Cover art for Like a Rolling Stone by Bob Dylan

Like a Rolling Stone

Bob Dylan
Track 31 on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 

Producer

Tom Wilson
Dylan’s 1965 single “Like a Rolling Stone” is widely considered one of the greatest songs ever recorded. In 2004 the critics at Rolling Stone magazine (whose name was… Read More 
Jul. 20, 19651 viewer487.1K views

Like a Rolling Stone Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Once upon a time you dressed so fine
Threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?
People call, say "Beware doll, you're bound to fall"
You thought they were all a-kiddin' you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hangin' out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging your next meal

[Chorus]
How does it feel?
How does it feel?
To be without a home?
Like a complete unknown?
Like a rolling stone?

[Verse 2]
Aw, you've gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely
But ya know ya only used to get juiced in it
Nobody's ever taught ya how to live out on the street
And now you’re gonna have to get used to it
You say you never compromise
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
He's not selling any alibis
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
And say, “Do you want to make a deal?"
[Chorus]
How does it feel?
How does it feel?
To be on your own
With no direction home
A complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

[Verse 3]
Aw, you never turned around to see the frowns
On the jugglers and the clowns when they all did tricks for you
Never understood that it ain't no good
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you
You used to ride on a chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain't it hard when you discover that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal?

[Chorus]
How does it feel?
How does it feel?
To hang on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?
[Verse 4]
Aw, princess on the steeple and all the pretty people
They're all drinkin', thinkin' that they got it made
Exchangin' all precious gifts
But you'd better take your diamond ring, ya better pawn it, babe
You used to be so amused
At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
Go to him now, he calls ya, ya can't refuse
When ya ain't got nothin', you got nothin' to lose
You're invisible now, ya got no secrets to conceal

[Chorus]
How does it feel?
Aw, how does it feel?
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

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About

Genius Annotation

Dylan’s 1965 single “Like a Rolling Stone” is widely considered one of the greatest songs ever recorded. In 2004 the critics at Rolling Stone magazine (whose name was partly Dylan-inspired) named it the #1 song of all time, and it retained its No. 1 position when Rolling Stone re-configured its 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2011 and in 2017.

Though radio DJs initially hesitated to play it due to its groundbreaking six-minute length, the song became a smash hit, reaching #2 on the charts behind The Beatles’s “Help!”. Its combination of folk rhythms and electric rock and roll, its anthemic hook, and its defiant yet vulnerable lyrics had a massive impact on the music of the 1960s. Bruce Springsteen spoke for many in his generation when he testified to its influence:

The first time that I heard Bob Dylan I was in the car with my mother, and we were listening to, I think, maybe WMCA, and on came that snare shot that sounded like somebody kicked open the door to your mind, from ‘Like a Rolling Stone.’ And my mother, who was – she was no stiff with rock and roll, she liked the music, she listened – she sat there for a minute, she looked at me, and she said, ‘That guy can’t sing.’ But I knew she was wrong. I sat there, I didn’t say nothin', but I knew that I was listening to the toughest voice that I had ever heard.

While never confirmed by Dylan, many fans have believed that the subject of the song is 60s socialite and Warhol muse, Edie Sedgewick. In what could be considered the first diss song in a tradition that would continue later in hip-hop culture, Dylan tells her tragic story and how she got there.

The official video for the song finally popped out on November 19, 2013.

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Bob Dylan say about "Like a Rolling Stone"?
Genius Answer

