Welcome to the subreddit of the poet laureate of rock 'n' roll. The voice of the promise of the '60s counter-culture. The guy who forced folk into bed with rock. Who donned make-up in the '70s and disappeared into a haze of substance abuse. Who emerged to find Jesus. Who was written off as a has-been by the end of the '80s and who suddenly shifted gears, releasing some of the strongest music of his career beginning in the late '90s. Ladies and gentlemen — Columbia recording artist Bob Dylan!
I was wondering this a while ago and I looked it up only to see a depressing post here were everyone answered their own wrong answers. So to clear it up, here are the top ones. These are only the ones I selected and I'm sure there are songs that would make it in the top 10 that I don't have here, but I was trying to find the #1.
Did you count the "Lalalalalala"s in The Man in Me? Because it feels like that should make the list.
The Man in Me has 123 words, but if you count the "lalala"s it has 147, which isn't a lot but does mean that the "lalala"s make up 16% of the song which is a lot
OP’s still counting.
How is desolation row not up there?
Because I forgot about it, Desolation Row has 657 words which would place it at 8th on this list
Lool
I think you need to redo the list.
Read the description below the list, this isn't a top ten. I'm just trying to find the #1 and provide scale for some selected songs.
RIght now I can't read too good
For real, I thought it'd be one of the top... definitely would have thought more than Chimes of Freedom. Also surprised Lily, Rosemary, and Jack of Hearts was that high
I was surprised by Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack Of Hearts until I remembered it's like a 9 minute song.
Actually it's only 8 minutes long.
It’s quick though
This was my first question too.
First one that came to my mind
Gonna raise me an army some tough sons of bitches, I’m recruiting my army from the orphanages. I been to St Hermans Church, said my religious vows, I’ve sucked the milk out of a thousand cows
Bitches and orphanages might be my favorite Dylan rhyme. That, or language and sandwich.
Dylan wasn’t the first to use that rhyme. Dr. Seuss used it in a PM cartoon about Charles Lindbergh. No idea if Dylan knew that, but considering the old Lefties he hung around with in GV, it strikes me as possible.
Which of the rhymes?
“Language” and “sandwich.”
he Lone Eagle had flown
The Atlantic alone
With fortitude and a ham sandwich.
Great courage that took.
But he shivered and shook
At the sound of the gruff German landgwich.
What song is language and sandwich from
Sign Language. It's only on a Clapton album, with Dylan on backing vocals. I didn't know about it until a few months, but it has quickly become one of my favorites. Clapton's story of how he came to record it is pretty great too. Sign Language
Ah thanks. I've never got into that song. Maybe I'll give it another shot
I mean the rhyme is sons of bitches/orphanages, and it is sublime
Last thoughts on woody Guthrie
Not a song though is it.
Yep
Beat me to it.
That & Desolation Row.
That has 1,683 words which would place it at number 1 so I'll update it
That might be my favorite poem ever. So good!
PP Arnold cover of this...poem, is worth a listen!
Motorpsycho Nightmare has to up there, somewhere close.
Not surprised that "Murder Most Foul" is #1, but it's interesting that "Desolation Row" isn't in there.
Murder most foul?
Yes, it is about the assasination of Kennedy and is the last track on Rough and Rowdy Ways
https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=Pn6oqfjiVOk&list=OLAK5uy_nLebiD4tlvV5EuRkQQFqXd5V0P-SbXtAg
What?
It was a dark day in Dallas…
It is about the assasination of Kennedy and is the last track on Rough and Rowdy Ways
Yeah… what?
what?
It is about the assasination of Kennedy and is the last track on Rough and Rowdy Ways
I think “Murder Most Foul” may be the “wordiest” Dylan song. Look it up.
What do you mean?
You’ve got a lot of nerve!
More in chimes of freedom than desolation row?
Up to me got to be on there
Very surprised Chimes of Freedom has more than Desolation Row
Edit, nevermind I just saw your other reply haha
No Time To Think feels like it’s up there
He did record "Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie"
I'm curious if we mean literally most words like which songs have the longest lyric sheet/most verses, or is this based on most unique words, as in any time a single word is repeated it doesn't count on the tally?
Nice list! I've often wondered how many words were in each song. Glad we got some stats for it. I like that you included last thought even though I don't personally regard it as a song. It lets us see just how long Murder Most Foul is.
