The Bob Dylan lyric sheet that sold for over $2 million
We’ve all been there. You’re chatting with a band member by the merch stand after the show, your eyes flitting between the T-shirts and vinyl on offer, trying to make a quick but financially responsible decision. They’re a little overpriced, but you enjoyed the gig, you’re a couple of pints in, and you want to support the band, so you say, “Why not?” and hand over the cash. We’ve all spent a little more money on merch than planned, but how many of us have spent $2 million on a singular lyric sheet?
Handwritten lyrics are one of the most personal and intimate pieces of merchandise an artist can have on offer. They’re also one of the most low-cost. A piece of paper, a little ink, and a minute or two of the songwriter’s time, and you have an item that will mean more to most fans than a CD or a shirt. Local artists will sell handwritten lyric sheets for a couple of pounds, using them as an easy way for fans to show their appreciation for the band financially, but some scrawled songs go on to earn millions.
Handwritten lyric sheets from songwriting sessions by the greats have been auctioned off for massive sums over the years. A lyric sheet from the writing of Plastic Ono Band’s ‘Give Peace a Chance’ took in over £400,000, while Lennon’s handwritten scrawls for The Beatles ‘A Day In The Life’ went for over 1.2million back in 2010. But neither of these take the title for the most expensive lyric sheet ever sold. In fact, they only come in fourth and fifth place.
In the bronze medal position is Don McLean’s ‘American Pie’ which also earned just over $1.2m back in 2015. McLean loses out on silver to another Lennon writing. His handwritten lyrics for the iconic ‘All You Need Is Love’ sold for $1.25m back in 2005, making it the second most expensive lyric sheet ever sold.
Though Lennon dominates the list with writings both for The Beatles and for the Plastic Ono Band, it’s actually Bob Dylan who takes the title for the most expensive lyric sheet ever purchased. In 2014, a draft he had written for one of his signature songs, ‘Like A Rolling Stone’, sold for an impressive $2.045m to an unnamed buyer.
The track was released in 1965 and followed the fall of a woman who once “dressed so fine” who has now become “a complete unknown”. It’s some of Dylan’s finest work, as reflected in the mammoth legacy of the song, which has been endlessly covered and praised for decades now.
The auctioneers, Sotheby’s, stated that the lyric sheet was the “only known surviving draft of the final lyrics for this transformative rock anthem,” according to a report by The Hollywood Reporter at the time. They were penned on paper from the Roger Smith Hotel in Washington D.C. and featured lyrics as well as doodles of a hat and animals.
Given Dylan’s legacy as a songwriter and the enduring love for ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, it makes sense that his handwritten notes for the song take the title for the most expensive lyric sheet of all time. It’s evidence of a master at work, honing his craft on hotel paper and through intermittent doodling.
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