10 Best Bob Dylan Songs
Ain’t it just like the night to play tricks when you’re tryin’ to be so quiet ?
We sit here stranded, though we’re all doin our best to deny it
One of my favorite recent (90s onwards) Dylan tracks is MISSISSIPPI. There are several studio versions floating around. My favorite isn’t on youtube.
Every step of the way, we walk the line
Your days are numbered, so are mine
Time is piling up, we struggle and we scrape
We’re all boxed in, nowhere to escape
City’s just a jungle, more games to play
Trapped in the heart of it, tryin’ to get away
I was raised in the country, I been working in the town
I been in trouble ever since I set my suitcase down
Got nothing for you, I had nothing before
Don’t even have anything for myself anymore
Sky full of fire, came pouring down
Nothing you can sell me, I’ll see you around
All my powers of expression and thoughts so sublime
Could never do you justice in reason or rhyme
Only one thing I did wrong
Stayed in Mississippi a day too long
Well, the devil’s in the alley, mule’s in the stall
Say anything you wanna, I have heard it all
I was thinking about the things that Rosie said
I was dreaming I was sleeping in Rosie’s bed
Walking through the leaves, falling from the trees
Feeling like a stranger nobody sees
So many things that we never will undo
I know you’re sorry, I’m sorry too
Some people will offer you their hand and some won’t
Last night I knew you, tonight I don’t
I need something strong to distract my mind
I’m gonna look at you ’til my eyes go blind
Well I got here following the southern star
I crossed that river just to be where you are
Only one thing I did wrong
Stayed in Mississippi a day too long
Well my ship’s been split to splinters and it’s sinking fast
I’m drowning in the poison, got no future, got no past
But my heart is not weary, it’s light and it’s free
I’ve got nothing but affection for all those who sailed with me
Everybody’s moving, if they ain’t already there
Everybody’s got to move somewhere
Stick with me baby, stick with me anyhow
Things should start to get interesting right about now
My clothes are wet, tight on my skin
Not as tight as the corner that I painted myself in
I know that fortune is waiting to be kind
So give me your hand and say you’ll be mine
Well, the emptiness is endless, cold as the clay
You can always come back, but you can’t come back all the way
Only one thing I did wrong
Stayed in Mississippi a day too long.
dat feel when your just minding your business and a Dylan line hits you like a punch to the gut
the man had a penchant for capturing truths.
1. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
2. All I Really Wanna Do
3. I Want You
4. You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
5. All Along the Watchtower
6. Quinn the Eskimo
7. Shelter from the Storm
8. When the Ship Comes In
9. Like a Rolling Stone
10. Blowin’ in the Wind
^I LOVE All I Really Wanna Do.
This guy makes every other songwriter look sick. 10 favourites that don’t even scratch the surface of this man’s awe-inspiring output.
Boots of Spanish Leather The Times They Are a-Changin’
Restless Farewell The Times They Are a-Changin’
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) Bringing It All Back Home
Like a Rolling Stone Highway 61 Revisited
Visions of Johanna Blonde on Blonde
Going, Going, Gone Planet Waves
This Wheel’s on Fire (Bob Dylan / Rick Danko) The Basement Tapes
Brownsville Girl (Bob Dylan / Sam Shepard) Knocked Out Loaded
Every Grain of Sand Shot of Love / The Bootleg Series Vol. 3
Foot of Pride The Bootleg Series, Vol. 3
The Dude is crying
Big shit, how have I not ever seen this thread.
Bump.
I shall return (and be released—amiriteguyz)
Mr. Tambourine Man
Desolation Row
Just Like a Woman
Love Minus Zero/No Limit
She Belongs to Me
Tangled Up In Blue
Lay Lady Lay
Buckets of Rain
Hurricane
Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
1. Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright
2. Lay, Lady, Lay
3. Visions of Johanna
4. Tombstone Blues
5. Like A Rolling Stone
6. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
7. Tangled Up in Blue
8. Positively 4th Street
9. Ballad of a Thin Man
10. I Want You
This took a very long time to think about.
Two lists—one for originals, another for traditionals. Kind of in no particular order.
Here’s uh, more than 10:
Girl From The North Country (JOHNNY CASH, ladies and gentlemen)
Farewell, Angelina
Up To Me (dat Blood On The Tracks-era after-the-storm lostlove time-blurring haiku beauty in its most ecstatic apparition)
Visions of Johanna (especially the faster outtake from when it was called Freezeout)
I Rode Out Morning (from one of the home-recording bootlegs from 1962)
Floater
Drifter’s Escape
When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky (Demo Version, aka Bob going all INXS/Cure)
Abandoned Love
George Jackson
Ballad In Plain D
Joey
Tears of Rage
Po’ Boy
Nettie Moore
Tryin’ To Get To Heaven
Let Me Die In My Footsteps
It’s Alright, Ma
And 10 Traditionals:
I Was Young When I Left Home
The Banks Of The Royal Canal(Basement Tapes)
Rambler, Gambler
Barbara Allen (Gaslight Tape)
Ain’t No More Cane (Gaslight)
No More Auction Block (Gaslight)
Wild Mountain Thyme (Isle Of Wight 1969)
Young But Daily Growing (Carnegie Chapter Hall Concert)
Girl On The Greenbriar Shore
Silver Dagger (playing harp and guitar for Baez on the Live 1964 Bootleg Series record)
Girl From the North Country (w/Johnny Cash)
Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues
Simple Twist of Fate
Visions of Johanna
Positively 4th Street
Tangled Up in Blue
Mississippi
Tonight I’ll be staying here with you
Not Dark Yet
It’s all over now Baby Blue
lettuce be real here, a list thread does bob dylan a great injustice.
