it is always changing. however, with the addition of new soundtrack... I'd say it's

Just like Tom Thumb's Blues

Interesting thoughts...
My favorite Dylan song is often overlooked when viewing his opinions of the media. I think "Restless Farewell" off of "The Times They Are A-Changin'" has done more in a few verses of describing Dylan's often adversarial view of the outside world than have numerous other writers from the outside looking in. It's a sweeping autobiography and a great campfire song all at the same time, and there aren't many songs written that can do both.

I know it's probably heresy of me to skip right past all Dylan's great stuff from back in the day, but depending on my mood my favorite Dylan song is either "Things Have Changed" or "Not Dark Yet." The late 1990s are where it's at for me.

What can I say? I'm a dang philistine.

Visions of Johanna as performed by the Dead

troll

For me it also changes constantly.. But right now it would have to be "Lay Down Your Weary Tune" off of Biograph and heard at the end of the No Direction Home DVD during the end credits. Mark.

Right now it's "Like A Rolling Stone", but it changes between "Subterranean Homesick Blues", "Masters of War" and "Mr. Tambourine Man".

I hope we can pick more than one!

My favorite changes often as well. I will go new school for the moment: "Not Dark Yet" and "Things Have Changed" have been getting it done for me.

"Not Dark Yet" is a masterpiece.

I remember listening to Pete Seeger's recording of "One Grain of Sand" when I was a toddler, which, ahem, predates that Dylan album.

Googling the title, the first hit is "One Grain of Sand : A Lullaby: Books by Pete Seeger,Linda Wingerter."

Didn't look closely at the other hits on the page, but no mention of Dylan.

I'm predictable too and not a Dylan fan necessarily, so it's "Like a Rolling Stone" for me.

I must say that I loved Scorsese's documentary last night and will definitely tune in tonight. I might give Dylan another chance based on it despite the fact that the documentary confirmed many of the things I've always thought about him. Nonetheless, he's a fascinating character and is actually quite well-spoken: an ambitious, opportunistic, self-interested, apolitical yet current chameleon of an artist who wasn't afraid to borrow from others liberally to find the source material for his own unique force of character and will. Scorsese is brilliant and you forget what an akward, geeky, chubby kid Dylan was coming up and finding himself. We have the image of the fake Picasso mustachioed, skinny artist/living legend in our heads now, but you really got a sense of how hungry he was to invent his own identity, ignore his real past, and present a fake one ("I grew up in New Mexico learning the cowboy songs") so he could become a mysterious icon rather than plain old Bobby Zimmerman from Minnesota.

I kinda like "Masters at War" too even though I always got the sense that Dylan's poetic politics were more about the words than any concrete stands.

That is all.

I love Dylan, but my knowledge is kind of limited. Musically, I very much prefer the acoustic stuff, largely because of the vocals, which were unpolished but still musical. I think it was when he went electric that his singing really started to get ugly, and also sort of abitrary, as he often seemed to be just hollering the songs with much passion but little apparent attention to the words. Also, I wasn't nuts about his bands, maybe with the exception of Subterranean Homesick-type stuff, where they were effective enough. For me the interest on the electric stuff is overwhelmingly the lyrics, which had continued developing, whereas his acoustic songs usually work for me as unified pieces.

Steve, thats some great analysis, musing, whatever with regards two of my own favourite Dylan songs also. The stuff about how Visions Of Johanna is about what you should be doing when you're doing something else, i never thought of that.

Let's see, favourite Dylan... i think, possibly, "Spanish Harlem Incident", although that record (Another Side Of...) has two others that could easily make it depending on the mood, To Ramona and Ballad In Plain D.
I adore the version of Desolation Row to be found on the Bootleg Series release of the Free Trade Hall concert. also, Mamma You Been On My Mind is just beautiful.
Too many, far too damn many. One Too Many Mornings has often captured the mood i been in, unfortunately, but it's all good, on account of the song's beautiful. And this is without mentionin I Threw It All Away or Gates Of Eden or If You See Her, Say Hello, which i find impossible to listen to sometimes, much like Buckets Of Rain, the poigniancy in that just slices the flesh off a my damn spine.
Too many, i already went well past the One i was allowed. I dunno if i could ever answer such a question.
And Jokerman, too, lest we forget.
And Talkin John Birch Paranoid Blues.
again, great stuff, man.
And Idiot Wind.
And Cold Irons Bound.

Incidentally, I've been listening to, bootleg series, um, let me look, vol. 2, and in many cases I prefer these presumably earlier interpretations (if not the lyrics) to the takes that were released, because he sticks closer to the melodies.

Seems to me that in a way he is going for a jazz thing in all this improvising (I understand that Billie Holliday was an influence), but that requires a minimal amount of chops.

