Favorite Dylan songs?

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

Too many to choose just one! I'm gonna list my faves:

Tangled Up in Blue
Positively 4th Street
Like a Rolling Stone
Subterranean Homesick Blue
It's All Over Now Baby Blue
The Times They Are A' Changin'

[theivoryqueen]

1. Lay down your weary tune

I stood unwound beneath the skies
and clouds unbound by laws
the morning breeze like a bugle blew
and asked for no applause...

or something like that.

[madaboutharry]

3. Lay down your weary tune, that's

a great one. One of my favorites too.

[acmavm]

2. All those plus Knockin' on Heaven's Door, and Lay Lady Lay,

All Along the Watchtower.

[TexasProgresive]

4. Tom Thumb's Blues

[darkstar]

5. Well, they rotate

but about a year ago, "Qeen Jane Approximately" grabbed me and I continue in it's grip. Not the song, per se, but the rising and falling of the energy of the recording. Remarkable. Kinda like the killer dynamics on the "Like a Rolling Stone" found on the Royal Albert Hall.

Energy, man....

[sam sarrha]

6. Ballad of Hallas Brown

[SarahB]

7. Sara, of course

(Should be spelled Sarah, but I digress.)

I laid on a dune I looked at the sky
When the children were babies and played on the beach
You came up behind me, I saw you go by
You were always so close and still within reach.

Sara, Sara
Whatever made you want to change your mind
Sara, Sara
So easy to look at, so hard to define.

I can still see them playing with their pails in the sand
They run to the water their buckets to fill
I can still see the shells falling out of their hands
As they follow each other back up the hill.

Sara, Sara
Sweet virgin angel, sweet love of my life
Sara, Sara
Radiant jewel, mystical wife.

Sleeping in the woods by a fire in the night
Drinking white rum in a Portugal bar
Them playing leapfrog and hearing about Snow White
You in the marketplace in Savanna-la-Mar.

Sara, Sara
It's all so clear, I could never forget
Sara, Sara
Loving you is the one thing I'll never regret.

I can still hear the sounds of those Methodist bells
I'd taken the cure and had just gotten through
Staying up for day in the Chelsea Hotel
Writing "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" for you.

Sara, Sara
Wherever we travel we're never apart
Sara, Sara
Beautiful lady, so dear to my heart.
How did I meet you ? I don't know
A messenger sent me in a tropical storm
You were there in the winter, moonlight on the snow
And on Lily Pond Lane when the weather was warm.

Sara, Sara
Scorpio Sphinx in a calico dress
Sara, Sara
You must forgive me my unworthiness.

Now the beach is deserted except for some kelp
And a piece of an old ship that lies on the shore
You always responded when I needed your help
You gimme a map and a key to your door.

Sara, Sara
Glamorous nymph with an arrow and bow
Sara, Sara
Don't ever leave me, don't ever go.

[orthogonal]

13. Catholic spelling from the Douay Bible

"Sara" (without the "h") is the spelling used in the Douay-Rheims Bible, a Roman Catholic translation of the Bible from the Latin Vulgate into English.

The King James Version, used by Protestants, translated the name as "Sarah" (with an "h").

[SarahB]

21. I never knew that.

I thought it was just a modern version. Cool. Learn something new everyday. :)

[qwertyMike]

26. I know a hgirl called Saro

Saro - beautiful name.

Says her parents were ole hippies, so it coooulda been anything, like Moonbeam or something.

[Zomby Woof]

30. and never mind the real reason

Sara was his wife's name, and he wrote the song as a plea as their marriage was falling apart. The divorce was final in 1977. (it's not like there is only one correct way to spell any name...)

Sara Lowndes was his 'Sad-Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands'(note how the title of that song derives from her name), the beautiful closer to "Blonde On Blonde". She is the mother of Jakob (The Wallflowers) and 3 other children with Bob.

[jpgray]

8. 'Ballad of a Thin Man' and 'A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall' are damn good

I haven't listened to him recently enough to make a solid decision, but those two come to mind. :)

[truthseeker1]

9. Like a Rolling Stone

[supernova]

10. Lay, Lady, Lay

Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts.

