# Which of Bob Dylan's lyrics are actually good? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 23, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724 "2009-01-23T22:33:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Paladud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Paladud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paladud)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/1 "2009-01-23T22:33:00Z")
Title says it all 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/2 "2009-01-23T22:41:37Z")
Forever Young is pretty gorgeous. And Blowin in the Wind. I can’t stand his singing but his lyrics are great–I just like them covered by other people! ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/3 "2009-01-23T22:44:38Z")
The entire album _Blond on Blond_. The entire album _Blood On The Tracks_. Almost all of _Highway 61 Revisited_. Lot’s more… Are you looking for people to quote specific lines? I can if that’s what you want. ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/4 "2009-01-23T22:48:44Z")
How about this my favorite verse from my favorite Dylan song, “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue” off _Bring It All Back Home_ Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you. Forget the dead you’ve left, they will not follow you. The vagabond who’s rapping at your door Is standing in the clothes that you once wore. Strike another match, go start anew And it’s all over now, Baby Blue. [Full Lyrics on Bob Dylan.com for context of why this vese is so powerful](http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/its-all-over-now-baby-blue) ---
**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:** [January 23, 2009, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/5 "2009-01-23T22:51:10Z")
**Mr. Tambourine Man** > [@](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/6 "2009-01-23T22:55:04Z")
Anyone who denies the lyrical power of Hurricane wants their ears perforating with skewers. _Arthur Dexter Bradley said, I’m really not sure. Cops said, a poor boy like you could use a break We got you for the motel job and were talkin to your friend Bello Now you dont wanta have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow. Youll be doin society a favor. That sonofabitch is brave and gettin braver. We want to put his ass in stir We want to pin this triple murder on him He aint no gentleman Jim._ ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/7 "2009-01-23T22:58:11Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > We want to put his ass in stir > We want to pin this triple murder on him > He aint no gentleman Jim.\* Yes, but Dylan’s line-reading of this is an offense to all that is holy. _Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats Too noble to neglect Deceived me into thinking I had something to protect Good and bad, I define these terms Quite clear, no doubt, somehow. Ah, but I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now._ **-My Back Pages** ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/8 "2009-01-23T22:58:25Z")
One more and then I will back off and let other post: From Tangled up in Blue (The whole song is great and I had trouble picking just one bit to quote) She was married when we first met Soon to be divorced I helped her out of a jam, I guess, But I used a little too much force. [Again, this is a story song so you need the whole context.](http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/tangled-blue) But the phasing, the structure (of the whole song) and the ability to say so much about their whole relationship with just those few words is mind blowing. ---
**Author:** ![Mixolydian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/da6949/32.png) [@Mixolydian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mixolydian)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/9 "2009-01-23T23:01:22Z")
The real question is, which ones aren’t?:rolleyes: Some people are not supposed to “get” Dylan. It’s okay. Like he wrote… _But I mean no harm nor put fault On anyone that lives in a vault But it’s alright, Ma, if I can’t please him._ ---
**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:** [January 23, 2009, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/10 "2009-01-23T23:05:27Z")
And he’s still got it, as evinced by **Working man’s blues #2** > [@](#): > > There’s an evenin’ haze settlin’ over town > Starlight by the edge of the creek > The buyin’ power of the proletariat’s gone down > Money’s gettin’ shallow and weak > Well, the place I love best is a sweet memory > It’s a new path that we trod > They say low wages are a reality > If we want to compete abroad ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/11 "2009-01-23T23:11:06Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > From Tangled up in Blue (The whole song is great and I had trouble picking just one bit to quote) > > She was married when we first met > Soon to be divorced > I helped her out of a jam, I guess, > But I used a little too much force. > > [Again, this is a story song so you need the whole context.](http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/tangled-blue) But the phasing, the structure (of the whole song) and the ability to say so much about their whole relationship with just those few words is mind blowing. Lyrically, one of the best songs ever. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/12 "2009-01-23T23:19:44Z")
He has written dozens of masterpieces. Which of his classic songs do you think have bad lyrics? A question like the OPs could only be written to provoke. No single artist has been covered more than Bob Dylan. No songwriter in the modern era has been more influential. I was going to try to find the best verse of _Desolation Row_ as my example but it was impossible. Just read the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/13 "2009-01-23T23:47:25Z")
I doubt I’d read Bob’s lyrics if they were published as poetry, without musical accompaniment. (I really almost no poetry.) But as lyrics, he comes up with more good lines than anyone else. The sparse scene setting of _Shelter From The Storm_: It was in another lifetime, One of toil and blood, When blackness was a virtue, The road was filled with mud. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/14 "2009-01-24T00:09:16Z")
He’s also a very funny writer. Try **Talkin’ World War III Blues** for example. _I rode down 42nd Street In my Cadillac Good car to drive After a war._ And (literally) on the other side of the album comes the other way to see the after the war world, as a nightmare, not a funny dream, in **A Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall**. How many writers have that much range on one album? There are a couple of bad Dylan songs. **Joey** sucks. But not that many. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/15 "2009-01-24T00:18:27Z")
So many, but I like these two best: [It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)](http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/its-alright-ma-im-only-bleeding) Darkness at the break of noon Shadows even the silver spoon The handmade blade, the child’s balloon Eclipses both the sun and moon To understand you know too soon There is no sense in trying. [Highway 61 Revisited](http://www.bobdylan.com/#/songs/highway-61-revisited) 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.” ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/16 "2009-01-24T00:52:33Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Forever Young is pretty gorgeous. And Blowin in the Wind. > > I can’t stand his singing but his lyrics are great–I just like them covered by other people! Here’s what I wrote about (the lyrics to) [Blowin’ in the Wind](http://1001worstsongs.blogspot.com/2008/05/titans-part-1-dylan.html). Obviously, we differ on what constitutes a great lyric. Dylan did indeed write many good lyrics, but he wrote just as many that were pretentious, portentious crap, as well as a ton that were meaningless wordplay, which has always been enough to get a majority of listeners to confuse it with depth or poetry. The guy was gnomic, for sure, but for that kind of thing I’ll take the first 10 years of Elvis Costello. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/17 "2009-01-24T00:58:53Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > He has written dozens of masterpieces. Which of his classic songs do you think have bad lyrics? A question like the OPs could only be written to provoke. Yes. He could’ve just said, “I don’t think Bob Dylan’s lyrics are good.” Well, fine. If that’s the case, then why do you want people to tell you lyrics they think are good, when you obviously have concluded otherwise? It’s called attention-whoring. ---
**Author:** ![JackofHearts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8c91f0/32.png) [@JackofHearts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackofHearts)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/18 "2009-01-24T01:04:47Z")
I’ll just cite my username with a plug for “lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts” 🙂 Brilliant song… ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/19 "2009-01-24T01:06:23Z")
so, so many great ones. many of faves already mentioned in this thread. I think the lyrics to “Idiot Wind” are some of the most biting, vicious, brilliant ever written. ---
**Author:** ![Southern\_Yankee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/southern_yankee/32/2800_2.png) [@Southern\_Yankee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Southern_Yankee)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2009, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724/20 "2009-01-24T01:32:27Z")
As others have said, there’s too many to list, but _Shelter from the Storm_ is one of my favorites. Every verse is great, IMO, so here’s one: Suddenly I turned around and she was standin’ there With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair. She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns. “Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-bob-dylans-lyrics-are-actually-good/482724.md?page=2)