Jump to content

Greatest song of ALL TIME!


Tom Sawyer

Recommended Posts

The greatest song of all time

 

 

(CNN) -- The song broke in the summer of 1965, a fired gun of a drum shot followed by words out of a fairy tale: "Once upon a time, you dressed so fine ..."

 

Even Bob Dylan must have known he was on to something when he wrote and recorded "Like a Rolling Stone."

 

Forty years later, the song remains Dylan's most representative and identifiable, from the stabs of organ (courtesy of Al Kooper, who snuck into the recording session and had never played organ), to the crashing rhythm section, to the twirling exclamation points of Mike Bloomfield's lead guitar, to the bursts of harmonica, to -- finally -- the sing-along chorus, belted in a triumphant voice somewhere between a sneer and a whine: "How does it feel? How does it feel?"

 

"It draws a line in the sand. Once you cross it, you can't go back," says rock critic Greil Marcus, author of the new book "Like a Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads" (PublicAffairs).

 

Indeed, "Like a Rolling Stone" is like a gauntlet thrown down, Marcus observes in a phone interview.

 

It's a dividing line between Dylan the tentative folk singer, famous for writing others' hits (Peter, Paul & Mary's "Blowin' in the Wind," the Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man") and Dylan the rock star, celebrated for his own ("Superstar Bob," as Nik Cohn and Guy Peellaert present him in their book "Rock Dreams"); a gateway from Top 40 pop to album rock (the song, six minutes and six seconds, was the longest non-dance record routinely played on AM radio up to that time); a roar of youthful defiance as the '60s started getting meaner.

 

And yet, it also seems less written by Dylan than channeled.

 

Indeed, though the words are important and the melody (based on a "La Bamba" chord progression) infectious, the song -- the recorded performance -- transcends them. It's not for nothing that Rolling Stone magazine named it the greatest song in rock history, ahead of "Satisfaction," "What's Going On" and even "Johnny B. Goode."

 

"It works on its own terms," says Marcus. "It puts you on the spot. It asks of you the fear and courage that it asks of its subject."

 

'This is where his style became a body'

Dylan wrote the song on the 1965 tour chronicled in the documentary "Don't Look Back." On June 15, he showed up in Columbia Records' New York studios and attempted a few takes, but the song refused to come together. The next day, with Kooper (a guest of producer Tom Wilson) present, Dylan tried again.

 

The first three takes set the stage, and then, on the fourth, Dylan and his band nailed it. They tried several more attempts, but never came close again.

 

Though the song screamed "single" to many, Columbia was uncertain. The song was six minutes. AM radio didn't play six-minute songs, and Dylan didn't want it cut in half, as was done with long songs such as the Isley Brothers' "Shout" or Ray Charles' "What'd I Say."

 

But the timing was right. A Columbia assistant sneaked the song, as is, into a New York club; it was a hit. Radio stations that dared play a truncated three-minute version found themselves besieged by listeners. The song rose to No. 2 and cemented Dylan's sound: "This is where his style became a body," says Marcus.

 

It also changed his audience. "It made itself a home on Top 40 radio," says Marcus. The exposure made Dylan exponentially bigger.

 

Indeed, the Dylan sound was quickly parodied and exploited. Gravel-voiced Barry McGuire took the P.F. Sloan-Steve Barri song "Eve of Destruction" -- which owes an obvious debt to Dylan -- to No. 1 later in 1965. A garage band named Mouse and the Traps did a Dylan sound-alike, "A Public Execution," which Marcus recalls inspired questions of, "Have you heard the new Dylan?" before the artist was revealed.

 

Even Dylan himself had fun with "Dylan," offering deeper vitriol ("Positively 4th Street") and burlesquing his own voice ("Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window") before, inevitably, he went off in another direction, as he's done so often in his career.

 

'In the air'

As with many Dylan songs, the subject has been much debated. An old girlfriend? A Greenwich Village folkie? Dylan himself?

 

Marcus steers clear of lyrical analysis, believing that any explanation is a "waste of time," though he observes that the spirit of the song is such that "if the song had been sung in any German-rooted language, it would have the same effect."

 

Which perhaps makes "Like a Rolling Stone" all the more serendipitous, something "in the air," as Marcus says.

 

It has stayed in the air, mysterious, thrilling and haunting.

 

There are the images, as sharp and inscrutable as Dylan ever produced: "the mystery tramp," "a chrome horse with your diplomat," "Napoleon in rags." There are the aphorisms: "When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose."

 

There is the phrase "rolling stone," whose pop music forebears Marcus traces to Hank Williams and Muddy Waters, giving the song both country and blues roots deep into the American soil.

