On This Exact Day Back in 1965, Bob Dylan Stepped Into the Studio and Recorded a Song That Would Forever Change the Landscape of Modern Music and Inspire Generations Worldwide – Click the Link to See the Full Story
On This Exact Day Back in 1965, Bob Dylan Stepped Into the Studio and Recorded a Song That Would Forever Change the Landscape of Modern Music and Inspire Generations Worldwide – Click the Link to See the Full Story
On this day in 1965, something extraordinary happened inside Studio A of Columbia Records in New York City. A 24-year-old Bob Dylan walked into the recording booth and laid down what would become one of the most transformative and influential songs of the 20th century: “Like a Rolling Stone.”
The recording of “Like a Rolling Stone” marked a turning point not only in Dylan’s career, but also in the evolution of popular music itself. Blending poetic lyrics, raw emotion, electric instrumentation, and a six-minute runtime—unheard of at the time for radio airplay—the track shattered conventions and rewrote the rules for what a song could be.
When Dylan arrived at the studio on June 15, 1965, the song was still taking shape. It had begun as a long, rambling piece of prose—ten pages of stream-of-consciousness musings and personal anguish—that Dylan had written after a difficult European tour. “It was like a ghost is writing a song,” he would later say. “I felt like I was just putting words down that came out of me.”
Over the course of two days, Dylan and a group of musicians—including guitarist Mike Bloomfield, pianist Paul Griffin, and drummer Bobby Gregg—transformed those chaotic pages into a thunderous rock anthem. After several takes and a last-minute switch from waltz to a driving 4/4 rhythm, something clicked. On take four of the final day, everything came together: the swirling organ riff from session player Al Kooper, the biting tone of Dylan’s voice, and the steady groove of the band.
When producer Tom Wilson heard the playback, he reportedly said, “That’s it. We’ve got it.” They had more than a good take—they had a masterpiece.
From the very first note, “Like a Rolling Stone” sounds like no song before it. Dylan’s snarl as he sings “Once upon a time you dressed so fine…” immediately signals that this isn’t a love song or a folk ballad—it’s something darker, angrier, and far more real. The lyrics, aimed at a mysterious “Miss Lonely,” unravel a story of loss, freedom, and cruel irony, painting a portrait of someone cast out of comfort and privilege and left to confront the world on their own.
“You used to laugh about / Everybody that was hangin’ out / Now you don’t talk so loud / Now you don’t seem so proud
