“If I Had 2 Million Dollars” – No, I Still Wouldn’t Buy It

Bob Dylan is probably my all-time favourite musician. The fact that he has always marched to his own drummer also appeals to me. In 1965, at age 24, Dylan was just back from a concert tour of England and relaxing in his room at the Roger Smith Hotel in Washington, D.C. when he picked up a pencil and wrote a draft of one of the most popular songs of all time “Like A Rolling Stone”. It was written on plain hotel stationary and was sold at a Sotheby’s auction this week for over $2 million!

As big a fan as I am of Bob Dylan the idea of paying out $2M for the working draft of a song strikes me a a bit crazy. But, I have no idea how many gazilllions of dollars the buyer has so maybe it’s just chicken feed to him. In any event, Sotheby’s said it’s a world record for a popular music manuscript. But heck, along with the lyrics, the buyer also got Dylan’s margin doodles of a hat, bird and an animal with antlers.

Once upon a time you dressed so fine
You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you ?
People'd call, say, "Beware doll, you're bound to fall"
You thought they were all 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 for your next meal.

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

Like A Rolling Stone got off to a rather rocky start when Dylan performed the song live for the first time when he appeared at the Newport Folk Festival on July 25, 1965 in Newport, Rhode Island. The song's sound was revolutionary in its combination of electric guitar licks, organ chords, and Dylan's voice, But the audience wanted the Bob Dylan of Blowin’ in the Wind and The Times They Are a Changing so they booed him and called him a traitor to folk music and selling out to Rock ‘n Roll.

In typical Bob Dylan fashion, his reaction to the boos was to turn to his band and tell them “to play louder”. Since then, "Like a Rolling Stone" has remained a staple in Dylan's concerts and, up until 2005, he sang it at over 640 concert performances. It helped that Like a Rolling Stone grew in popularity and today is pretty much regarded as Dylan’s #1 recording.

Princess on the steeple and all the pretty people
They're drinkin', thinkin' that they got it made
Exchanging all precious gifts
But you'd better take your diamond ring, you'd 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 got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal.

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone ?

Bruce Springsteen recalled that he was just 15 the first time he ever heard Like a Rolling Stone and it was like “somebody kicked open the door to your mind”. But, perhaps Elvis Costello said it best:"What a shocking thing to live in a world where there was Manfred Mann and the Supremes and Engelbert Humperdinck and here comes 'Like a Rolling Stone'". With one song, penciled on hotel stationary, Dylan changed the face of rock'n'roll for ever.

On a totally different subject, as of 10pm PDT Tuesday evening, Google still has not resolved the problem with the Blogger Dashboard where only 1 post shows on the Reading List. I’m really surprised that it’s gone on this long. Someone really must have thrown some sand in the Google Gears this time.

UPDATE: As of 6am PDT the Blogger Dashboard Reading List appears fixed!

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