A work of popular culture that inspires devotion or respect is often called a classic.
Something exhibiting a timeless quality or feel.
An artistic work of lasting worth.
Of the first or highest quality, class, or rank.
Of or adhering to an established set of artistic or scientific standards or methods.
Basic; fundamental.
Of literary or historical renown.
Definitive.
An artist or artistic production considered a standard.
Like a Rolling Stone
Bob Dylan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
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 kidding you
You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hanging out
Now you don't talk so loud
Now you don't seem so proud
About having to be scrounging your next meal
How does it feel, how does it feel?
To be without a home
Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone
Oh you've gone to the finest schools, alright Miss Lonely
But you know you only used to get juiced in it
Nobody's ever taught you 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?
How does it feel, how does it feel?
To be on your own, with no direction home
A complete unknown, like a rolling stone
Oh, you never turned around to see the frowns
On the jugglers and the clowns when they all did tricks for you
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 discovered that
He really wasn't where it's at
After he took from you everything he could steal
How does it feel, how does it feel?
To have you on your own, with no direction home
Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone
Oh, princess on a steeple and all the pretty people
They're all drinking, thinking that they've got it made
Exchanging all precious gifts
But you better take your diamond ring, you 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 you, you can't refuse
When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You're invisible now, you've got no secrets to conceal
How does it feel, oh how does it feel?
To be on your own, with no direction home
Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone
"Like a Rolling Stone" is Bob Dylan's iconic song that explores the idea of falling from grace, losing everything, and being an outcast who is nobody's friend. The song’s central figure is a former debutante who has fallen on hard times and is now navigating the streets alone. In the opening verse, Dylan paints the picture of the character's former life of luxury and status, throwing money to bums back when she was in her prime. However, things have changed, and her life is now anything but glamorous. Dylan uses the chorus to deliver the song's primary message - how does it feel to be a complete unknown, like a rolling stone?
Throughout the song, Dylan asks the woman questions about how she feels, pointing out how she's now alone, on the street, and struggling with the harsh reality of life. The song's second verse reveals more about the woman's backstory, describing how she's been privileged all her life, but she's now fallen into the life she never knew existed; she has to learn to live on the street. Dylan's lyrics show that the woman is coming to terms with the fact that life is unpredictable, and at the end of the day, she has to do what she has to do to survive.
Overall, "Like a Rolling Stone" can be interpreted as a metaphor for the way society treats people who are down on their luck. In the song, the woman is the embodiment of the human condition. Dylan shows that life can be tough, and we should not judge those who are struggling.
Line by Line Meaning
Once upon a time you dressed so fine
There was a time when you had everything together and looked great.
Threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?
You used to be generous with your money when you had it.
People call say 'beware doll, you're bound to fall'
People warned you that you were on a path to failure.
You thought they were all kidding you
You didn't take those warnings seriously.
You used to laugh about
You used to find humor in life and everything around you.
Everybody that was hanging out
Everyone who was living life just like you were.
Now you don't talk so loud
You've become quieter and less confident.
Now you don't seem so proud
You're less secure and confident than you used to be.
About having to be scrounging your next meal
You're now struggling to find your next meal and it's difficult.
How does it feel, how does it feel?
The artist is asking the person how they feel about their current situation.
To be without a home
To not have a place to call home.
Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone
Feeling lost and not knowing what direction to go in life.
Ahh you've gone to the finest schools, alright Miss Lonely
You went to top-notch schools, even though you are now lonely.
But you know you only used to get juiced in it
You didn't really learn anything from those schools.
Nobody's ever taught you how to live out on the street
You don't know how to survive in difficult conditions.
And now you're gonna have to get used to it
You'll have to learn how to survive on the streets.
You say you never compromise
You claim to always stand by your values.
With the mystery tramp, but now you realize
You realize that you're in the same position as the tramp you didn't trust.
He's not selling any alibis
The tramp cannot offer any excuses or explanations for the situation you're in.
As you stare into the vacuum of his eyes
Looking into the tramp's eyes, you feel as though there is nothing there.
And say do you want to make a deal?
You are now ready to accept a deal from the tramp.
To be on your own, with no direction home
Feeling lost and without a clear path in life.
Ah you never turned around to see the frowns
You never noticed the people around you who weren't happy with your behavior.
On the jugglers and the clowns when they all did tricks for you
People pretended to be happy and entertaining you, but they were only doing it to get something out of you.
You never understood that it ain't no good
You never realized that relying on others for happiness or entertainment isn't a good way to live.