I really like this profoundly screwed-up couplet:

"He looked for work and money and he walked a ragged mile/ Oh your children are so hungry that they don't know how to smile."

You, sir, are asking the impossible.

--Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands: Haunting and hypnotic.
--Desolation Row: Takes you places you don't want to go.
--Don't Think Twice
--One Too Many Mornings
--Girl From the North Country
--One More Night
--Visions of Johanna
--One of us Must Know
--Stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
--Ballad of a Thin Man
--In my Time of Dyin'
--Song to Woddy
--See That My Grave is Kept Clean
--When the Ship Comes In
--Baby You Been on my Mind
--With God on Our Side
--Only a Pawn in their Game
--When the Ship Comes In

And that's off the top of my head.

In Jamesons Veritas

damn it to hell, i forgot when the ship comes in. my favourite version is on the bootleg series (the box one, wi 1-3, i think it's vol.1 technically that the track is on) where he does it with piano.

oh, also 'Seven Curses' from the very first Bootleg series

Brownsville Girl...

Simple Twist of Fate - Don't Think Twice - Mr. Tambourine Man - Like A Rolling Stone - Blowin' In The Wind

godogo,

the dylan song is called 'EVERY grain of sand'

lots of great ones already picked. i'll add "it's alright ma (i'm only bleeding)"

the original version on BIABH

sonny

I knew that!!!

Uh, bye.

ok, i thought it over. it's:

Forever Young

Duke, good call on "Cold Irons Bound."

I just thought of a few more... "It's All Right, Don't Think Twice" and "Every Grain of Sand" are nearly perfect. "Desolation Row" - I can't believe I got to see him do that one live in Nashville!

It's too damn hard to choose one.

The second part of the documentary wasn't as good as the first, but still interesting stuff, especially the whole brouhaha at the Newport Folk Festival.

The footage of old press conferences in the UK showed what silly questions stiff, formal journalists at the time would ask and showed an akward but playful Dylan in his younger years.

"Hard Rain" is also a great song. There are some songs Dylan sings which are just painfully affected and difficult to listen to, however.

That is all.

I love "Every Grain of Sand" -- but by far the best version is by Emmylou Harris. Dylan's lost years were mostly a decline in performance, not songwriting. Oh Mercy, for instance -- a good, but hardly great album -- turns out to have included mediocre performances of truly great songs. When Bob revisited "Shooting Star" on Unplugged, it became a gem. "Man in the Long Black Coat" was pretty dull on Oh Mercy, but Joan Osborne demonstrated that it was in fact a stunning piece of songwriting.

Favorite Dylan song? Maybe "To Ramona" from Another Side of. Or "Tomorrow is a Long Time" -- which appears only on Greatest Hits Volume 2.

Brother Hart, this was a particularly choice turn of phrase, describing "Gotta Serve Somebody": "the singer is eyeballing you through a slot in the church door, and odds are you haven't got the right password." Sweet- but still one of my top Dylan songs. I have a Dylan mix CD that I conjured up, titled "Bob Dylan's Finger of Judgement." Wagging the finger in your face is one of Dylan's more effective artistic strategies. Hey this is starting to sound like a new post...

Then again, "Every Grain of Sand" is considerably better. Religious issues aside, that's just a particularly choice melody.

Likewise in the range of "nice" Dylan Christian songs, "I Believe in You" rates right up there. Have you ever heard Sinead O'Connor's version? Holy crap, it's good.


Anway, looking for a slightly less than obvious favorite Dylan, I'll emphasize his underappreciated humor. I'm going with "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream."

Favorite part, he goes to the bank looking for a loan to bail his friends out of jail. "They asked me for some collateral, so I pulled down my pants."

Second best, "I said,'you know they refused Jesus too,' and he said, 'You're not him.'"

lay lady lay

What ever Dylan does is great, he has a way of moving me to a dream. There is no one like him, his music and style are magical!

It's Alright Ma, I'm only Bleeding
Ballad of a Thin Man
Highwater
Where are you Tonight?
Tangled Up in Blue

It's all right Ma, I'm only bleeding.

and Forever Young -- This is a confession... done by Rod Stewart.

I know, I know.... I have committed the heresy of the unhip. But the Stewart outfit really kicked butt on that release. Later on Big Country had this overall sound and texture, which reminded a lot of the Stewart sound on that release.

Best live performance was the Dylan segment on Concert for Bangaladesh... amazingly good.

"Brownsville Girl" - (1986)

Co-written with Sam Shepard - the playwright, not the doctor that "The Fugitive" was based on!

"You always said that people don't do what they believe in, they just do what's most convenient, then they repent..."