 

There's the production, smoothed out by Bob Johnston, who guided Dylan through "Highway 61 Revisited," "Blonde on Blonde," "John Wesley Harding" and "Nashville Skyline."

 

There are the ensuing performances of the song: a clumsy, booed recital at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival that has entered legend; an angry, defiant blast -- like a lifted middle finger -- to close the bitter 1966 "Albert Hall" concert.

 

And, as Marcus writes, the song has the ability to stop time and silence listeners, as if they'd never heard it before.

 

By now, Marcus himself has heard "Like a Rolling Stone" thousands of times. When he talks about his book on radio shows, the host inevitably cues up the song to kick off the proceedings. Marcus listens, smiles, "and then [the song] goes away like smoke."

 

And how does it feel?

 

"I'm not even close to being sick of 'Like a Rolling Stone,' " Marcus says. "Every time I hear it, it's like the first time. I find that's even more true now than before. Now I don't just smile. I'm astonished."

 

source

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is considered one of the greatest songs ever because of its influence. Dylan was first rocker to incorporate poetic and intelligent lyrics into music and thus influence other musicians to create lyrics that relate to social, political, and cultural topics rather than the simple boy meet girl, i wanna rock 'n roll stuff that was going on in the late 50's and early 60's....The Beatles (especially John), The Stones, The Who, and Jimi Hendrix were some of the legendary acts to be influenced by Dylan's way of songwriting and thus cemented their places in music history. Sure there are a lot of better songs out there but for influence "Like A Rolling Stone" was very important and thus makes one of the greatest songs of all time.

 

 

 

 

 

I love this song alot but I have to go with puppet on this one..Desolation Row is by far my fav Dylan song.....best harmonica solo I've ever heard. Period.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (Test4VitalSigns @ Jun 28 2005, 05:12 PM)
It is considered one of the greatest songs ever because of its influence.  Dylan was first rocker to incorporate poetic and intelligent lyrics into music and thus influence other musicians to create lyrics that relate to social, political, and cultural topics rather than the simple boy meet girl, i wanna rock 'n roll stuff that was going on in the late 50's and early 60's....The Beatles (especially John), The Stones, The Who, and Jimi Hendrix were some of the legendary acts to be influenced by Dylan's way of songwriting and thus cemented their places in music history.  Sure there are a lot of better songs out there but for influence "Like A Rolling Stone" was very important and thus makes one of the greatest songs of all time.





I love this song alot but I have to go with puppet on this one..Desolation Row is by far my fav Dylan song.....best harmonica solo I've ever heard.  Period.

goodpost.gif

 

You're all gonna think I'm crazy... uhm, ok, "crazier" when I say, my favorite Dylan song is ...

 

Johnny's in the basement

Mixing up the medicine

I'm on the pavement

Thinking about the government

The man in the trench coat

Badge out, laid off

Says he's got a bad cough

Wants to get it paid off

Look out kid

It's somethin' you did

God knows when

But you're doin' it again

You better duck down the alley way

Lookin' for a new friend

The man in the coon-skin cap

In the big pen

Wants eleven dollar bills

You only got ten

 

Maggie comes fleet foot

Face full of black soot

Talkin' that the heat put

Plants in the bed but

The phone's tapped anyway

Maggie says that many say

They must bust in early May

Orders from the D. A.

Look out kid

Don't matter what you did

Walk on your tip toes

Don't try "No Doz"

Better stay away from those

That carry around a fire hose

Keep a clean nose

Watch the plain clothes

You don't need a weather man

To know which way the wind blows

 

Get sick, get well

Hang around a ink well

Ring bell, hard to tell

If anything is goin' to sell

Try hard, get barred

Get back, write braille

Get jailed, jump bail

Join the army, if you fail

Look out kid

You're gonna get hit

But users, cheaters

Six-time losers

Hang around the theaters

Girl by the whirlpool

Lookin' for a new fool

Don't follow leaders

Watch the parkin' meters

 

Ah get born, keep warm

Short pants, romance, learn to dance

Get dressed, get blessed

Try to be a success

Please her, please him, buy gifts

Don't steal, don't lift

Twenty years of schoolin'

