“A very dynamic artist”: when Billy Joel completely reinvented a Bob Dylan classic
Bob Dylan may well be the most covered artist in history, and it’s easy to understand why.
Dylan was never that complex an artist when it came to putting together music for his songs. His chord progressions were simple, the rhythm he adopted was standard, and it means that if you want to sit down and learn how to play a track like ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, you can.
If anything, this simplicity only adds to his appeal. He isn’t venturing outside of the standard chords in a scale, and yet he’s managing to put together tracks that move listeners, perplex scholars, and keep lovers of lyrics trying to unpack Dylan’s meaning even decades after a track has originally been released.
When you consider the work of other great songwriters, you can hear little bits of Bob Dylan making themselves known in their music, cautiously poking their heads above water as you pick up on phrasing, certain words, and time signatures, all of which were inspired by one of the greatest musical wordsmiths to ever pick up a pen. He won a Nobel Prize in literature for a reason, as his influence transcends that of any artist who came before or after him.
“I was very influenced by Dylan,” said Bruce Springsteen, one of many artists who Bob Dylan left his mark on.
“I always say he’s the father of my country. He initially provided me with a picture of a country that I recognised. One that feels real, feels like the truth.”
Bruce Springsteen on Bob Dylan
When you pair the simplicity of Bob Dylan with the complex nature of his lyrics, you get songs that artists everywhere are desperate to cover. They want to reshape this gift in their own way, restructuring tracks, adding instruments, and performing with a different vocal inflexion. Some of them work out perfectly, others not so much. For instance, Bruce Springsteen, who we’ve established was inspired by Dylan, delivered a great rendition of ‘Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door’ that the writer himself deemed a classic.
“He did that song like the record, something I myself have never tried. I never even thought it was worth it,” said Dylan. “Maybe never had the manpower in one band to pull it off. I don’t know, but I never thought about it. To tell you the truth, I’d forgotten how the song ought to go… I’m not a nostalgic person, but for a second there it all came back, Peckinpah, Slim Pickens, Katy Jurado, James Coburn, the dusty lawless streets of Durango, my first wife, my kids when they were small. For a second it all came back… it was that powerful.”
Another artist who covered one of Bob Dylan’s songs and took it to new heights was Billy Joel. On Joel’s Greatest Hits: Volume III album, Joel included a cover of Bob Dylan’s classic ‘Make You Feel My Love’. He made changes within the song, tapping into his knowledge as a writer to pick out different parts and either emphasise or subdue them. There was no doubt what track was being covered, but Joel fully immersed himself in both the words and music to the extent that Bob Dylan himself was a big fan of his version.
“Billy Joel’s a very dynamic artist, and he can hear things in a song because he’s also a songwriter,” said Dylan, concluding, “He managed to probably convey that song in a different way than me. Nevertheless, he got something out of that song that I would have never dreamed of myself. That’s what happens when you write a song. Somebody can definitely interpret it a different way than the person who wrote it.”
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