I seem to recollect reading somewhere that the name of the Gregory Peck movie referred to in the song is called "The Gunfighter"

My pick for favorite Dylan song and one that most often does not receive the credit it deserves is "Quinn the Eskimo"

Lily, Rosemary & the Jack of Hearts. Or maybe The Ballad of Hollis Brown, depending on my mood.

right on for "visions" and "every grain of sand." those happen to be my two favorites also. i would also add "abandoned love" (from biograph), "to ramona," "desolation row," and "if not for you" (bootleg series version w/ george harrison- "are you ready, george?).

this is too hard!!

Ah, "The Ballad of Hollis Brown." Dylan's own performance is brilliant, of course, but the cover by the Neville Brothers has to be heard -- equally haunting.

Tangled Up in Blue - #1 in my book
Hard Rain - maybe his best protest-era song
Series of Dreams - nobody's mentioned it yet?
All Along the Watchtower, Hendrix version - obvious, I know, but it's really good
Positively 4th Street - unparalleled lyrics

1. Tangled Up In Blue

2. Don't Think Twice, It's All Right

1. One More Cup of Coffee.
2. You're a Big Girl Now.
3. Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands.
4. Knockin on Heaven's Door.

(Nicer comment here than on my Dylan comment thread, Booey. Maybe there's hope for you yet.)

I Shall Be Released is my favorite Dylan song.

Greatest song ever written IMHO!

i also would like to add "mama you been on my mind" and "isis."

For me, it has got to be; that paean of praise..."Gotta serve somebody"`
I can just picture all those "Angel cats in shades an` hats, diggin` the rhythm an` rhyme an` slippin` in some scat...oooblee dooblee bop bop bop...The Lord is where its at!"

positively 4th street is my fave dylan song, it has such great lyrics and is really uplifting

so hard to decide!
but i think JOKERMAN on the INFIDELS album is the best Bob Dylan song ever.

Following close, and tied for second, would be:

Visions of Johanna
Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts
Blind Willie McTell
Boots of Spanish Leather
Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

and, obviously
Not Dark Yet

but in the end, i think its safe to say that Dylan is a genius.

MASTER OF WAR

"Hurricane", one of my favs, I love the "Desire" LP. All of it.

anything off nashville skyline is tops

"It Ain't Me Babe" off of the 'Greatest Hits'. LPs can be lame but not when it comes Bob Dylan. As we know most of the time "greatest hits" albums come together because of the draw to folks who are not all that familiar with their work or do not have enough experience to pick a defining LP.

it ain't me babe

hurricane, best song ever

1. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
2. Desolation Row
3. Hurricane
4. House of the Rising Sun
5. Masters of War
6. Chimes of Freedom
7. North Country Blues
8. Don't Think Twice, It's Alright
9. Visions of Johanna
10. Subterranean Homesick Blues

Oh god, so many! Let me offer two: "Visions of Johanna" and "Tangled Up in Blue." (Gotta give "Masters of War" an honorable mention.) And apologies to all the Dylan songs I wanted to mention... :(

shelter from the storm, all along the watchtower, masters of war, knocking of heavens door, tangled up in blue, visions of johanna, hurricane, girl from the north country... umm wow there are so many more i could just go on forever

I would definately have to say one of the best songs I've heard which truly defines bob dylans philosophy would be It's Alright Ma (I'm only Bleeding) if you get the song look up the lyrcis and read it as he wrote it, true poetry. His philosophy is as true to mine. Most Ingenius I wish i could write like he does, beautiful peice there man if you read this

Dont Think Twice, Idiot Wind, Desolation Row, and Joey, probably the only 11 minute song that I could ever enjoy throught and know every word

Blowing in the Wind
Girl from the North Country
A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
Oxford Town
Ramblin' Gamblin' Willie
Farewell
The Times They Are A-changing
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Love is Just a Four Letter Word
Lay Down Your Weary Tune
Spanish Harlem Incident
Chimes of Freedom
I Don't Believe You
It Ain't Me Babe
Mister Tambourine Man
She Belongs to Me
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
Like a Rolling Stone
Desolation Row
Visions of Johanna
4th Time Around
All Along the Watchtower
I Shall be Released
Kocking on Heaven's Door
Tangled Up in Blue
If You See Her Say Hello
Isis
Mozambique
...and so many others

Idiot Wind.

Especially the little dig at McGuinn with that "Visions of your Chestnut Mare" line...priceless.

-Glen

Let me add:
- North Country Blues
- The Hour When the Ship Comes In
- Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues

The tandem mentioned by Natalie as her two tops of the tops or very best ones, that is, "Visions of Johanna" & "Tangled Up in Blue", is also mine's

Theres a couple of songs that people havent mentioned yet, and i feel need to be included. From the album Street Legal (often overlooked and critisiced for poor production):
Senor and Changing of the Guard and Where are you tonight?

but the top five in my view are:

Like a Rolling Stone (How does it feel???)

