4 of the Most Bizarre Songs That Bob Dylan Ever Wrote

For every “Like A Rolling Stone” in Dylan’s catalog, there’s a “Wiggle Wiggle”. Here are some of the weirdest Dylan creations that redefine songwriting in a different way.

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“Wiggle Wiggle”

“Wiggle Wiggle” appears on Dylan’s 1990 project, Under The Red Sky, which should really be our first clue as to why this track is so, well, odd. At the time, Dylan was struggling to bring ideas to the studio, so a lot of his songs weren’t necessarily his best effort.

This song is literally just Dylan telling his listeners to “wiggle wiggle” in a series of strange commands.

“I was completely disillusioned,” Dylan told Rolling Stone in an old interview about his process at the time. “I’d let someone else take control of it all and just come up with lyrics to the melody of the song.”

“Motorpsycho Nitemare”

This song is unique because it follows strophic form, so there’s no chorus. It’s just a series of verses that tell a story. You might be familiar with the song’s title and a few of the lines if you’ve ever seen the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho, as Dylan partially based it on that. Knowing this fact makes the song a little less strange.

“Ugliest Girl In The World”

This song is definitely weird, but it’s also kind of endearing in a strange way. Dylan’s “Ugliest Girl In The World” describes a woman in great detail and ultimately comes to the conclusion that while she may not be all that pretty, she’s the one for him.

The woman that I love she got a hook in her nose
Her eyebrows meet, she wears second hand clothes
She speaks with a stutter and she walks with a hop
I don’t know why I love her but I just can’t stop.

This song is literally the definition of a backhanded compliment.

“Million Dollar Bash”

Recorded as part of The Basement Tapes in 1967, “Million Dollar Bash” is a bit of a head-scratcher. While it’s clear that there’s some kind of event going on that everyone is going to be at, we’re not really given a clue as to why or what the significance of this “million dollar bash” is.

“Well, I looked at my watch / I looked at my wrist / Punched myself in the face / With my fist / I took my potatoes / Down to be mashed / Then I made it over to / That million dollar bash.”

This song sounds like a twisted metaphor for something else, but it’s hard to put your finger on what that is.

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