind
The Times They Are A Changing
Everything Is Broken
Things Have Changed
Beyond Here Lies Nothing
Jason Charles MillerPermalink Reply by Jason Charles Miller on September 18, 2009 at 12:56am
1. Shelter From the Storm - What an amazing song!

2. The Man in Me - I have to admit I heard this song on "The Big Lebowski" soundtrack for years and didn't realize it was Dylan until about a year ago. *DOH*

3. This isn't a SONG, but....Bob Dylan and John Lennon drunk in a taxi...totally awesome!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRzXLbKrxlc
MutineerPermalink Reply by Mutineer on January 19, 2010 at 7:05pm
Kinda late for the show here, but love Dylan...

1. Sweetheart Like You...Mark Knopfler's solo at the end is sublime
2. If Not For You...went into shock when I found out George didn't write it... made me a fan, though...hey I was 11
3. Like A Rolling Stone...seems like every couple years he'd write a song for a generation back then
4. Blowin' In The Wind...protest folk, why not?
5. The Times They Are A Changing...see number #4
6. Tangled Up In Blue...BOT really made me a fan, and this song gets better every year
7. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue...This sky, too, is folding over you and it's all over now, Baby Blue
8. Shelter From The Storm...see #6
9. Knockin' On Heaven's Door...anything good enough for Axl's good enough fer me
10. Simple Twist Of Faith...always loved this song...everything about it.

Tomorrow could be 10 totally different ones...
Julian CruzPermalink Reply by Julian Cruz on January 20, 2010 at 1:47am
There are too many songs to mention because Dylan has a whole library of material spanning almost
5 Decades. But hell, I'll give it a shot...............................................................

1. Ballad Of A Thin Man --- Dylan at his most acidic. It oozes with attitude & sheer defiance against
the bourgeois intruding into the hipster world that Dylan was residing at the time. It was 1965
and everybody wanted to jump on Bob's Bandwagon. (Usually the press looking for answers!)
Of course, Dylan's was always a step ahead & having the last laugh. Bob at his nastiest!

2. Masters of War --- A timeless masterpiece that still resonates to this day. I still get chills hearing
it. This song is an attack at the military-industrial complex & how they profit from war at the
world expense. At 22 years of age, Dylan was so aware existentially when he wrote those lyrics.
The line I love in this song when Dylan rails "Even Jesus would never forgive what you do."
And to think of these institutions that claim in the Name of God or country; only to abuse & profit for
their own greed & ambition. I think this song is just as relevant now as it was then. Maybe more so now.

3. Tell Me,Momma ----This is off of The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 Bob Dylan Live 1966.
I like how it's starts in a beginning; a gradual built up with such anticipation & the moment that snare
drum hits...... BOOM! You're in ROCK & ROLL REVERIE 101. So freewheeling (No pun intented)
filled with grit & it's pure unadulterated joy! One of many Dylan's blues songs. (Mid 1960's Style)
There's elements of country also. Bob's backing group (The Hawks a.k.a. The Band) was kicking
major hide at that period! Wonderful.......... The most bluesy,punk, garage rock I ever heard! (With a twang!)

4. Lay, Lady ,Lay ---- That was the first time I discovered Bob Dylan. I was about eleven years old.
What drew me in was the chord structure & the instrumentation. This song could've been in any
Sam Peckinpah Film--- it's very cinematic in it's scope. Hearing the pedal steel in the background
is so damn eerie.... I dig it! Of course, the older I got, the more I've found out that this is a sensuous
ballad. Hell, Jeff Tweedy from Wilco quotes " It's simply a bad-ass song. Sinatra could have sung it."
That's how great it is. Any time I pick up my acoustic, I play those Lay,Lady,Lay chords.


5. I Want You ---- If I ever fall in love again, this is the song I'll sing. Dylan wrote love songs that has so
much depth, complexity. In this case, this number is more playful & free. It's a hell of a style. Love
songs don't have to be so maudlin & sugarcoated. Dylan gave it earthy quality that he learned from
the blues & country music, (Especially from Hank Williams & Johnny Cash.) Chuck Berry
had an influence as well. This is one of the skills The Beatles, Stones, Springsteen & many
others have learned from Bob Dylan in terms of writing love songs or any kind of song.
There's no one like Bob Dylan............ Simply...... PURE GENIUS!


From THE REVEREND JULES O' BOOGABILLY
john poolePermalink Reply by john poole on January 20, 2010 at 4:01am
Like a Rolling Stone
Desolation Row
Ballad of a Thin Man
Visions of Johanna
Subterranean Homesick Blues
Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
I'm Not There (1956)
I Shall Be Released
One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)
Dear Landlord

I restricted my choices to my favourite Bob period of 1965/7, but still reached ten with many songs remaining on my "short" list.
miguel cantero perezPermalink Reply by miguel cantero perez on January 20, 2010 at 5:26am
girl from the north country
visions of johanna
tangled up in blue
it's alright ma (i'm only bleeding)
a hard rain's a gonna fall
desolation row
tombstone blues
gates of eden
one of us must know (sooner or later)
cold irons bound
kevin buchananPermalink Reply by kevin buchanan on January 20, 2010 at 7:15pm
visions of johanna
rolling stone
i'm not there
senor
'cross the green mt.
tangled up
masterpiece
forever young
dear landlord
iaonbaby blue
Will JamesPermalink Reply by Will James on January 20, 2010 at 7:50pm
STOP, you're all right; )
Will JamesPermalink Reply by Will James on January 21, 2010 at 9:05am
(That was a joke - how do you choose? Please continue!)
Adam SheetsPermalink Reply by Adam Sheets on January 21, 2010 at 5:22am
1. Masters of War
2. Idiot Wind
3. Queen Jane Approximately
4. A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall
5. With God on Our Side
6. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
7. Highlands
8. Positively 4th Street
9. High Water
10. The Times They Are a-Changin'

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Created by No Depression Feb 17, 2009 at 9:06pm. Last updated by Kyla Fairchild Jul 6, 2011.