# Favourite Bob Dylan song? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 5, 2002, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322 "2002-11-05T05:09:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![starman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@starman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starman)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/1 "2002-11-05T05:09:09Z")
Anyone got a favourite Bob Dylan song? Not neccessarily when sung by Dylan, just a really great song he wrote. my personal fave is Masters of War. For some reason I always find that song really poignant, particularly the bit that goes: “You’ve thrown the worst fear That can ever be hurled Fear to bring children Into the world For threatening my baby Unborn and unnamed You ain’t worth the blood That runs in your veins” -Oli ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Wilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c37758/32.png) [@Jeff\_Wilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Wilder)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/2 "2002-11-05T05:29:07Z")
Tangled Up In Blue followed closely by Tombstone Blues, My Back Pages, Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues and a whole host of runners up. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/3 "2002-11-05T06:04:28Z")
Johnny’s in the basement Mixin’ up the medicine… AFAIK, this Dylan song is the first example of what we woul today call…RAP! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e274bd/32.png) [@Jack\_D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_D)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/4 "2002-11-05T08:24:49Z")
All Along The Watchtower - but only after Hendrix got hold of it. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/5 "2002-11-05T10:56:23Z")
Right now it is Like a Rolling Stone. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/6 "2002-11-05T11:32:21Z")
_Slow Train Coming_ ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/7 "2002-11-05T11:46:28Z")
Nick Drake/Joan Baez/Anyone else in fact singing _Don’t think twice…_. And the Hendrix version of _All along the Watchtower_. I may get flamed for this, but I think Dylan shouldn’t perform his own songs. Get other people to do it for him. ---
**Author:** ![gouda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c77e96/32.png) [@gouda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gouda)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/8 "2002-11-05T12:37:17Z")
Blowin’ in the Wind. I liked the Neil Young version. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/9 "2002-11-05T12:43:51Z")
I’m with **Jeff Wilder** , _Tangled Up in Blues_ is just such an amazing song - such a real tale of the times. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@John\_Carter\_of\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Carter_of_Mars)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/10 "2002-11-05T13:12:42Z")
_Rainy Day Women Number 12 And 35._ _Positively Fourth Street_ would be a close second. I guess I’m in a distinct minority on this, but I prefer Dylan’s versions of his own songs. For example, anybody besides Dylan that sings _Mr. Tamborine Man_ should be executed. You know, stoned or somethin’. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/11 "2002-11-05T14:07:53Z")
Got to go for “Desolation Row.” Don’t think the boy ever topped that one in terms of imagery. Clustered closely behind are “When I Paint My Masterpiece,” “Visions of Johanna,” “Every Grain of Sand,” “Forever Young,” and “Blind Willie McTell.” ---
**Author:** ![plnnr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@plnnr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/plnnr)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/12 "2002-11-05T14:16:57Z")
Idiot Wind Visions of Johanna Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues (my all-tiime favorite sing in the shower song…“When you’re lost in the rain in Juarez, and its Easter time, too…”) ---
**Author:** ![Labdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/439d5e/32.png) [@Labdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labdad)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/13 "2002-11-05T14:19:38Z")
“Highway 61 Revisted,” “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues,” and “Desolation Row.” ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/14 "2002-11-05T15:13:45Z")
“It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” is pretty powerful, too. “Yonder stands your orphan with his gun, crying like a fire in the sun…” ---
**Author:** ![MSU\_1978](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@MSU\_1978](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MSU_1978)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/15 "2002-11-05T17:32:47Z")
If I had to pick only one, I’d say “Visions of Johanna” from the Live 1966 CD. If I had to own only one Dylan CD, and I have them all, I’d pick that one. The intensity and expressiveness of his voice in that performance is I believe his finest. “Idiot Wind” is another hall of famer. I like the cut on the Bootleg Series boxed set much better than the Blood on the Tracks CD. “Brownstone Girl” is underrated in my opinon. Love the way he transitions from talking to singing throughout. Another underrated song from an underrated album was “No Time to Think” from Street Legal. Of course “Desolation Row” makes any list. ---
**Author:** ![Hugh\_Jass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4da419/32.png) [@Hugh\_Jass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hugh_Jass)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/16 "2002-11-05T17:40:24Z")
Simple Twist of Fate does it for me. ---
**Author:** ![23skidoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f04885/32.png) [@23skidoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/23skidoo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/17 "2002-11-05T17:44:42Z")
“Tangled Up in Blue”, with “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” a _real_ close second. ---
**Author:** ![shelbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@shelbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shelbo)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/18 "2002-11-05T17:47:51Z")
Tangled Up in Blue. [sub]I miss Napster here at work[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2002, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/19 "2002-11-05T19:55:10Z")
Toss-up between “Jokerman” and “Ring Them Bells,” and perhaps “Shooting Star” for sentimental reasons (R.I.P., C.) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2002, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322/20 "2002-11-06T01:10:22Z")
either “Mr. Tambourine Man” for all those lyrics never included by the other artists that covered it like Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free, Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands, With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves, Let me forget about today until tomorrow. Or Shelter from the Storm. Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts ain’t bad either. And to me, only Dylan should sing Dylan. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favourite-bob-dylan-song/135322.md?page=2)