“You said you’d never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realise
He’s not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vaccum of his eyes and say
Do you want to make a deal?”
Taken from the album Highway 61 Revisited
US #2, UK #4
One of the true undisputed classics of rock and roll, ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ is a song that is universally praised yet is never crushed by the weight of reputation. Named the greatest song of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2004, it has influenced generations of musicians and the Rolling Stone accolade inspired me to discover the song and Bob Dylan in general, who shall be referred to as “The Bobfather” from now on.
The Bobfather doesn’t have the easiest or most pleasant voice to listen to, but with Yoko Ono and Rihanna scoring high on my list, you can tell that isn’t really a problem for me. Bob, Yoko & Rihanna (imagine if that were the new Sugababes lineup) all use their voices in interesting ways to benefit their material, and it doesn’t detract from the songwriting. Bob’s raw, accusatory tone in ‘Like A Rolling Stone’ is key to the song’s success, makes it feel so much realer than it would have if a trained, note-perfect voice was singing it.
Starting life as a gigantic rant of poetry, The Bobfather took this and created what would become ‘Like A Rolling Stone’, one of his biggest hit singles. The length and departure from his previous work caused controversy, but if it wasn’t for the Beatles it would have become his only number one single. Chart positions aside, the sheer volume of praise heaped on it since it’s release, the poetry of the lyrics that made it resonate with so many listeners, the rock sound and the catchy chorus that helped it cross over to mainstream audiences - all of things are more important than sales. Whether or not it is the greatest song of all time is certainly up for debate, but to ignore it’s artistry and impact would be criminal.
