In his heyday, Bob Dylan was more than even a musician. He was considered a mystical poet. And sometimes you need a bit of mystical poetry just to get through the mundane chores and assignments of an average day.
And that’s just what we wanted to explore below. We wanted to highlight three songs from Dylan’s catalog that cut through everyday banality. Indeed, these are three Bob Dylan songs we know you love to sing while doing the dishes and other chores.
Videos by American Songwriter
“Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” by Bob Dylan from ‘The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan’ (1963)
When you’re doing the dishes at your home, your mind can wander. You can start to think about past loves, old crushes, and bygone relationships. That’s when you start to hum or even sing Dylan’s classic breakup track, “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”. Love (and the absence of it) has long been the subject of popular music, and Dylan takes advantage of that here. But he puts the song on its head. He’s not sad, he’s not broken up. He’s just sure that a change had to happen. Interesting stuffโespecially as you’re washing coffee mugs.
“Tangled Up In Blue” by Bob Dylan from ‘Blood On The Tracks’ (1975)
While Bob Dylan rose to fame in the 1960s, that didn’t mean his career ended with the decade. No, the Bard wrote and released a number of excellent songs in the following decade, including the stunning track “Tangled Up In Blue”. The 1975 tune boasts an incredible chorus. Dylan tells intricate and interesting stories in the track, and he puts a button on each with the same refrain, which is also the title of the work. We all inherently know what it means to be tangled up in blueโit’s a sadness, a woefulness. And we can all relate to it as we’re doing our weekend chores around the house.
“It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” by Bob Dylan from ‘Bringing It All Back Home’ (1965)
Is this the first rap song? Maybe. Bob Dylan certainly creates an interesting beat on his acoustic six-string. And once he sets the tone, Dylan offers line after line of mind-bending poetry. The song is so rhythmic and driven that it’s easy to start singing out of nowhere while vacuuming or doing the dishes. It’s the kind of song that hits you out of nowhere. You’re surprised you even know all the lyrics. But there they are, tumbling from your tongue as you clean up your abode.
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