Like a Rolling Stone (1965)

"Like a Rolling Stone" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on July 20, 1965 by Columbia Records. Its confrontational lyrics originated in an extended verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhausted from a grueling tour of England. Dylan distilled this draft into four verses and a chorus. He recorded "Like a Rolling Stone" a few weeks later as the opening track of his sixth studio album, Highway 61 Revisited. During a difficult two-day preproduction, Dylan struggled to find the essence of the song, which was demoed without success in 34 time. A breakthrough happened when he recorded it in a rock format and the rookie session musician Al Kooper improvised a Hammond organ riff.

Columbia Records, unhappy with the song's six-minute length and electric sound, hesitated to release it. A month later, a copy of "Like a Rolling Stone" leaked to a popular new music club, and influential DJs encountered it. It was then released as a single. Although many radio stations initially refused to play such a long track, "Like a Rolling Stone" reached No. 2 in the US Billboard charts (No. 1 in Cashbox) and became a worldwide hit.

Critics described "Like a Rolling Stone" as revolutionary in its combination of musical elements; the youthful, cynical sound of Dylan's voice; and the directness of the question "How does it feel?" The song completed the transformation of Dylan's image from folk singer to rock star. It is considered one of the most influential compositions in postwar popular music. Rolling Stone listed it at No. 1 on their 2004 and 2010 "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" lists. It has been covered by the Jimi Hendrix Experience. At an auction in 2014, Dylan's handwritten lyrics fetched $2 million, a record for a popular music manuscript.

Writing

In early 1965, after returning from the tour of England documented in the film Dont Look Back, Dylan was unhappy with the public's expectations of him and the direction his career was taking. He considered quitting the music business. In a 1966 Playboy interview, he said: Last spring, I guess I was going to quit singing. I was very drained, and the way things were going, it was a very draggy situation ... But 'Like a Rolling Stone' changed it all. I mean it was something that I myself could dig. It's very tiring having other people tell you how much they dig you if you yourself don't dig you.

The song grew out of an extended piece of verse. In 1966, Dylan described its genesis to journalist Jules Siegel:

It was ten pages long. It wasn't called anything, just a rhythm thing on paper all about my steady hatred directed at some point that was honest. In the end it wasn't hatred, it was telling someone something they didn't know, telling them they were lucky. Revenge, that's a better word. I had never thought of it as a song, until one day I was at the piano, and on the paper it was singing, "How does it feel?" in a slow motion pace, in the utmost of slow motion following something. It was like swimming in lava.