Expecting Rain

What Bob Dylan line or song first opened your eyes to his genius, or made you say, "man, this guy is saying exactly what I'm feeling"? For me it was, "And you yell to yourself and you throw down yer hat
Sayin', "Christ do I gotta be like that
Ain't there no one here that knows where I'm at
Ain't there no one here that knows how I feel
Good God Almighty
That stuff ain't real"

well the first, after skipping the intro to rainy day, were the words "how many roads must a man walk down, before you call him a man?"

he had me at hello, he did.

hmm
LARS, especially:
"How does it feeeeeel?
How does it feeeeeel?"

i think what struck me was the singing.

and all of Hard Rain was like a punch in the gut. still is.

Heard LIKE A ROLLING STONE on the radio whilst crossing the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge on the way back from a camping trip with my father. He was shouting out lines. I was like, whoa.

i was thinking i'd say like a rolling stone, since i probably heard it on the radio, before i crossed over. but i was also probably 7, so all i really heard was La blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah a blah la blah bhah blah blah

how does it FEEEEL?

"Oh, mama, can this really be the end..."

"I'm telling you again that hell's my wife's hometown"

Only joking, I can't remember

It's all right, Ma, it's life and life only

That one for me too. I used to listen to Stuck Inside Of Mobile over and over.
And: "don't follow leaders, watch the parking meters". But I may remember some other line tomorrow...

Back in 1973, aged 14, hungover for the first time
"I started out on Burgundy,
but soon hit the harder stuff."

that's still my favorite line from my favorite song. sober or not. nice pick.
no wait i think i like the line that follows. well, geeze, i've managed to pick one favorite song, i think i can claim the whole verse.

It was either "To gather flowers constantly" or "William Zanzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll".

Not sure, it's been awhile. It was probably something off Freewheelin, Another Side, Desire, or Hard Rain. Those are the albums I remember hearing first. I know "it's alright ma" is the only song I remember hearing (and where i was) the first time. That one just took it to a whole other level, blew me away. So probably that one.

I suppose it was as a young Trev, listening to Wanted Man by Johnny Cash. Didn't know Dylan was involved with that song (I think he may be credited as the sole writer) until I'd already been a Dylan fan for some time. I had particlularly liked the idea of going the wrong way into Juarez with Juanita on my lap, even as a tiny Trev.

"I aint gonna work on Maggies Farm no more"

Hard Rain - The first Dylan album I bought, at age 15 in 1986.

Every songs burnt on my mind like a solar flare.

Not least that opening line and song, lent eerie resonance by that woman who was destroying the UK at the time.

Also from Hattie Carroll: "Bury the rag DEEP in your face - now is the time for your tears" - it still gets me every time I hear it.

I knew all his famous songs from the 60's, owned Greatest Hits, but only succumbed to him when I heard 115th Dream, in a Copenhagen student flat. I bought BIABH as soon as I got back, and if there's one line that got me, above all the other brilliant lines, at that time, it was 'Upon the beach where hound dogs bay at ships with tattooed sails'. Then I saw a living, breathing, singing, talking Bob Dylan, for the first time, in Don't Look Back, and my fate was sealed.

The final verse of Mr Tambourine Man: "Far from the twisted reach of cra-a-aa-zy sorrow"
Once I'd first heard that song, the journey from loneliness to haziness and melancholy then to the final perfect clarity of the last verse, I was hooked.

Every line chosen so far, from the 60's.

"A worried man with a worried mind, no one in front of me and nothing behind..."

That rasp, the darkness of the instrumentation,the brilliance of the phrasing... everything. Just grabbed me all at once and wouldn't let go.

These are all great responses. I guess my pick, as far as songs go, would have to be the Newcastle version of Like A Rolling Stone. Specifically where he says, "Go to him now! He calls ya! Ya Can't refuse!" That one line captured completely captured what it feels like to be a young guy trying to find yourself. Awesome stuff.

Ain't it just like the night...

from Biograph hooked me in the mid 80s.

I had the gospel albums previous to Biograph. But this and subsequent lines from that live Visions did the trick.

re Hard Rain, after i heard the line about the girl giving him a rainbow, i knew i'd love him forever...

Love Minus Zero but I think I have written about that experience a few times on here.

Good one! Ahh the emotion on his face in that performance is great.