Anyone else an enjoyer of Lily Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts? What a tune, for me second only to Isis in Bob's repertoire of fantasy epics
THIS, it's such a good song and the Joan Baez version is amazing. It was going to be a stage show but it got canceled.
I’m assuming this is word count? Or is this most unique works?
What about Queen Jane Aproxxam
Brownsville girl?
Edit. Chatgpt says 1377 words.
Oh shit it's on there duh.
What do you mean by the extra verse? And why isn’t that just in the words section?
Because it was added after he recorded the song for the bootleg series and album, the only version with that verse is a Joan Baez live album called Live From Every Stage
Huh. Thanks for the explanation!
Johnnys in the basement mixin up the medicine
Lilly Rosemary and the Jack of hearts?
Damn Lily, Rosemary doesn’t barely register. Think it’s time for me to take another crack at playing all the way thru without peeking.
All the Tired Horses
208 words
Wigwam
145 if you count every "da" independently
Tin Angel is almost as long as Tempest, gets totally overlooked but I think it’s a much stronger tune
939 words, good one. I'm done updating the chart but thanks, a lot of people just say songs they like that have 200 words or something but this would be 5th.
Fascinating! Is this the total word count, or the number of distinct words appearing in the song?
I appreciate that you're attempting to find a factual answer rather than opinion. I was guessing Murder Most Foul if you meant a song song -- Did you do a word count for Highlands? It's 16 minutes and he babbles through the whole thing about eggs and shiny legs and whatnot. Gotta be long.
I feel that if Final Thoughts counts as a song, then Tarantula probably should as well. Tarantula is filled with dense walls of text, so I'd imagine one of those -- Hem -- Poems might make the top 10 if they qualify.
Nice fedora, Tarantula wouldn't make the list because it isn't a song, if you don't think that Last Thoughts on Woodie Guthrie is a song then fine, don't count it. Many people do regard it as a song as it is on an album with other songs, but nobody thinks Tarantula is a song. Also, I did count highlands if you looked at the chart you would see this.
I personally would call Final Thoughts beat poetry -- Like spoken word, so somewhere between a song and a poem. I think all of Bob's prose has rhythm actually, and when he speaks also. Even Tarantula, which he didn't care about, has a rhythm.
Oh, I glanced with blurry vision and thought that said Highway 61. Highlands makes way more sense.
Hey, I just re-read my comment. Didn't mean for the hem poems thing to be directed at you, it's just that some of Tarantula felt to me like a high-school kid speeding through writing a paper. Not sure I'd call any of it prose or poetry -- more like he was thinking 'Why did that moron manager say I'd write a book?!" I did like that bit about the fire and singing in the forest though in Tarantula. I doubt Bob remembers that he wrote that, but I come back to it sometimes. Could have been a great song IMO.
P.P. Arnold covered Last Thoughts On Woody Guthrie on a recent album and it's amazing.
Visions of Johanna has to be up there, it’s a 7:30 song…
464, it seems like a lot but it's quite slow and there are a few long instrumentals.
Yes you are right, I was mistaken
Damn I scroll way right to get to Sad Eyed
It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding. "Darkness at break of noon ..."
That's a lot of public speaking.
Is last thoughts on Woody more of a poem/speech than a song....no?
I would consider it a song, but it is mixed. There are songs without instruments and there are songs with no melody, everything is musical in a way. That kinda makes it meaningless, so if you go by how music is treated then it makes sense that it is a song as it is in an album next to other songs.
Love that point and I'll go ahead and agree ✌️
Really awesome post and chart overall tho! Cool to see some modern songs make it in the top. Shows the old Bard is still chirping away in the wind!
"Most" of the time, "Most" Likely You Go Your Way (and I'll Go Mine) and Murder "Most" Foul.
It’s all right, Ma
Is last thoughts on woody a song though? Or is it a case that any piece of writing that bob has recorded is being considered
Murder Most Foul or Highlands would be my guess.
The one that also has the most letters
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It's Alright Ma is up there and if you counted the words instead of asking ChatGPT you would find that it has 667 words, also this isn't a completed list which I state in the description so you couldn't know what place it's in
It is there
Where does Brownsville girl rank
Maybe Highlands off of Time Out of Mind gives Murder Most Foul a run for money? 16 minutes long
Hurricane seems wordy
Didn’t he have a 30-minute song recently?
is this unique words or words total?