Throughout his influential career, iconic singer-songwriter Bob Dylan has composed countless classics. For instance, his 1965 album, Highway 61 Revisited, has quite a few acclaimed Dylan songs, including “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Ballad of a Thin Man,” and “Desolation Row.”
According to Far Out magazine, Dylan came up with “Desolation Row,” which has an 11-minute and 19-second run time, inside a car. The publication reported Playboy magazine implored Dylan to name the location of where he was “when [he] wrote that” song.
“I was in the back of a taxi cab,” replied Dylan in the interview with Playboy, as reported by Far Out.
Bob Dylan Referenced Making ‘Highway 61 Revisited’ in a 1986 Interview
20 years following the release of Highway 61 Revisited, Dylan’s sixth album, the musician referenced the making of the record in an interview with Rolling Stone magazine. During the 1986 interview, Dylan said he had refrained from ever putting in full effort into any of his projects.
“Somebody once told me – and I don’t remember who it was or even where it was – but they said, ‘Never give a hundred percent.’ My thing has always been just getting by on whatever I’ve been getting by on. That applies to that time, too, that time in the Sixties. It never really occurred to me that I had to do it for any kind of motive except that I just felt like I wanted to do it. As things worked, I mean, I could never have predicted it,” said Dylan to the publication.
The Rolling Stone journalist pushed back on Dylan’s claim, stating that he likely used his full abilities as a musician and lyricist while recording Highway 61 Revisited and 1966’s Blonde on Blonde.
“Well, maybe I was,” conceded Dylan with a smile.
Dylan, now 85, clarified that he had a reason to save some of his energy when creating and performing.
“But there’s something at the back of your mind that says, ‘I’m not giving you a hundred percent. I’m not giving anybody a hundred percent. I’m gonna give you this much, and this much is gonna have to do,” said Dylan during the 1986 Rolling Stone interview. “I’m good at what I do. I can afford to give you this much and still be as good as, if not better than, the guy over across the street.’ I’m not gonna give it all – I’m not Judy Garland, who’s gonna die onstage in front of a thousand clowns. If we’ve learned anything, we should have learned that.”