The two songs that David Bowie wrote for Bob Dylan
David Bowie and Bob Dylan never shared a close relationship, but that didn’t stop the Bromley boy from using his hero as a muse on two focused occasions. Beautifully, the songs in question were created over half a century apart, showing just how much Dylan lingered over Bowie’s artistic life.
The first track Bowie wrote about Dylan was penned before he’d had any interactions with the bohemian singer-songwriter and appeared on his seminal album, Hunky Dory. He didn’t force listeners to read between the lines to understand the meaning behind the song and appropriately titled the effort, ‘Song For Bob Dylan’.
Reflecting on the song during an interview with Melody Maker in 1976, Bowie explained it was about his ambition to displace Dylan in the musical world and become King. “There’s even a song – ‘Song for Bob Dylan’ – that laid out what I wanted to do in rock. It was at that period that I said, ‘okay (Dylan) if you don’t want to do it, I will.’ I saw that leadership void,” he explained.
Bowie added: “Even though the song isn’t one of the most important on the album, it represented for me what the album was all about. If there wasn’t someone who was going to use rock ‘n’ roll, then I’d do it.”
On the surface, the track seems like an ode to Dylan, but it’s more about him feeling letdown by the singer changing from his roots. He sings: “Gave your heart to every bedsit room, At least a picture on my wall, And you sat behind a million pair of eyes, And told them how they saw, Then we lost your train of thought, Your paintings are all your own, While troubles are rising, we’d rather be scared, Together than alone.”
Speaking about his relationship with Dylan in 1976, he added: “I saw Dylan in New York seven, eight months ago. We don’t have a lot to talk about. We’re not great friends. Actually, I think he hates me. We went back to somebody’s house after some gig at a club. We had all gone to see someone. I can’t remember who, and Dylan was there”.
Bowie continued: “I just talked at him for hours and hours and hours, and whether I amused him or scared him or repulsed him, I really don’t know. I didn’t wait for any answers. I just went on and on about everything. And then I said goodnight. He never phoned me.”
On Bowie’s penultimate album, The Next Day, the singer wrote about him once more on ‘(You Will) Set the World On Fire’, which is set in Greenwich Village during the early 1960s. He sings: “Kennedy would kill, For the lines that you’ve written, Van Ronk says to Bobby, ‘She’s the next real thing’.”
Despite never being close friends, Bowie found Dylan’s lure irresistible and used it as a vessel for his songwriting. The Greenwich Village scene was a fantastical place where he wanted to place himself for ‘(You Will) Set the World On Fire’, and similarly to ‘Song For Bob Dylan’, it was centred on his fascination with the early Dylan, rather than the artist who he became.
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Bob Dylan Newsletter
All the latest stories about Bob Dylan from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.