(Billy Steve Clayton/The Minnesota Star Tribune)
25 Dylan songs you should hear
Bob Dylan wrote hundreds of songs in his long and storied (and still robust) career. To celebrate the bard's 75th birthday (May 24), here are the 25 most essential songs in Dylan's vast catalog (with annotations on the Top 10).
May 22, 2016 at 10:53PM
1.
"Like a Rolling Stone" (1965)
Dylan puts down society and a woman who's not his kind in a six-minute song that not only revolutionized rock music but commercial radio, as well.
Album: "Highway 61 Revisited"
2.
"The Times, They Are A-Changing" (1964)
Wordy, rhyming and decidedly unstrident, this became an all-purpose social commentary.
Album: "The Times, They Are a Changing"
3.
"Tangled Up in Blue" (1975)
This song looks at a relationship at different times and in different tenses. You can tell he feels blue about the breakup.
Album: "Blood on the Tracks"
4.
"Blowin' in the Wind" (1963)
This simple, poetic, folk protest song put Dylan in the public consciousness.
Album: "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan"
5.
"A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" (1963)
One of his most scorching protest songs strikes out against impending darkness, a theme that emerged in Dylan songs throughout the years.
Album: "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan"
6.
"It's Alright Ma" (1965)
With a nod to a line from Elvis Presley, Dylan takes on phonies, hypocrites and other artificial types that he doesn't want in his kind of world.
Album: "Bringing It All Back Home"
7.
"I Shall Be Released" (1967)
This rock hymn can apply to a prisoner pining for freedom or a person about to pass on to the other side.
Album: "Music from Big Pink (The Band)"
8.
"Visions of Johanna" (1966)
This ground-breaking, impressionistic epic discusses one man's obsession with two different women.
Album: "Blonde on Blonde"
9.
"Not Dark Yet" (1997)
As gorgeous as it is haunting, this almost feels like an old-timey hymn as Dylan addresses mortality.
Album: "Time Out of Mind"
10.
"Hurricane" (1976)
The true story of a wrongly imprisoned boxer in the spirit of other Dylan tales of racial injustice, it may not be one of his best songs but it's one of his most riveting recordings thanks to the tension and urgency from Scarlet Rivera's fiddle.
Album: "Desire"
11.
"Subterranean Homesick Blues" (1965)
Album: "Bringing It All Back Home"
12.
"I Want You" (1965)
Album: "Blonde on Blonde"
13.
"Girl from the North Country" (1963)
Album: "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan"
14.
"Simple Twist of Fate" (1975)
Album: "Blood on the Tracks"
15.
"Ballad of a Thin Man" (1965)
Album: "Highway 61 Revisited"
16.
"Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" (1963)
Album: "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan"
17.
"Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again" (1966)
Album: "Blonde on Blonde"
18.
"Jokerman" (1983)
Album: "Infidels"
19.
"Tonight I'll Be Staying Here with You" (1969)
Album: "Nashville Skyline"
20.
"Shelter from the Storm" (1975)
Album: "Blood on the Tracks"
21.
"Every Grain of Sand" (1981)
Album: "Shot of Love"
22.
"Desolation Row" (1965)
Album: "Highway 61 Revisited"
23.
"My Back Pages" (1964)
Album: "Another Side of Bob Dylan"
24.
"Mr. Tambourine Man" (1965)
Album: "Bringing It All Back Home"
25.
"Love Sick" (1997)
Album: "Time Out of Mind"
Critics’ picks for entertainment in the week ahead.
