# You have to pick 10 and only 10 Bob Dylan songs to listen to for the rest of your life
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [April 24, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445 "2015-04-24T15:17:15Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/1 "2015-04-24T15:17:15Z")
1-Queen Jane Approximately
2- Desolation Row
3- Like A Rolling Stone
4- Masters of War
5- Blowing In The Wind
6- Don’t Think Twice It’s All Right
7- It’s All Over Now Baby Blue
8- Idiot Wind
9- When I Paint My Masterpiece
10- Positively 4th Street
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/2 "2015-04-24T16:07:26Z")
The entirety of \*Highway 61 Revisited \*plus “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands.”
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### Author:  [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/3 "2015-04-24T16:16:57Z")
Desolation Row, 10 times.
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/4 "2015-04-24T16:21:45Z")
Do I have to listen to him “sing” or can it be other performers? 😃
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### Author:  [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/5 "2015-04-24T16:21:48Z")
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
Desolation Row
Not Dark Yet
Most of the Time
Like a Rolling Stone
Girl From the North Country
Just Like a Woman
Maggie’s Farm
Shelter From the Storm
Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
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### Author:  [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/6 "2015-04-24T16:23:19Z")
[ol]
[li]Black Diamond Bay[/li][li]I’ll Remember You[/li][li]Buckets of Rain[/li][li]Subterranean Homesick Blues[/li][li]Isis[/li][li]Masters of War[/li][li]I’ll be Your Baby Tonight[/li][li]Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright[/li][li]Mozambique[/li][li]'til I Fell In Love with You[/li][/ol]
This is my list, written without thinking too hard, or I’d be here for days. I have a hard time choosing favorites (in any category, not just this one). I’m sure after I’ll post I’ll wish I’d said You Ain’t Going Nowhere, or Winterlude, or Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll.
I know one I won’t miss: Man Gave Names to All the Animals
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### Author:  [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/7 "2015-04-24T16:24:12Z")
Is this “You can only listen to Bob Dylan for the rest of your life - pick 10 songs.” or “Pick the only 10 Dylan songs you will ever hear FTROYL, but you get to listen to other music.”? The OP is unclear.
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### Author:  [@Robert163](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robert163)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/8 "2015-04-24T16:27:45Z")
> [@silenus](#):
>
> Is this “You can only listen to Bob Dylan for the rest of your life - pick 10 songs.” or “Pick the only 10 Dylan songs you will ever hear FTROYL, but you get to listen to other music.”? The OP is unclear.
Sorry about that, it is:
“You can only listen to Bob Dylan for the rest of your life - pick 10 songs.”
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### Author:  [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/9 "2015-04-24T16:32:46Z")
OK, trying not to ruminate endlessly on this:
Boots of Spanish Leather
Blind Willie McTell
Mississippi
Mr. Tambourine Man
It’s Alright Ma
Visions of Johanna
It Take a Lot to Laugh
Tell Me, Mama
Idiot Wind (NY version)
Jokerman
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/10 "2015-04-24T16:43:27Z")
“Black Diamond Bay”
“Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream”
“Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”
“Gates of Eden”
“Isis”
“It Ain’t Me, Babe”
“Sara”
“Tangled Up in Blue”
“Tomorrow Is a Long Time”
“Too Much of Nothing”
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### Author:  [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/11 "2015-04-24T17:59:25Z")
Probably subject to change, but pretty much off the top of my head…
Idiot Wind
Simple Twist of Fate
Tangled Up in Blue
Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
Like a Rolling Stone
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
Positively 4th St.
Maggie’s Farm
Tangled Up in Blue
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### Author:  [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/12 "2015-04-24T18:03:56Z")
> [@Robert163](#):
>
> “You can only listen to Bob Dylan for the rest of your life - pick 10 songs.”
Can I pick 10 bullets you put in my head instead? 😃
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### Author:  [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/13 "2015-04-24T18:08:52Z")
Desolation Row
Highway 61 Revisited
She Belongs to Me
The Times They are a Changin’
Sweetheart Like You
Don’t Think Twice
Tangled Up in Blue
When the Ship Comes In
It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
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### Author:  [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/14 "2015-04-24T18:44:45Z")
My wife’s a fan of the guy but I’m not. Listening to him croak out songs is almost painful, for me. Honestly, I really have no idea how that guy ever scored a recording contract. The ONLY song of his that I can tolerate is probably his most famous one - for that one I’ll give a nod to the lyrics (what my wife insists is the best thing about him). But I still don’t think he ever learned how to sing worth a sh\*t.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/15 "2015-04-24T19:04:25Z")
> [@pkbites](#):
>
> Can I pick 10 bullets you put in my head instead? 😃
This. Really. Or at least an ice pick in my ears.
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### Author:  [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/16 "2015-04-24T19:23:28Z")
What the heck, I’ll play:
Subterranean Homesick Blues
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
Gates Of Eden
Ballad Of A Thin Man
One Too Many Mornings
Visions Of Johanna
Spanish Harlem Incident
Talking World War III Blues
I’d probably have a hard time getting much further than those, though. I love Bob, and when he’s good, he’s as awesome as it gets, but his signal-to-noise ratio is seriously out of whack.
I mostly love Dylan because Pennebaker’s _Dont Look Back_ (aka “the one with the missing apostrophe”) is on my list of top ten best movies ever.
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### Author:  [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/17 "2015-04-24T19:24:39Z")
How about we can the threadshitting?
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### Author:  [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/18 "2015-04-24T19:26:22Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#):
>
> How about we can the threadshitting?
Yep, it’s pretty fucking annoying.
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### Author:  [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/19 "2015-04-24T19:37:02Z")
Subterranean Homesick Blues
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Mr. Tambourine Man
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Positively 4th Street
Like A Rolling Stone
Blowin’ In The Wind
Times They Are a’Changin’
Tombstone Blues
Don’t Think Twice
The guy started out as a true troubadour, in the tradition of Woody Guthrie. His voice was no worse than Guthrie’s and imitated the folk style of that type of singing. [Here’s](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCipKmyngLY) a very young Dylan singing “Man of Constant Sorrow”.
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2015, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-have-to-pick-10-and-only-10-bob-dylan-songs-to-listen-to-for-the-rest-of-your-life/718445/20 "2015-04-24T19:40:27Z")
1. Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
2. Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
3. Subterranean Homesick Blues
4. Highway 61 Revisited
5. The Mighty Quinn
6. Like a Rolling Stone
7. Tangled Up in Blue
8. Gotta Serve Somebody
9. Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat
10. Maggie’s Farm
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