Bob Dylan turns 70 today, so in celebration we collected a few of our favorite songs — but more specifically, some of our favorites that would make great pieces of cinema. After all, Dylan is considered to be one of the greatest songwriters of all-time, so in his repertoire he’s probably got a few songs that tell a good story, eh? Evoke a few emotions, maybe? And because he’s such a wordsmith, we’ll go ahead and let his lyrics do the talking and your mind do the wondering as to what the story might be. If you disagree with our picks, feel free to suggest ones we missed in the comments because, c’mon, the dude’s released 30 plus albums — that’s quite a bit of content to choose from. (Also: we know that there was a Dylan film based on a song released a couple of years ago called I’m Not There, but it’s his birthday so let’s just have some fun!)
Don’t Think Twice It’s All Right
An’ it ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe
If you don’t know by now
When your rooster crows at the break of dawn
Look out your window and I’ll be gone
You’re the reason I’m trav’lin’ on
Don’t think twice, it’s all right
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Well, they’ll stone you and say that it’s the end
Then they’ll stone you and then they’ll come back again
They’ll stone you when you’re riding in your car
They’ll stone you when you’re playing your guitar
Yes, but I would not feel so all alone
Everybody must get stoned
As I Went Out One Morning
“Depart from me this moment”
I told her with my voice
Said she, “But I don’t wish to”
Said I, “But you have no choice”
“I beg you, sir”, she pleaded
From the corners of her mouth
“I will secretly accept you
And together we’ll fly south”.
Peggy Day
Well, you know that even before I learned her name
You know I loved her just the same
And I tell them all, wherever I may go
Just so they’ll know, that she’s my little lady
And I love her so.
Ballad of a Thin Man
You walk into the room
With your pencil in your hand
You see somebody naked
And you say, “Who is that man ?”
You try so hard
But you don’t understand
Just what you’ll say
When you get home.
A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall
Oh, what did you see, my blue eyed son ?
And what did you see, my darling young one ?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin’
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin’
I saw a white ladder all covered with water
I saw ten thousand takers whose tongues were all broken
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children
And it’s a hard, it’s a hard, it’s a hard, and it’s a hard
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.
I Shall Be Released
They say ev’rything can be replaced
Yet ev’ry distance is not near
So I remember ev’ry face
Of ev’ry man who put me here
I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released
