What are the most expesnive lyrics ever sold at auction?
Music is the art form that seems to have a hold on people around the world, regardless of how close or distant they are when it comes to music. People listen to artists like The Beatles, Joni Mitchell, and Graham Nash, and are able to latch onto their sound and extract heartfelt meaning from every second. It creates an unfathomable connectivity, indescribable yet profoundly moving.
A lot of the time, we look at the artists who mean the most to us and struggle to understand where they get their ideas from. The way that their lyrics speak to us and their music moves us almost feels alien, and as such, we are constantly looking for ways to better understand their creative process.
One of the best ways that people can do this is to look at early drafts of songs. It’s for this reason that so many people pay a lot of money to obtain drafts of lyrics and lyric sheets at auction. By reading them, seeing words scribbled out, lines written, erased and rewritten, we are brought closer to their process. These sheets are better than autographs; this is a window into the minds of some of the best creatives on the planet.
You’d be shocked at how much some lyric sheets sell for. People with a budget and a passion really will go all out on their favourite artists if given the chance. For instance, some of the lyrics for David Bowie’s ‘Starman’ once sold at auction for a whopping $334,958. The Beatles also had some lyrics sold for a huge amount, as in 2020, some handwritten lyrics to ‘Hey Jude’ were sold at auction for $910,000.
However, while both of these sales are astronomical in price, neither of them are the world record holder, as that figure is truly mind-boggling.
So, what were the most expensive lyrics ever sold at auction?
The record holder for the most expensive lyrics ever sold at auction is none other than Bob Dylan. Back in 2014, a draft copy of the lyrics for Bob Dylan’s classic ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ sold at auction. The figure they went for seemed large at the time, but it turned out it was actually setting a record for being the most expensive music manuscript ever sold at auction.
The lyrics went for a whopping $2.045million. There were four pages of notes, all of which were written in pencil. There weren’t just lyrics on the page but also a series of scribbles and doodles, as Dylan seemed to let his mind wander when he was writing the words for the iconic track.
…and why did the lyrics sell for so much?
There are a number of reasons why these lyrics will have sold for so much. The first is that they are believed to be the only surviving drafts of the lyrics for ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ left. This makes them not only rare, but one of a kind. Another reason will be that while Dylan was famed for his lyrics, ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ is famously dubbed some of his greatest work of all time.
One of the more nuanced reasons, however, will likely be the image that Bob Dylan has created for himself. He’s a man fascinated by his own myth and happily plays into the unknown element of his personality and his creative process. Copies of his lyrics are the closest that a lot of people are ever going to come to truly understanding the creative mind of Bob Dylan, and therefore, any fan with a big enough budget will want to get their hands on them.