Tangled Up in Blue

[No2W2004]

11. Highway 61

Oh God said to Abraham, "Kill me a son"
Abe says, "Man, you must be puttin' me on"
God say, "No." Abe say, "What?"
God say, "You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin' you better run"
Well Abe says, "Where do you want this killin' done?"
God says, "Out on Highway 61."

Well Georgia Sam he had a bloody nose
Welfare Department they wouldn't give him no clothes
He asked poor Howard where can I go
Howard said there's only one place I know
Sam said tell me quick man I got to run
Ol' Howard just pointed with his gun
And said that way down on Highway 61.

Well Mack the Finger said to Louie the King
I got forty red white and blue shoe strings
And a thousand telephones that don't ring
Do you know where I can get rid of these things
And Louie the King said let me think for a minute son
And he said yes I think it can be easily done
Just take everything down to Highway 61.

Now the fifth daughter on the twelfth night
Told the first father that things weren't right
My complexion she said is much too white
He said come here and step into the light he says hmm you're right
Let me tell the second mother this has been done
But the second mother was with the seventh son
And they were both out on Highway 61.

Now the rovin' gambler he was very bored
He was tryin' to create a next world war
He found a promoter who nearly fell off the floor
He said I never engaged in this kind of thing before
But yes I think it can be very easily done
We'll just put some bleachers out in the sun
And have it on Highway 61.

[Earth_First]

12. Hurricane...

[mac56]

14. Bob Dylan's Dream always brings a tear to my eye.

While riding on a train goin' west,
I fell asleep for to take my rest.
I dreamed a dream that made me sad,
Concerning myself and the first few friends I had.

With half damp eyes I stared to the room
Where my friends and I spent many an afternoon,
Where we together weathered many a storm,
Laughin' and singin' 'til the early hours of the morn.

By the old wooden stove where our hats were hung,
Our words were told and our songs were sung;
Where we longed for nothin' and were satisfied
Talkin' and a jokin' about the world outside.

With haunted hearts through the heat and cold,
We never thought we could get very old;
We thought we could sit forever in fun
Though our chances really were a million to one.

As easy as it was to tell black from white,
It wasn't all that easy to tell wrong from right;
Our choices were few and the thought never hit
That the road we traveled would ever shatter and split.

How many a year has passed and gone,
And many a gamble has been lost and won;
And many a road taken by many a first friend,
And each one of them I've never seen again.

I wish, I wish, I wish in vain,
That we could sit simply in that room once again;
Ten thousand dollars at the drop of a hat,
I'd give it all gladly if our lives could be like that.

[mac56]

16. Honorable mention: Chimes Of Freedom

Far between sundown's finish an' midnight's broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing
As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
An' for each an' ev'ry underdog soldier in the night
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

In the city's melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched
With faces hidden as the walls were tightening
As the echo of the wedding bells before the blowin' rain
Dissolved into the bells of the lightning
Tolling for the rebel, tolling for the rake
Tolling for the luckless, the abandoned an' forsaked
Tolling for the outcast, burnin' constantly at stake
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

Through the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail
The sky cracked its poems in naked wonder
That the clinging of the church bells blew far into the breeze
Leaving only bells of lightning and its thunder
Striking for the gentle, striking for the kind
Striking for the guardians and protectors of the mind
An' the poet an the painter far behind his rightful time
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

In the wild cathedral evening the rain unraveled tales
For the disrobed faceless forms of no position
Tolling for the tongues with no place to bring their thoughts
All down in taken-for granted situations
Tolling for the deaf an' blind, tolling for the mute
For the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute
For the misdemeanor outlaw, chased an' cheated by pursuit
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

Even though a clouds's white curtain in a far-off corner flashed
An' the hypnotic splattered mist was slowly lifting
Electric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones
Condemned to drift or else be kept from drifting
Tolling for the searching ones, on their speechless, seeking trail
For the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale
An' for each unharmfull, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

Starry-eyed an' laughing as I recall when we were caught
Trapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended
As we listened one last time an' we watched with one last look
Spellbound an' swallowed 'til the tolling ended
Tolling for the aching whose wounds cannot be nursed
For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an' worse
An' for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing.