I don’t know. Dyan wasn’t totally opposed to lists. ;)
BTW, can’t get enough of Scarlet Town from the new album!
I’LL PAY IN BLOOD
but not my own
Ten’s not enough, and as I’m sure all the biggies have been listed more than once I’ll just mention a couple of lesser known songs I love:
Blind Willie McTell
Series of Dreams
Series Of Dreams almost made my cut. Evasively beautiful song.
mississippi is one of my favorite dylan tracks released 2000s onwards.
there are several versions of it floating around. my favorite I can’t find on youtube.
Every step of the way, we walk the line
Your days are numbered, so are mine
Time is piling up, we struggle and we stray
We’re all boxed in, nowhere to escape
City’s just a jungle, more games to play
Trapped in the heart of it, tryin’ to get away
I was raised in the country, I been working in the town
I been in trouble ever since I set my suitcase down
Got nothing for you, I had nothing before
Don’t even have anything for myself anymore
Sky full of fire, came pouring down
Nothing you can sell me, I’ll see you around
All my powers of expression and thoughts so sublime
Could never do you justice in reason or rhyme
Only one thing I did wrong
Stayed in Mississippi a day too long
Well, the devil’s in the alley, mule’s in the stall
Say anything you wanna, I have heard it all
I was thinking about the things that Rosie said
I was dreaming I was sleeping in Rosie’s bed
Walking through the leaves, falling from the trees
Feeling like a stranger nobody sees
So many things that we never will undo
I know you’re sorry, I’m sorry too
Some people will offer you their hand and some won’t
Last night I knew you, tonight I don’t
I need something strong to distract my mind
I’m gonna look at you ’til my eyes go blind
Well I got here following the southern star
I crossed that river just to be where you are
Only one thing I did wrong
Stayed in Mississippi a day too long
Well my ship’s been split to splinters and it’s sinking fast
I’m drowning in the poison, got no future, got no past
But my heart is not weary, it’s light and it’s free
I’ve got nothing but affection for all those who sailed with me
Everybody’s moving, if they ain’t already there
Everybody’s got to move somewhere
Stick with me baby, stick with me anyhow
Things should start to get interesting right about now
My clothes are wet, tight on my skin
Not as tight as the corner that I painted myself in
I know that fortune is waiting to be kind
So give me your hand and say you’ll be mine
Well, the emptiness is endless, cold as the clay
You can always come back, but you can’t come back all the way
Only one thing I did wrong
Stayed in Mississippi a day too long.
Love And Theft is definitely Bob’s best work until Tempest—which I must say, without sensationalism, seriously rivals the cunning and ecstatic inventiveness of L&T.
Subterranean Homesick Blues
Ballad of a Thin Man
Blind Willie McTell
Like A Rolling Stone
Just Like A Woman
I Want You
Tangled Up In Blue
Tears of Rage
Wheel’s On Fire
It’s Alright Ma
Mississippi’s definitely one of Dylan’s best recent songs. Working Man’s Blues is also pretty awesome.
Mississippi’s definitely one of Dylan’s best recent songs. Working Man’s Blues is also pretty awesome.
Subterranean Homesick Blues
Ballad Of A Thin Man
Blind Willie McTell
Like A Rolling Stone
Tangled Up In Blue
It’s Alright Ma
Just Like A Woman
I Want You
Tears of Rage
Too Much Of Nothing
How about this, top ten Dylan covers? There’s been a zillion.
Jimi Hendrix – All Along The Watchtower
Sheryl Crow – Mississippi
Fairport Convention – Percy’s Song
Fairport Convention – Million Dollar Bash
The Byrds – You Ain’t Goin Nowhere
Nickel Creek – Tomorrow Is A Long Time
Beck – Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat
Nico – I’ll Keep It With Mine
Rage Against The Machine – Maggie’s Farm
The Band – Tears Of Rage
Ah. ^^Going to have to think on that one.
Glad you mentioned Nico, anyhow.
I’ll keep it with mine is such a beautiful song. first time I heard it I was…feeling pretty good…and the song came on and I was damn near close to tears.
I lost my entire Dylan collection when my hard drive crashed. was so pissed. had everything….bootlegs and all.
Mississippi’s definitely one of Dylan’s best recent songs. Working Man’s Blues is also pretty awesome.
a lot of people sleep on dylan’s post late 70s – 80s work because of how awful that period was (there is no argument to be made here). but starting with World Gone Wrong ’93, he has made some great songs. the albums have been uneven, but there are plenty of songs that are just as good, if not better, as anything he put out pre-born again christian era.
^
This is why I refuse to forgo physical media.
The best song I have heard him sing but not write is Blood in My Eyes
love this song. back read through this thread to see if anyone had mentioned it, only once. was unaware that it’s a cover.
some favorite dylan covers:
fairport convention – million dollar bash
johnny thunders – joey joey
gene clark – tears of rage
the band – i shall be released
the byrds – lay down your weary tune
george harrison – if not for you
fairport convention – si tu dois partir
nico – i’ll keep it with mine
rainy day – i’ll keep it with mine
Brian Padian
To Be Alone With You
Desolation Row
To Ramona
Dear Landlord
Isis
Gates of Eden
Positively 4th Street
Lilly, Rosemary & the Jack of Hearts
Love Minus Zero/No Limit
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right