“Mr. Tambourine Man” by Bob Dylan

"Mr. Tambourine Man" opens the acoustic side of Bringing It All Back Home, Bob Dylan's March 1965 album, with the words tumbling out in a rush over a bright, wide-open melody. Tom Wilson produced. Across four verses the narrator begs the title character to play him a song and swears to follow wherever it leads.

The imagery is pure surrealism, owing as much to Arthur Rimbaud and Federico Fellini as to any folk tradition, and listeners have argued about it ever since: an ode to LSD, a plea to the muse, a comment on what audiences demand of a singer, even a religious reading. Dylan has recorded it live again and again, Rolling Stone put it on its 2004 list of the 500 best songs, and it earned a Grammy Hall of Fame Award.

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