You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you
You should find your own enjoyment in life rather than relying on others.
You used to ride on a chrome horse with your diplomat
You used to have a luxurious lifestyle, complete with a fancy car and wealthy friends.
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Your friend carried around a fancy pet just to show off.
Ain't it hard when you discover that
It's difficult when you realize that
He really wasn't where it's at
Your wealthy friend wasn't actually in a better position in life than you are now.
After he took from you everything he could steal
Your wealthy friend took advantage of you and drained you of your resources.
Ahh princess on a steeple and all the pretty people
Observing people who seem important or above you, but realizing that they may be unhappy or flawed themselves.
They're all drinking, thinking that they've got it made
The wealthy and famous seem to believe that they have everything figured out.
Exchanging all precious gifts
Exchanging expensive gifts with each other.
But you better take your diamond ring, you better pawn it babe
Sell your most expensive item in order to survive.
You used to be so amused
You used to find pleasure in things that no longer interest you.
At Napoleon in rags and the language that he used
Being amused by someone who is in a low place in life.
Go to him now, he calls you, you can't refuse
You have no other options and must accept help from Napoleon.
When you ain't got nothing, you got nothing to lose
When you hit rock bottom, there is no downside to embracing change.
You're invisible now, you've got no secrets to conceal
Feeling like you're no longer important or noteworthy, and having no secrets to hide.
To be on your own, with no direction home
Feeling lost and without a clear path in life.
Like a complete unknown, like a rolling stone
Feeling like you have no identity or direction, and are just wandering aimlessly through life.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Bob Dylan
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@lilblackduc7312
@@kordTHEwhiteCROW I believe in the phrase, "Under promise and Over deliver"! Here's the best I could do, squeezing it down...AND I still left so, so many out.
Look up each one of these and play them: Bo Diddley =Bo Diddley Higher Ground - Stevie Wonder
Roll Over Beethoven - Electric Light Orchestra (Chuck Berry) God Gave Rock And Roll To You - Argent
Born to Run - Bruce Springsteen Hotel California - Eagles
Blue Monday - Fats Domino I Know There's Something Going On - Frida (with Phil Collins)
Rocky Mountain Way - Joe Walsh Feling That Way/Anytime - Journey
Rock and Roll - Led Zeppelin Brain Damage/Eclipse - Pink Floyd
(I Know) I'm Losing You - Rare Earth Addicted to Love - Robert Palmer
Driver's Seat - Sniff 'n' the Tears Hey Nineteen - Steely Dan
Little Wing - Stevie Ray Vaughan Who Do You Lovw - George Thorogood
Stranglehold - Ted Nugent Legs - ZZ Top
Stay With Me - Faces Cocaine - Jackson Browne
Bartender's Blues - George Jones I've Always Been Crazy - Waylon Jennings
@EShelby2127
This was written by Al Kooper 9 years ago today. It's a great story so we thought we would repost it:
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
IT WAS FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY!
On June 16th, 1965 the complete take of "Like A Rolling Stone" was recorded (Take 4) at approximately 3:30 PM in Studio A at Columbia Recording Studios on Seventh Avenue in New York City. Ten more takes were recorded until they realized that #4 was the one. It was the first take to be played all the way through the 6 minute plus lyric.
I was a songwriter at the time and also a studio guitarist. I knew Tom Wilson pretty well and we were good friends. When he found out I was a Dylan fan, he invited me to this session as a guest to watch. I was 21 at the time. A song I had co-written had six months previously been the #1 song in the country (This Diamond Ring by Gary Lewis & The Playboys) for about a month. I also got calls as a studio guitarist to play on recording sessions. Me and my neighbor from Queens, NY, Harvey Brooks played a lotta Top 40 club dates in various bands as well. We had previously played a place called Carousel Park at The NYC Worlds Fair about a year before six nights a week and made a nice pile of change for those days. Harvey got me that gig and i owed him big.
At the time, I was trying to make it big in the music biz and I was about ten per cent talent and ninety percent ambition. I decided immediately I was gonna get to the Dylan session early with my guitar, plug in, and tell Tom Wilson I had misunderstood his invitation and thought he meant to hire me as a guitarist.