And they put you on the day shift

Look out kid

They keep it all hid

Better jump down a manhole

Light yourself a candle

Don't wear sandals

Try to avoid the scandals

Don't wanna be a bum

You better chew gum

The pump don't work

'Cause the vandals took the handles

 

edited to add - this was Dylan's first top 40 hit

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (pinkfloyd1973 @ Jun 29 2005, 09:36 AM)
QUOTE (Test4VitalSigns @ Jun 28 2005, 05:12 PM)
It is considered one of the greatest songs ever because of its influence.  Dylan was first rocker to incorporate poetic and intelligent lyrics into music and thus influence other musicians to create lyrics that relate to social, political, and cultural topics rather than the simple boy meet girl, i wanna rock 'n roll stuff that was going on in the late 50's and early 60's....The Beatles (especially John), The Stones, The Who, and Jimi Hendrix were some of the legendary acts to be influenced by Dylan's way of songwriting and thus cemented their places in music history.  Sure there are a lot of better songs out there but for influence "Like A Rolling Stone" was very important and thus makes one of the greatest songs of all time.





I love this song alot but I have to go with puppet on this one..Desolation Row is by far my fav Dylan song.....best harmonica solo I've ever heard.  Period.

goodpost.gif

 

You're all gonna think I'm crazy... uhm, ok, "crazier" when I say, my favorite Dylan song is ...

 

Johnny's in the basement

Mixing up the medicine

I'm on the pavement

Thinking about the government

The man in the trench coat

Badge out, laid off

Says he's got a bad cough

Wants to get it paid off

Look out kid

It's somethin' you did

God knows when

But you're doin' it again

You better duck down the alley way

Lookin' for a new friend

The man in the coon-skin cap

In the big pen

Wants eleven dollar bills

You only got ten

 

Maggie comes fleet foot

Face full of black soot

Talkin' that the heat put

Plants in the bed but

The phone's tapped anyway

Maggie says that many say

They must bust in early May

Orders from the D. A.

Look out kid

Don't matter what you did

Walk on your tip toes

Don't try "No Doz"

Better stay away from those

That carry around a fire hose

Keep a clean nose

Watch the plain clothes

You don't need a weather man

To know which way the wind blows

 

Get sick, get well

Hang around a ink well

Ring bell, hard to tell

If anything is goin' to sell

Try hard, get barred

Get back, write braille

Get jailed, jump bail

Join the army, if you fail

Look out kid

You're gonna get hit

But users, cheaters

Six-time losers

Hang around the theaters

Girl by the whirlpool

Lookin' for a new fool

Don't follow leaders

Watch the parkin' meters

 

Ah get born, keep warm

Short pants, romance, learn to dance

Get dressed, get blessed

Try to be a success

Please her, please him, buy gifts

Don't steal, don't lift

Twenty years of schoolin'

And they put you on the day shift

Look out kid

They keep it all hid

Better jump down a manhole

Light yourself a candle

Don't wear sandals

Try to avoid the scandals

Don't wanna be a bum

You better chew gum

The pump don't work

'Cause the vandals took the handles

That's a cool song too cool.gif cool10.gif Subterranean Homesick Blues....

 

 

 

I like the promo film he did with the cue cards... laugh.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I agree with Pink Floyd - Subterreanean Homesick Blues is Dylan's best track, and still nowhere close to the number one song of all time for me. Critics lists and picks I find vaguely interesting, but so subjective as to be practically worthless. ph34r.gif

 

My personal favortie song of all time is the 16+ minute version of Interstellar Overdrive by Pink Floyd from the "Tonight Let's All Make Love in London" soundtrack - now THAT is music in gooberland!!! yes.gif 1022.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (barney_rebel @ Jun 30 2005, 08:40 AM)
Why wasn't "Do you really want to hurt me?" By Culture Club nominated?

or Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood? just goes to show that these critics have their collective heads up their collective arses... moon.gif moon.gif moon.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In the spirit of nationalist pride that is sweeping this forum, I feel it's safe for me tell you that the greatest song of all time is the Israeli National Anthem: "Hatikva" ("The Hope").

Yes, it's much more than a song, but even if you restrict yourself to its musical effect alone without identifying with the words or their significance, it's hard to deny the song's overwhelming emotion.

Number two is "Yerushalayim shel Zahav" ("Jerusalem of Gold") by Naomi Shemer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (By-Tor & the Jazz Bass @ Jul 11 2005, 10:10 AM)
I didn't know Bob Dylan had any good songs.

sarcasm.gif

 

 

 

 

Whether people like him or not it was Dylan who broke the barrier in writing intelligent lyrics and got the ball rolling in turning rock music into an art form.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (Hatchetaxe&saw @ Jul 11 2005, 03:38 PM)
It's a wonderful song, but the best cover version of it has to be by Spirit, from Spirit of '76.
Track this one down, it's amazing!

Wow that is a hard one to find.. laugh.gif

 

I like a challenge though....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...