“Rolling Stone’s the best song I ever wrote.” – Bob Dylan

Who produced “Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan?
When did Bob Dylan release “Like a Rolling Stone”?
Who wrote “Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan?
The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 (1991)
  1. 1.
    Hard Times in New York Town (Live)
  2. 2.
    He Was a Friend of Mine
  3. 3.
    Man on the Street (Studio Outtake - 1961)
  4. 4.
    No More Auction Block (Live)
  5. 5.
    House Carpenter
  6. 6.
    Talkin’ Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues
  7. 7.
    Let Me Die in My Footsteps
  8. 8.
    Rambling Gambling Willie (Studio Outtake)
  9. 9.
    Talkin’ Hava Negeilah Blues
  10. 10.
    Quit Your Low Down Ways
  11. 11.
    Worried Blues
  12. 12.
    Kingsport Town
  13. 13.
    Walkin’ Down the Line (Demo, 1963)
  14. 14.
    Walls of Red Wing
  15. 15.
    Paths of Victory
  16. 16.
    Talkin’ John Birch Paranoid Blues
  17. 17.
    Who Killed Davey Moore?
  18. 18.
    Only a Hobo
  19. 19.
    Moonshiner
  20. 20.
    When the Ship Comes In
  21. 21.
    The Times They Are A-Changin’
  22. 22.
    Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie
  23. 23.
    Seven Curses
  24. 24.
    Eternal Circle (Studio Outtake, 1963)
  25. 25.
    Suze (The Cough Song)
  26. 26.
    Mama, You Been on My Mind
  27. 27.
    Farewell, Angelina
  28. 28.
    Subterranean Homesick Blues
  29. 29.
    If You Gotta Go, Go Now
  30. 30.
    Sitting on a Barbed Wire Fence
  31. 31.
    Like a Rolling Stone
  32. 32.
    It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
  33. 33.
    I’ll Keep It with Mine
  34. 34.
    She’s Your Lover Now
  35. 35.
    I Shall Be Released (Alternate Take)
  36. 36.
    Santa Fé
  37. 37.
    If Not for You
  38. 38.
    Wallflower
  39. 39.
    Nobody ’Cept You
  40. 40.
    Tangled Up in Blue (Take 3, Remake 2)
  41. 41.
    Call Letter Blues (9/16/74 Take 2)
  42. 42.
    Idiot Wind (9/16/74 Take 6) (Missing Lyrics)
  43. 43.
    If You See Her, Say Hello (9/16/74 Take 2) (Missing Lyrics)
  44. 44.
    Golden Loom (Studio Outtake - 1975)
  45. 45.
    Catfish
  46. 46.
    Seven Days
  47. 47.
    Ye Shall Be Changed
  48. 48.
    Every Grain of Sand
  49. 49.
    You Changed My Life
  50. 50.
    Need a Woman
  51. 51.
    Angelina
  52. 52.
    Someone’s Got a Hold of My Heart
  53. 53.
    Tell Me
  54. 54.
    Lord Protect My Child
  55. 55.
    Foot of Pride
  56. 56.
    Blind Willie McTell
  57. 57.
    When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky
  58. 58.
    Series of Dreams
Credits
Producer
Writer
Tambourine
Harmonica
Hammond Organ
Bass
Guitar
Publisher
Manufacturer
Copyright ©
Video Director
Engineer
Video Production Company
Tack Piano
Drums
Photography
Recorded At
Columbia Records (Studio A), New York City, NY (June 16, 1965)
Released on
July 20, 1965
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Like a Rolling Stone Remixes
Like a Rolling Stone Live Performances
Like a Rolling Stone - Live in Winterland by Jimi Hendrix, Like a Rolling Stone - Live at Monterey Pop Festival by Jimi Hendrix & Jimi Hendrix, Like a Rolling Stone (Live at Sony Music Studios, New York, NY - November 1994) by Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone (Live at Free Trade Hall, Manchester, UK - May 17, 1966) by Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone [Before the Flood] by Bob Dylan & The Band, Like a Rolling Stone (Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan - February/March 1978) by Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone (Live) by Bob Dylan, Like A Rolling Stone (Live at The Hollywood Bowl, Hollywood, CA - August 18, 1967) by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Like a Rolling Stone (Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan - March 1, 1978) by Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone (Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan - February 28, 1978) by Bob Dylan & Like a Rolling Stone (Live at Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, CA - February 11, 1974 (Afternoon) [Incomplete]) by Bob Dylan & The Band
Like a Rolling Stone Translations
View Like a Rolling Stone samples
Tags
RockIn EnglishUSASinger-SongwriterFolk RockBlues Rock
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