The session was called for 1 PM and so I showed up about noon to pull off my ambitious caper. The other musicians knew me from other sessions and nothing seemed amiss to them. I was warming up when Dylan burst through the door with another guitarist in tow and that guy sat down next to me said hello and plugged in his guitar and started warming up as well. He looked to be about the same age as me and so I was quite surprised and disappointed to hear what an amazing player he was as he warmed up. I immediately took a cigarette break, put my guitar in it's case and went in the control room where I actually belonged. This happened before Tom Wilson arrived, so he hadn't seen my failed ambitious caper go up in smoke. The guitarist was, of course, Mike Bloomfield from Chicago who I had never heard of or met before. He had just joined The Paul Butterfield Blues Band and their first album was due to be released soon.
An hour into the actual session they moved organist Paul Griffin over to piano instead. Here was another chance for me. I played keyboards early in my life but switched to guitar when Elvis Presley came along because by then it was hipper to play guitar. But I always still played keyboards i.e. for songwriting, sometimes on sessions, etc. So I went over to Tom Wilson and said: "Tom, why doncha let me play organ on this ? I gotta great part to play on this!" Actually, I had nothing but that ninety percent ambition. Wilson looked at me and said "You're not an organ player - you're a guitarist!" and then they called him away to take a phone call. I thought to myself - he didn't actually say NO - and so i walked into the studio and sat down at the organ.
A Hammond B3 organ is very complicated to start up and I didn't yet know how to turn it on. Fortunately, Paul Griffin had left it on. Tom Wilson hadn't seen me go back in the studio and sit behind the organ. When he finished his phone call he said over the talkback mic - " Okay Bob - we got everybody here. Let's do one and I'll play it back to you and you can pick it apart. (Pause as Tom sees me sitting at the organ) What are you doing out there?(all the other musicians start laughing cause they knew me as a guitarist). Wilson laughs as well. This is where he should have said "Would you get your white ass back in the control room where you belong please ?" But because he was a kind man and also because he would have had to explain what i was doing there, after he laughed he said:) "Okay - stand by - This CO86446 Like A Rolling Stone remake Take 1."
And so began my career as an organ player. Three takes later, I did miraculously come up with a part and the first full take of the song was recorded and everyone went back into the booth to listen to all six minutes and thirty five seconds of it. About a minute into the playback, Dylan said to engineer Roy Halee, "Turn the organ up louder" Tom Wilson quickly replied "Bob, that guy is NOT an organ player" Bob said " I don't care - turn the organ up!" thus cementing my career as an organ player. Another ten takes were taken but they were all much faster than Take 4 and so it was decided to return to Take 4 and use that as the final master.
Nothing else was recorded that day but Bob came over to me and asked me to return the next day and play on the rest of the album. Within a coupla days, I talked Dylan into hiring Harvey Brooks on bass to join us. Years later Miles Davis had Harvey play on his Bitches Brew album. So we were finally even for that great World's Fair gig he had gotten me! Unfortunately and mysteriously, Tom was replaced the next day as producer by Bob Johnston, and never produced another Dylan track. But he did sooo much more - produced "Sounds Of Silence" by Simon & Garfunkel, discovered and prodduced The Mothers of Invention and The Velvet Underground. And signed and produced The Blues Project with me playing keyboards as a session guy and I was asked to join their band - which I did for three years.
So today I sit here at age 71 and am amazed at what a lucky and bizarre career I have had as well and bless Tom Wilson for inviting me to that Bob Dylan session because he was my friend and thought I would enjoy it.
@KentuckyWaterfall13
My grandfather is a Vietnam veteran and I never talk with him about the war but he once mentioned to me that when he was stationed there this song would come on the radio all the time and him and his fellow soldiers all loved this song and forgot about the war for a few minutes. So this song holds a special place in his heart.
@cates2613
This breaks my heart. The Vietnam years were awful.
@dandevine2777
What if they started a war and nobody came?
@ElectricEye-dl4di
When I was a senior in high school some korean war veterans came into the pizza parlor we went to and tried to warn us about the viet nam war. We were young and naieve and didn't understand what they were trying to tell us. we played this song non stop. That horrible time has passed and I remembger my lost friends, but rhe song plays on.
@arnoldblashak171
Oh yeah this song will grab your heart❤ especially when you're away from home
@AndreaCartagenasuyon
❤
@carl112466
It's hard to believe that Bob Dylan is 83 now. Thank you Bob for the years of great music.
@Jessica-fk6bk
Is that his age wow where does the years go ❤
@alexandersantala2895
ALWAYS!! He's THE BEST SONGWRITER OF ALLTIME!! WITH THESE BIG LETTERS.
@johnbatch9276
Mate it's hard to believe I'm.74 going on 24 😅