Mr. Tambourine Man

: For The Byrds' album of the same name, see Mr. Tambourine Man (album).

Related Topics:
The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man (album)

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"Mr. Tambourine Man" is a song, written and performed by Bob Dylan, and featured on his 1965 album, Bringing It All Back Home. It was then covered and popularized by The Byrds on their debut album Mr. Tambourine Man (1965). The album brought the folk-rock sound into mainstream American consciousness.

Related Topics:
Bob Dylan - 1965 - Bringing It All Back Home - Covered - The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man - Folk-rock

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There are many theories about the meaning of the song. The 1995 film Dangerous Minds takes the approach that the song is about a drug deal. Dylan himself claims that the song was inspired by the image of a session musician shaking a tambourine and partly by a trip he took from LA to New York. He mailed packages of marijuana to post offices along the route so that he would not be caught with the drug.

Related Topics:
1995 - Dangerous Minds - Marijuana

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The structure of the song is Dylan playing an acoustic guitar in dropped D tuning, capoed at the seventh fret. An electric guitar plays a counter melody to back up Dylan's vocals.

Related Topics:
Acoustic guitar - Capo

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On the List of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, The Byrds' version of this song placed at #79 and Bob Dylan's version placed at #106. It was the only song to place twice.

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