LIKE A ROLLING STONE

BOB DYLAN (1965)

Recently voted the greatest song of all time by, funnily enough, Rolling Stone, Dylan's six minute opus is still the benchmark for intelligent, literate rock music. The notion of such a poetic, rambling tale becoming a mainstream pop hit was hard to accept in an era dominated by the singalong concision of the Beatles and the Beach Boys. But it became Dylan's biggest hit to date, finally stalling at number 2 in the Autumn of 1965.

A chaotic torrent of words the song charts the fall from grace of a well-heeled party girl and her struggle to adapt to her new-found poorer circumstances. The metaphors slosh around as loosely as the playing from an assortment of respected sessioners like Mike Bloomfield and Paul Griffin. Also thrown into the mix, on an instrument he was totally unqualified to play, was Al Kooper whose improvised organ work on the track has become almost as iconic as Dylan's straining delivery.

The true test of this leap of artistic faith came at the Newport Folk Festival where 'Like a Rolling Stone' was unveiled to a stunned crowd. Expecting the acoustic troubadour they knew and loved many in the crowd reacted angrily to the newly electric sound they were confronted with. What the dissenters saw as artistic suicide has become one of the most infamous and paramount turning points in rock music. From that moment on a pretty melody and chirpy chorus were simply not sufficient; experimentation and risk had to be taken and the rock song as an artform would grow immeasurably in stature as a result. And it can all be traced back to 'Like a Rolling Stone.'