1. A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall. A perfect song about how traveling can help you see the world as it really is. Last year I played the song on my guitar nearly every day for several months. And still don't have the lyrics memorized. According to Allen Ginsberg, this song brought him to tears the 1st time he heard it. Check out No Direction Home if you don't believe me.
2. Don't Think Twice It's Alright. One of the 1st Bob D. songs I learned on guitar. Played this one almost every day after working on The Farm in Canada back in '05.
3. I Want You. One of my all-time favorite Bob D. songs to play on guitar. Simple. Poignant. Perfect.
4. Isis. I'd never even heard this song until I met Tamale a couple years ago. After she let me download a bunch of her Bob D. CDs, this song stuck with me. A 7-minute classic that you've probably never heard of if you only know Bob through the radio.
5. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue. Another tune I played constantantly on my guitar during my farming days in Canada. "Take what you have gathered from coincidence." One of my favorite Bob lines, seeing as how I've been the recipient of some ka-raaaazy coincidences these last few years.
6. Just Like a Woman. Yes, I've been hearing this one since I was a kid. And it hasn't gotten old yet. "You ache just like a woman...but you break just like a little girl." Classic.
7. Masters of War. A song that didn't come on my radar until the last few years. One of the greatest, if not THE greatest, protest songs ever. I'll take this over "Blowin' In the Wind" any day. Over 40 years later, it still holds up. Especially given what's going on in America right now.
8. Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat. My new favorite Bob D. song to play on guitar. I'd never heard of this song until I saw the Scorcese documentary.
9. Mozambique. I want to travel to Mozambique because of this song. I remember loving this tune when it came out in the '70s, decades before I REALLY got into Bob D.
10. Spirit On the Water. A fun and frothy tune from the "Old Bob" era. Another song I got introduced to thanks to Tamale, who let me download her copy of Modern Times. There's a few songs from Time Out of Mind that I could easily slide into this slot, too.
11. Song To Woody. Another buried treasure I only just recently became acquainted with. From Bob D.'s first album Bob Dylan. (A collection that featured 13 songs, by the way.) This one's a classic underappreciated "Young Bob" tune. Every time I hear this song I think of the story of how Dylan, before he became famous, went and visited a sick Woody Guthrie in the hospital. Makes me think Bob D. would be open, or at least tolerant, of a fan (me?) paying Old Bob a visit one day. A guy can dream.
12. Tangled Up In Blue. Another Bob D. song I practiced on my guitar every day for months during my time in Canada. At 7 or 8 stanzas, I was damn happy when I finally had all the lyrics memorized. I'd like to find out more about this "Blue" woman.
13. Like a Rolling Stone. Okay, so maybe this is an obvious choice. We've all heard it a million times. But I still never get tired of listening to it. And that says everything. It's a classic for a reason. I saw a poll a few years ago in Rolling Stone that called this tune the greatest song of all-time. Sounds about right.
* I realize putting together a brief list like this is absurd. Ask me tomorrow and my list might change entirely. I left out so many great songs that I love that it seems a little sacriligious to even post this. But what the hell. Gotta start somewhere. I may compile another Bob list here at some point. But today, these are the 13 songs that jump out at me. Oh, and by the way. That bat in the photo? It's a gift that Bob D. himself gave my friend "5." Lucky bastard!
