This is the year of Bob Dylan. The recent movie about his life and rise to fame, called A Complete Unknown, starring Timothee Chalamet, certainly has returned the iconic song writer to the front of our collective consciousness. Ive noticed that there are simply more stories, cartoons, articles all about Bob Dylan that are clearly a function of the new movie. His biggest songs were:
Based on commercial success and cultural impact, here are some of Bob Dylan’s most significant hit songs, focusing on both chart performance and lasting influence:
“The Times They Are A-Changin'” (1964) – While not a massive chart hit, this became one of Dylan’s signature songs and an anthem of social change in the 1960s.
“Like a Rolling Stone” (1965) – this revolutionary 6-minute track peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and is often considered one of the greatest songs ever written. It transformed both Dylan’s career and popular music.
“Mr. Tambourine Man” (1965) – The Byrds’ cover version reached #1 on both US and UK charts. Dylan’s original appeared on “Bringing It All Back Home” and helped establish folk-rock as a genre.
“Just Like a Woman” (1966) – this reached the Top 40 and has become one of Dylan’s most enduring songs.
“All Along the Watchtower” (1968) – While Dylan’s original wasn’t a major hit, Jimi Hendrix’s cover became a classic and Dylan himself later adopted elements of Hendrix’s arrangement in his live performances.
“Lay Lady Lay” (1969) – Reaching #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, this Nashville-recorded song showed Dylan’s country influences and remains one of his highest-charting singles.
“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” (1973) – this song reached the top 20 and has been covered numerous times, most famously by Guns N’ Roses.
And then of course, there was one of his earliest hits, “Blowin’ in the Wind” (1963). Peter, Paul and Mary covered the song and it reached #2. The song became an anthem of the civil rights movement and remains one of Dylan’s most recognized compositions. It’s opening stanza sets the tone:
How many roads must a man walk down before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly before they’re forever banned?
An then the refrain…
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind. The answer is blowin’ in the wind.
Yes, and how many years must a mountain exist before it is washed to the sea?
And how many years can some people exist before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind. The answer is blowin’ in the wind.
Yes, and how many times must a man look up before he can see the sky?
And how many ears must one man have before he can hear people cry?
Yes, and how many deaths will it take ’til he knows that too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind. The answer is blowin’ in the wind.
Today the wind was certainly blowing. It started last night and continued through to this morning before gradually subsiding this afternoon. The wind is not generally a problem in these environs, but when you haven’t had rain for as long as its been dry here, the combination of wind and dry is a near perfect cocktail for runaway wildfire. And the pernicious thing is that if a wildfire does start, the winds are likely to take it places very fast. We are heading out across the desert tomorrow morning. I’ve been in an Arizona dust storm before with sand blowing and drifting across the highway and its no fun on a motorcycle. It’s certainly a good time to have a full coverage helmet, which we will all have. I’m not used to worrying about checking out wind conditions as opposed to temperature and precipitation, which are the factors that most impact a motorcycle ride, but high winds are worth paying attention to as well.
It’s actually very hard to find accurate wind data that can help inform someone planning to ride from here to there. I’ve looked at the weather forecast for the places along the way for tomorrow’s route and the wind predictions are in the 12-14mph level. That seems reasonable and not so problematic. But I do note that where they usually show a daily symbol like a sun or a clout or a rain cloud, it shows the wind symbol for the next few days. Then Kim sent me an article from the San Diego Union Tribune which said that the area just south of where we will be headed would have Santa Ana gust of up to 75 mph. That does not sound good, but I can find nothing on the weather service apps to back up that article. It’s a vexing issue because I’m not inclined to shy away from a ride on an otherwise sunny day with fair temperatures, but I remember those times when I have been severely battered by a strong crosswind, which I doubt was ever as high as 75 mph.
Obviously, Bob Dylan’s lyrics were not intended to focus too much on meteorological conditions, but rather socioeconomic conditions. Dylan transformed popular songwriting by introducing complex literary techniques, poetic imagery, and serious themes into popular music. He moved beyond simple love songs to address social issues, politics, philosophy, and personal reflection with sophisticated wordplay and metaphor. Songs like “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” and “Desolation Row” demonstrated that pop music could be serious art. This had a lot to do with his being awarded the Nobel Prize for literature in 2016. Yes, Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016 “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” He was the first songwriter to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.
It is said that Dylan was the “Voice of a Generation”. Songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are A-Changin'” became anthems of the civil rights and anti-war movements. He helped create folk-rock by combining folk music with electric instruments. He also had great cultural impact, influencing musicians from The Beatles to Bruce Springsteen. He also exemplified artistic integrity by maintaining artistic independence, doing things like switching from acoustic to electric music at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival as a moment of artistic rebellion. He never compromised his artistic vision for commercial success. The combination of innovative songwriting, cultural impact, artistic integrity, and sustained creative output established Dylan as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century, with an influence that continues into the 21st century. His work demonstrated that popular music could be both artistically sophisticated and culturally significant, helping to elevate rock and folk music to serious art forms.
So, tomorrow and for the following three days, I will play a medley of Dylan songs on my Bluetooth helmet headset as I find myself blowin’ in the wind across the Mojave Desert.
P.S. Today, Chris and I drove 300 miles across the Anza Borrego and Mojave deserts. The guest 150 miles were great, and that’s when the wind kicked in. I’ve been in worse, but I was also younger and more fearless. Chris had a harder time given his bike’s minimal fairing. I held up ok, but was glad to end the day of blowin’ in the wind.