You can’t rush art. For many artists, the act of creating is an unbridled thing. They say you can’t put any confines on it. The three songs below are indicative of that viewpoint. These timeless songs took their artists decades to complete.
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“Wagon Wheel” (Old Crow Medicine Show)
“Wagon Wheel” has experienced a unique journey. It has been passed along to several artists, earning a little more prestige each time. The origins of this song date back to a bootleg Bob Dylan recording. That rare recording crossed paths with Old Crow Medicine Show‘s Ketch Secor decades later. The Old Crow member then added intelligible verses and made it into something viable of hit status. However, it wouldn’t reach its full potential until Darius Rucker delivered a cover several years after the Old Crow release. Needless to say, “Wagon Wheel” is the stuff of traditional folk legend–an oral history passed down from generation to generation.
For the purposes of this list, we’re focusing on Secor’s songwriting contributions. Though Dylan roughly mapped out this song, it was Secor who fully shaped it. “Oh, that sounds like, ‘Rock me mama like a wagon wheel, rock me mama, like a southbound train,’” Secor said of hearing “Wagon Wheel” for the first time. “That’s beautiful. I want to write the rest of that.” It took decades to complete, but the finished product was well worth the monumental effort.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” (Queen)
“Bohemian Rhapsody” isn’t a song that comes around everyday. It’s a once-in-a-generation tune that no one has managed to measure up to in the years since its release. Because of this, the fact that it took Freddie Mercury a decade to finally flush out makes perfect sense.
Though the actual recording of “Bohemian Rhapsody” only took a couple of weeks, Mercury had been playing around with this oddball mix of sounds for nearly 10 years. He toyed with operatic rock for a while before he made it work well enough to put down on tape. The end result was still very outlandish, but all of Mercury’s work made it a smooth enough composition to become a massive anthem.
“American Pie” (Don McLean)
More than a decade after the death of Buddy Holly, Don McLean penned this powerful song in his honor. He used Holly’s tragedy as a starting line for a robust cultural investigation. He meanders through decades prior, mulling over highlights from his childhood. It’s one of the most impressive songwriting efforts ever completed. Unsurprisingly, it took McLean quite a while to complete.
All in all, McClean spent a decade rewriting this song, hoping to perfect his trip down memory lane. It’s safe to say he accomplished that goal.
(Photo by Alan Messer/Shutterstock)
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