Best Bob Dylan Songs

Best Bob Dylan Songs by Roxanne McDonald

It ain’t no use in turnin’ on your light, babe That light I never knowed An’ it ain’t no use in turnin’ on your light, babe I’m on the dark side of the road Still I wish there was somethin’ you would do or say To try and make me change my mind and stay We never did too much talkin’ anyway So don’t think twice, it’s all right~”Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right;” Bob Dylan; The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan

Well-respected musicologist Paul Friedlander, in his explication of music analysis, “The Rock Window: A Systematic Approach to an Understanding of Rock Music,”
defines what goes into and what can come of, by way of good critical review, the quintessential rock song. He names the components and subcomponents to consider as, for instance, the music (the ensemble, the rhythmic emphasis, the instrumental style, and the vocal solo); the lyrics (the meaning and the message); the artist’s/artists’ history; and the societal context/impact.

Some consider these as they name their favorite Dylan songs…, some just unconsciously know and name what they like.

Listology.com names the top 10 Dylan songs as

1. Like a Rolling Stone
2. Subterranean Homesick Blues
3. Shelter from the Storm
4. Tombstone Blues
5. It Ain’t Me Babe
6. Desolation Row
7. Tangled Up in Blue
8. The Times They Are A-Changin’
9. Visions of Johanna
10. Idiot Wind

In an ambitious 124-item list, Toni V names his/her favorite Dylan songs. Here I will just reproduce PART of the beautifully rendered list:

1. Desolation Row
2. Foot of Pride
3. Changing of the Gurads
4. Visions of Johanna
5. Idiot Wind
6. Highlands
7. Ballad of a Thin Man
8. Slow Train
9. Blind Willie McTell
10. I Want You

And at BC Music [Blog Critics] , renowned music writer Steven Hart reports on celebrities’ and his own favorite Dylan songs:

Patti Smith named “Like a Rolling Stone” [which THE Rolling Stone named the greatest song of all time, by the way];

Tom Waits narrowed it to ALL of The Basement Tapes;

George Galloway cited “Tangled up in Blue”;

And Hart added his explanation for favoring “Visions of Johanna”.

I can’t begin to have the requisite respectful language to rationalize my preferences, but I can make a nearly interminable list…, and yet will be kind on your eyes [and forego the likely redundancy such a list would conjur] by naming some of the most visionary and impressive to me [in no particular order, either]:

Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
Standing in the Doorway
Lay, Lady, Lay
All I Really Want To Do
My Back Pages
All Along the Watchtower
A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
Like A Rolling Stone
Love Sick
If Not For You
Tangled Up In Blue
Forever Young
Million Miles
Make You Feel My Love
The Times They Are A-Changin’
It Ain’t Me, Babe
Subterranean Homesick Blues
I Want You
Just Like a Woman
Highlands
Hurricane
Not Dark Yet

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