YMMV / Highway 61 Revisited

• Freud Was Right: A lot of the imagery in "Ballad of a Thin Man" has frequently been interpreted along these lines. The song can certainly be read as having something of a Homoerotic Subtext.
• Genre Turning Point
  Bruce Springsteen: The first time I heard Bob Dylan, I was in the car with my mother listening to WMCA, and on came that snare shot that sounded like somebody'd kicked open the door to your mind, from "Like A Rolling Stone" ... The way that Elvis freed your body, Dylan freed your mind, and showed us that because the music was physical did not mean it was anti-intellect. He had the vision and talent to make a pop song so that it contained the whole world. He invented a new way a pop singer could sound, broke through the limitations of what a recording could achieve, and he changed the face of rock'n'roll for ever and ever.
  Paul McCartney: It seemed to go on and on forever. It was just beautiful...he showed all of us that it was possible to go a little further.
  Frank Zappa: When I heard "Like a Rolling Stone", I wanted to quit the music business, because I felt "If this wins and it does what it's supposed to do, I don't need to do anything else".
• Refrain from Assuming: "Ballad of a Thin Man" is not called "Do You, Mr. Jones?"
• Signature Song: "Like a Rolling Stone", Dylan's overall most popular track and biggest hit.
• Suspiciously Similar Song:
  • The music for "Ballad of a Thin Man" was clearly inspired by the Ray Charles song "I Believe to My Soul", specifically the Epic Riff Dylan plays on the piano matching the "I believe it" melody in the chorus of the Charles song.
  • The guitar riffs played by Charlie McCoy on "Desolation Row" recall the Flamenco-style guitar on "El Paso" by Marty Robbins.
  • "Queen Jane Approximately" was on the receiving end with "Truly Julie's Blues (I'll Be There)", the follow-up single released by singer-songwriter Bob Lind after his Top 10 hit "Elusive Butterfly". The melody is different, and Lind's voice is smoother, but the lyrical structure and meter are identical to "Queen Jane", to the point that you can sing the Lind song's lyrics to the Dylan song's melody.

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