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Bob Dylan Called This Forgotten Song a Mistake and His Worst Song Ever
American-born singer-songwriter Bob Dylan is widely hailed as one of the most popular and influential music artists of the 20th century. And the accolades have not been given without merit, as Dylan’s poetic lyrics, distinctive baritone voice and plethora of hit songs such as “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” and “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” helped mold modern music and culture. Writing some of rock n’ roll’s and folk’s most famous melodies and lyrics is no easy task, yet Dylan has made it sound effortless with his innate talent and diligent work. But there is one classic song by Dylan that he not only considers one of his biggest career mistakes but also one of his worst songs ever, and the reason behind these sentiments may surprise you.
Bob Dylan Regretted Writing “Ballad in Plain D”
“I once loved a girl, her skin, it was bronze, With the innocence of a lamb, she was gentle like a fawn, I courted her proudly, but now she is gone, Gone as the season she’s taken” Bob Dylan once sang those heartbreaking and profound words in the song “Ballad in Plain D”. Written by Dylan, the song is an ode to his ex-girlfriend, American artist Suze Rotolo, with whom he had a fraught relationship in part due to her interfering, domineering mother and sister. The folk song was released in August 1964 on Dylan’s fourth studio album titled Another Side of Bob Dylan. Although the nearly 9-minute-long track was the longest on the album, it was not released as an official single.
Despite the fact that Another Side of Bob Dylan received mixed reviews from critics upon its release and also did not perform well on the music charts, “Ballad in Plain D” is often regarded by fans and modern music critics as one of Dylan’s most personal tracks, if not his best. In fact, in July 2013, Rolling Stone Magazine named it one of Dylan’s worst songs, and in another article by Rolling Stone Australia, it was deemed a terrible song but featured on a great album. Dylan appears to be in agreement, as the legendary singer once revealed in 1985 during a rare interview, “Oh yeah, that one! I look back and say, ‘I must have been a real schmuck to write that. Of all the songs I’ve written, maybe I could have left that alone.” After recording it, Dylan was never known to have performed it again.
As for Rotolo, before her death in 2011, she stated that she harbored no ill will towards Dylan for writing a song that besmirched her family or for seeing another woman around the time they were dating: “I never felt hurt. I understood what he was doing. It was the end of something and we both were hurt and bitter. His art was his outlet, his exorcism. It was healthy. That was the way he wrote out his life; the loving songs, the cynical songs, the political songs, they are all part of the way he saw his world and lived his life, period.”
60 Years Ago, Bob Dylan Released His All-Time Greatest Album
Bob Dylan’s masterpiece is perhaps even more relevant today, on its 60th birthday, than it was in 1965.
Bob Dylan Hated One Of His Most Acclaimed Albums
On August 30, 1965, Bob Dylan released his sixth studio album titled Highway 61 Revisited. It featured a somewhat surprising and underwhelming number of songs, 9 in total, including the lead single “Like a Rolling Stone” along with other hits like “From a Buick 6”, “Queen Jane Approximately”, and, of course, “Highway 61 Revisited.” Upon the album’s release, it received mixed reviews from music critics worldwide, such as this one from the British music publication New Musical Express, which described the album as “It’s yet another set of message songs and story songs sung in that monotonous and tuneless way by Dylan which becomes quite arresting as you listen.” The album also performed modestly well on the charts, peaking at number three on the US Billboard Top LPs and at number four on the UK albums chart.
By August 1967, Highway 61 Revisited was certified as a gold record in the US. Not only did the album make waves due to Dylan’s slight departure from primarily singing folk — he blended folk rock and blues for this particular album — and the first featuring accompanying musicians and instruments, but nearly 60 years after its release, it’s considered one of Dylan’s best works. However, Dylan famously panned his own album later, describing the grueling writing process for one of the album’s more popular tracks, “Breakthrough,” in an interview as a “long piece of vomit…just a rhythm thing on paper, all about my steady hatred, directed at some point that was honest.” His record company at the time was also unhappy with the recording, both for its length and the electric feel.
