Five songs Bob Dylan turned his back on
Much to the discontent of his devoted fans, Bob Dylan has been known to omit some of his greatest works from his full-length studio releases.
His reasoning for rejecting certain songs remains a mystery to fans and collaborators alike. Perhaps it’s due to his perfectionism or his unstoppable songwriting habits: has Dylan written so many songs that he’s simply forgotten about them? He was so prolific in his writing that it would be impossible for every song to make the final cut.
For fans, their only respite in hearing Dylan’s forgotten masterpieces comes in the form of his Bootleg Series. The 17-volume series collates unreleased tracks and performances from throughout Dylan’s career. The first volume, The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-1 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991, comprised songs from Dylan’s first 30 years of songwriting. The series is ongoing, and Dylan’s most recent entry, The Bootleg Series Vol. 17: Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996-1997), was released earlier this year.
Alongside his official bootleg releases, fans have circulated their own bootlegs of Dylan’s tracks to the extent that Nigel Williamson dubbed him the most bootlegged artist in rock history in his book The Rough Guide to Bob Dylan. Though we may never know why he omitted certain tracks from his studio discography at the time, we’re looking back at five songs Bob Dylan rejected.
It might feel a little coarse to suggest that Dylan turned his back on a song, especially if you believe the old adage that any creation from an artist can feel like their children. But so many songs have fallen under the Dylan moniker that there were bound to be at least a handful which he happily disowned.
Dylan wrote ‘Abandoned Love’ in 1975 after the breakdown of his relationship with Sara Lownds, intending to feature it on his 1976 record Desire. Instead, he decided to include ‘Joey’ on the record. The song has also reportedly only been performed live once, in the year Dylan penned it, in New York. Though he rejected the song at the time, Dylan later included it on the compilation album Biograph in 1985. For the most part, though, perhaps owing to the painful subject matter, Dylan has left the tack in the shadows.
‘Up to Me’ was another song Dylan left unreleased until his 1985 compilation album, which seemed to gather up all the pieces of unreleased fodder and package it into a money-making venture during a decade in which Dylan himself happily admitted to being out of step with the music-loving world.
It was an outtake from his 1975 record Blood on the Tracks, which later featured on the 14th edition of his Bootleg Series, More Blood, More Tracks. The track even caught the attention of Kanye West, who tweeted some of the lyrics from the song in 2018, ending with, “Someone had to reach for the risin’ star, it’s up to me”.
In 2012, Dylan played his track ‘Blind Willie McTell’ at the Critics’ Choice Awards as a tribute to the beloved filmmaker Martin Scorsese. But the track was first written in the early 1980s, though it wouldn’t see the light of day until Dylan’s first entry into the Bootleg Series in 1991, and it has been largely forgotten ever since, meaning no matter if Scorsese liked it or not, the tune is in the background for the time being.
‘Percy’s Song’, meanwhile, was recorded early into the folk singer-songwriter’s career and intended to feature on 1964’s The Times They Are A-Changin’, but Dylan decided against including the song on the record. Instead, it was folk singer-songwriter Joan Baez who popularised the song after it was featured in Don’t Look Back in 1967. Dylan’s version, like many of the songs he rejected, was only released on Biograph.
‘Caribbean Wind’ is another song Dylan rejected, cutting it from his 1981 album Shot of Love. Dylan told Cameron Crowe that he couldn’t quite grasp what the song was about, perhaps a motivating factor in his rejection of the track. The Shot of Love outtake was included on the seventh side of Biograph.
Whether Dylan’s continuous rejection of his own songs is down to perfectionism, pedantry, or prolificity, it has irked fans everywhere. Yet, it also provides Dylan enthusiasts with an exciting vault of old Dylan material to dive into through bootlegs and live performances.
Five songs Bob Dylan rejected:
- ‘Abandoned Love’
- ‘Up to Me’
- ‘Blind Willie McTell’
- ‘Percy’s Song’
- ‘Caribbean Wind’
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