Thread · 11 songs
Freedom
Songs that ask who gets to be free, and how.
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1963Greenwich Village
1 of 11Blowin' in the Wind
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
Its melody adapts the spiritual "No More Auction Block", and it became a civil-rights anthem.
↓ 2 years later
1965Going Electric
2 of 11Gates of Eden
Bringing It All Back Home
A long acoustic song of surreal images, it was the B-side of the single Like a Rolling Stone.
↓ the same year
1965Going Electric
3 of 11Like a Rolling Stone
Highway 61 Revisited
Released as a single in July 1965 at over six minutes, it reached number two in the US.
↓ the same year
1965Going Electric
4 of 11Maggie's Farm
Bringing It All Back Home
It was the opening number of his electric set at Newport in 1965.
↓ the same year
1965Going Electric
5 of 11Mr. Tambourine Man
Bringing It All Back Home
The Byrds' electric version reached number one in 1965 before many listeners had heard Dylan's own.
↓ the same year
1965Going Electric
6 of 11Subterranean Homesick Blues
Bringing It All Back Home
It became his first Top 40 hit in the US, and its cue-card promo clip opens Dont Look Back.
↓ 1 year later
1966Going Electric
7 of 11Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Blonde on Blonde
Recorded in Nashville with a raucous brass-band feel, it reached number two in the US.
↓ 1 year later
1967Basement and Country
8 of 11As I Went Out One Morning
John Wesley Harding
Like most of the album, it was cut in Nashville in late 1967 with just bass, drums and Dylan's guitar and harmonica.
↓ the same year
1967Basement and Country
9 of 11Drifter’s Escape
John Wesley Harding
A three-minute parable that closes the first side of the original LP.
↓ the same year
1967Basement and Country
10 of 11John Wesley Harding
John Wesley Harding
The title track is loosely based on the Texas outlaw John Wesley Hardin, with an extra letter added to the name.
↓ 3 years later
1970Basement and Country
11 of 11If Dogs Run Free
New Morning
A half-recited jazz piece asking why people cannot live as freely as dogs.