Hurricane (great return to topical songwriting)

Tangled up in Blue - You have to love it

Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands (Most beautiful love song ever written, best song from his best album)

Blind Willie Mctell - (How can this lay hidden for almost 20 years, masterpeice!)

Can't quite remember the name of the song...sumthin' about a comedian dancing to the nightingale's tune :)
Also, You Ain't Going Nowhere always gets me singing along.

Oh wow no one has even mentioned mine... Queen Jane Approximately. I'm not sure why, but listening to it just makes me feel so good, everytime. It makes me believe I'm actually in the 60's right then.

Standing on the waters casting your bread
While the eyes of the idol with the iron head are glowing.
Distant ships sailing into the mist,
You were born with a snake in both of your fists while a hurricane was blowing.
Freedom just around the corner for you
But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.

So swiftly the sun sets in the sky,
You rise up and say goodbye to no one.
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread,
Both of their futures, so full of dread, you don't show one.
Shedding off one more layer of skin,
Keeping one step ahead of the persecutor within.

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune,
Bird fly high by the light of the moon,
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman.

Yipes!
What all of you said.
Unbelievable. It just goes on and on.
Dylan is the only one I know of that could have a list like this that goes on and on with so many truly great songs to choose from.
Mot to mention the decades and the disparate types, or kinds... genre's I guess.

I can't choose.
Johanna is always there by default.

Most of the Time from Oh Mercy sometimes is also right up there.

I always said I wanted Dylan played or sung at my funeral.
Thanks for your choice. I think it will be mine as well.

Isn't "Jokerman" about Yassir Arafat?

What if there was a songwriter who just wrote...
Like a Rolling Stone. Mr. Tambourine Man and Blowing in the Wind. Those 3 songs would be more than enough to make him a legend of popular music. Yet those 3 tunes barely scratch the surface of Dylan's canon. Amazing.
Actually I find it impossible to pick favorites from such an embarrassment of riches.

my friend and i were talking about this the other day. its so hard to just pick one. right when you think you have it you remember how great another one is and you are completly torn between so many favorties

Some Top ones
1. Ballad of a Thin Man
2. Sara
3. Tombstone Blues
4. It aint me babe
5. Only a pawn in there game

Jokerman is about Jesus, so unless Yassir Arafat is Jesus...

Nope. Nobody mentioned my favorite, though they sure did a lot of runner-ups.

All time favorite: What Good am I? (my own subtitle: how to be a decent person)

Did he really go born-again those few years or did he just want to experiment with that kind of music?

I like the songs on the classic albums that aren't the show-stopping masterpieces. Like on BoB, there's Visions and Sad Eyed Lady and Stuck, but my favorites are songs like Fourth Time. It's like.. he wasn't expecting you too listen to this one too closely, and that makes it really interesting.

In that same vein, I'm a big fan of Gates of Eden, It's all Over Now, Queen Jane Approximately.

Narrowing it down to one is damn near impossible. So I used them all in my new novel, BLOOD ON THE TRACKS. I thought I'd tell your readers about it.

It's a murder-mystery. But not just any rock superstar is knocking on heaven's door. The murdered rock legend is none other than Bob Dorian, an enigmatic, obtuse, inscrutable, well, you get the picture...

Suspects? Tons of them. The only problem is they're all characters in Bob's songs.

You can get a copy on Amazon or go "behind the tracks" at my site to learn more about the book.

Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You

that's a really hard question coz Bob Dylan has so many amazing songs!!!
my favourite songs change all the time but currently it would have to be

- It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry
- I Shall Be Released
- It's all over now baby blue
- Mr Tambourine Man
- The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
- Things have changed
- Positively 4th Street
- When the ship comes in

Im such a huge fan of Bob Dylan there way too many great songs :)

Fortunately, all of Dylan's songs offer great inspiration... and characters. In fact, it's those characters from Bob's songs who are the suspects in my new murder mystery, BLOOD ON THE TRACKS.

IDIOT WIND

I have heaps. But, for today I am madly inlove with The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carrol!
Last week's fave. was A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall!
Weel before that was... probably, You're A Big Girl Now!

I just love them all. x

Ballad of a Thin Man.

Period.

End of list.

Oh also (47 other songs.....)

First of all, it is my belief that Dylan is the greatest songwriter in the history of the universe! My all time favorite song by Dylan would have to be I Shall Be Released. Why? The song itself may be about an individual who was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned, however, I believe it also refers to one who is in search of God and the possibility of being set free from his circumstances. This song is about hope.