[Bryan]

25. Somebody took "Chimes"... Must come up with obscure choice to seem hip...

"Congratulations", from Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1 of all things. A great sarcastic heartbreak ballad and an artifact of his late-'80s resurgence (Oh Mercy).

[orthogonal]

15. "Blowing in the Wind"

Just off the top of my head:

"Girl from the North Country",

"Mr. Tambourine Man",

"Boots of Spanish Leather"

"Desolation Row"

and of course,

"Blowing in the Wind"

Thanks for the thread, I think I'll play some Dylan now. According to Winamp, I have 10 and half hours of Dylan, so this may take a while. ;)

[LeftyDonkey]

17. In no real order:

"I shall be free" is quite funny. "Don't Think Twice" is a classic. Someone needs to sing "Masters of War" to the neo-con thugs. "North Country Blues" for all you folks from the Rust Belt. Anything of Dylan's mid-sixties power trio of _Bring it All Back Home_, _Highway 61_, or _Blonde on Blonde_. The later is tied with _Blood on the Tracks_ for my favorite album. I recommend the Live in 1975 for anyone who doesn't have it.

Listen to "Day of the Locust" off of _New Morning_. It was written about the commencement address he was to give at Princeton in 1969. The cicadas were out that year too and Bob was so freaked out by them he hid in his car for a while. I first listened to the song last month as some close friends of mine were getting ready to graduate and the song stuck on me for a while.

I heard there was a new book by an Oxford professor of poetry coming out about Dylan's lyrics. I cannot remember the name of the book or the author, only that the book is loosely organized around the seven deadly sins.

I love Dylan, but he was never the best political song writer. That hat belongs to Phil Ochs. Anyone know of any good political folks out there today? If the Bush regime can't motivate someone to write some new political songs I don't know what will (Mr. Ashcroft's do NOT count!)

[orthogonal]

19. Phil Ochs

That hat belongs to Phil Ochs.

I love "Love Me, I'm a Liberal" and "The War is Over", but Phil Ochs tended to lay it on with a trowel -- no subtlety, just anger.

And what about Pete Seeger or Woody Guthrie?

[kwolf68]

18. Gee

Just pick. "Blowin' in the Wind" is my all-time personal fave.

[Neecy]

20. hmmmm

I like so much of his stuff, it's hard - but I'll go with these:

Subterranean Homesick Blues
Tangled Up in Blue
Jokerman
Not Dark Yet
Sweetheart Like You
Like a Rolling Stone

Has anyone seen him live? I've come close, but still no luck.

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

22. I was fortunate enough to have seen him in college (won tix off a radio

station to boot) at Chrysler Hall in Norfolk, VA.

[LWolf]

24. Yes, on the 2nd try.

The first try ended in disaster, with me in intensive care and our tickets unused.

A wonderful DU'er sent me a CD of the live local performance that I missed. :loveya:

The 2nd try, last summer, was successful. He wasn't at his best; his voice was almost absent. I think he'd been sick. The local performance (on the CD) was stronger. But it was still well worth the trip.

[Bossy Monkey]

23. Shelter from the Storm. Ask me tomorrow & it'll be something else :) n/t

[qwertyMike]

27. I only like abut 850

of the 900+ songs he wrote

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

28. LOL me too!

But if you forced me to name 20 favs:

Ballad of a Thin Man
Queen Jane
I Want You
Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat
Stuck Inside of Mobile (actually the whole of Blonde on Blonde)
Maggie's Farm
Positively 4th Street
Black Diamond Bay
Idiot Wind
Like a Rolling Stone
Senor
When You Gonna Wake Up
Forever Young
Love is Just a Four Letter Word
Lay Lady Lay
All Along the Watchtower
Just Like a Woman
You're a Big Girl Now
With God on Our Side
RainyDay Women

[Zomby Woof]

29. yeah right

I'll name 11, but don't hold me to them.

Visions Of Johanna
It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
Song To Woody
Not Dark Yet
As I Went Out One Morning
Don't Think Twice, It's Alright
It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
I Shall Be Released
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
Shelter From The Storm