My Top Ten Favourite Songs by Bob Dylan (Pt. 4)

As you probably know by now, I love Bob Dylan. I didn't think I had to spell that one out for you. I love each album for its character and authentic sound. Knocked Out Loaded is a good album; you guys are just mean. Each album has credibility for being a great.

The folk guitar sound of Freewheelin', the sarcastic and undecided tone of Another Side, the outlaw sound of BIABH, the electric and wild sounds of Highway 61 and Blonde on Blonde, the minimalist JWH, the lullaby of New Morning, the unique tinge of Self Portrait,and we're only up to 1970. Each album is wickedly unique with Bob Dylan creating new and inventive sounds every other year. He makes a great case for being the most creative artist in all of history—his catalogue is larger than anyone else's so that is a good argument indeed!

From Live at the Philharmonic Hall all the way to the Rolling Thunder Revue and all the way through to MTV Unplugged 1995, Bob Dylan has showcased again and again that his live abilities are incredible.

His bootlegs show us a great side to the creative genius. Songs like "Blind Willie McTell"that were unreleased previously, different sounds to songs like "Idiot Wind"and "The Times They Are a-Changin'"that appear on various albums, and even the occasional live track such as the brilliant "Who Killed Davey Moore?"Everything Bob Dylan does has purpose and each song, it's own backing story.

Let me share with you numbers 31 to 40 of my favourite Bob Dylan songs, because seriously, we're really getting into this list now. Again, I'll talk more informally about the songs (with the album in brackets after it), and hopefully, you enjoy them too!

I would love to hear what your favourite songs are so please don't hesitate to contact me on @3ftMonster via Twitter. We can be Bobcat friends!

31. "Ballad of a Thin Man" ('Highway 61 Revisited')

"Do you, Mr. Jones?"

The ominous question at the end of each verse birthed a generation of people who were trying to find out who Mr. Jones was and what he did for Bob Dylan to give him (what is essentially) a diss-track. This song has a brilliant intro and an amazing bridge, I think every Bobcat adores this song though. "Ballad of a Thin Man"is an incredibly dark and brooding song that you can practically use for most any situation in life in which someone is out of the loop. It's a brilliantly enigmatic song and could have several different meanings. I've never really tried to figure it out myself, but there is a brilliant book of essays on Bob Dylan called "Do You, Mr. Jones?" by Neil Cocoran. It's really good and sometimes, quite funny.

32. "Tangled Up in Blue" ('Blood on the Tracks')

"There was music in the cafes at night and revolution in the air..."

"Tangled Up in Blue"is something of a classic amongst Bobcats and has helped many of us to write our own poetry and create our own art. I used to listen to this song whilst reading the Simon Armitage Essay "Rock of Ages" in a book called Do You Mr. Jones? by Neil Cocoran. He does this verse by verse analysis of "Tangled Up in Blue"and it's pretty hilarious because he does it with this really cool tone of sarcasm. I love this song for its incredible storytelling.

33. "Lay Lady Lay" ('Nashville Skyline')

"Lay Lady Lay, lay next to my big brass bed..."

One of the greatest love songs ever written, Bob Dylan penned this one specially for that crooning voice he played out on the album of 1969, Nashville Skyline. I love this song for its ability to be both a well-written tune and an amazing love song at the same time. It doesn't sound cheesy or too sappy, it sounds beautiful and Bob Dylan's voice on the album makes it all sound just that little bit better.

34. "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" ('Bringing it all Back Home')

"I was riding on the mayflower when I thought I spied some land"

This is a really funny song that I used to compose one of the poems I wrote for my MA course. It inspired me to take the story of Moby Dick and having read it so many times by that point, I kind of wondered why I hadn't already. To be honest, my poem was nothing like this song and nowhere near as good. Although, I did enjoy listening to it for various bits and pieces of inspiration on imagery and absurdity—it was really quite informative.

35. "Tin Angel" ('Tempest')

"Funeral torches blazed away through the towns and the villages all night and all day..."

This song is a brilliant and evocative story about an affair and what sounds like a double-murder suicide situation. It's a brilliantly written song and has some wonderful language. It really helped me when I was struggling to write something for my classes at university, because the amount you had to write would make it difficult for you to come up with ideas. I just want to say a big thank you to this song for not letting me run out of those ideas. Not to say I borrowed anything explicitly from the song, but I borrowed the writing style a lot—it is beautiful.

36. "Slow Train" ('Slow Train Coming')

"There's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend..."

I know what you're going to think, "this song shouldn't be so high up." But you really have no idea how much I enjoy listening to it. I think it's a brilliant song and it has some incredible lyrics. "Slow Train"was one of the first Gospel Era songs I ever listened to and I automatically fell in love with it because of the way it was sang. The chorus is brilliantly low and the verses are a little higher, but it has that incredible driving Gospel sound that sounds amazing.

37. "Watching the River Flow" ('Greatest Hits')

"What's the matter with me? I don't have much to say..."

This song is a brilliant addition to this list because I listened to it whilst travelling to and from university almost all the time. It was perfect for blocking out the bustle of the trains and the traffic of noise coming in and out. It seemed like it could overtake the world and mute it for a while. I think because the song itself is so loud that if your volume is even slightly higher than average—you can't hear anything else. It has amazing lyrics and I think it a beautifully written song. I hope it's on your list too.

38. "This Dream of You" ('Together Through Life')

"All I have and all I know is this dream of you which keeps me living on."

I feel like this album is greatly under-appreciated. I never see any love for it anywhere and I am disappointed. This song is incredible, I love the lyrics, and I love that introduction it has. It is a beautiful song that I feel should be respected by the Dylan canon more and well, I would love for you to listen to it if you haven't already heard it. I just never see anything from this album around and it makes me a little upset because the album has some killer tracks on there.

39. "Gotta Serve Somebody" ('Slow Train Coming')

"It may be the Devil, or it may be the Lord, but you're gonna have to serve somebody..."

I adore this song. Again, it was one of the first Gospel Era songs I ever heard and I loved it automatically. It was actually one of the first songs to go on to my Bob Dylan playlist. I love this song for its incredible amount of wisdom, this is Bob Dylan at one of his writing heights again. He's not trying to sell you a message, he's trying to teach us something about life. He has had his own revelation and this is the conclusion he's come to. I hope this song is in your own top 40.

40. "I and I" ('Infidels')

"I and I, In creation where one's nature neither honours nor forgives..."

I love and adore this song because of its amazing rhythm. You cannot tell me that this isn't the same, or at least a similar drum-based introduction from "Jokerman." It is a beautifully rhythmic song with some incredible story lyrics behind it. I've been trying for ages to figure out what it means and all I can come up with is a dream sequence or something like that. I love the album and I love the song, I hope you enjoyed it too!

Conclusion

Thank you for reading Part Four. Part Five will be on the way shortly, but for now I hope you enjoy this list of my favourite songs by Bob Dylan. If you want to reach out to me and tell me your own favourite songs, or just drop me a kind word about this article, OR if you are too a fellow Bobcat—then as I've said I'm on Twitter and my handle is @3ftMonster. Do not hesitate to make friends with me. Thank you for reading this list.