This song is one of Bob Dylan’s best known songs. There has been many covers but I’ll take this one over all. I read a review Thursday of the soundtrack of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid by Bob Dylan written by Cincinnati Babyhead.
Dylan wrote the lyrics of the song from the perspective of a dying sheriff living his last moments played by Slim Pickens. The song plays beautifully to that scene in the movie
Last night I decided to watch the movie again. It’s a great movie and if you get a chance… watch it. Dylan had a part in the movie as the character, Alias. Knocking On Heavens Door peaked at #12 in the Billboard 100, #14 in rhe UK, and #12 in Canada in 1973.
Booker T. Jones (musician on the album): “He [Dylan] lived over in Paradise Cove and I lived on Winding Way in Malibu. I bought Lana Turner’s old house and I’m not sure where he lived, but he had a house just across the road there and he would come over and pick up my guitar and work on songs and stuff. They were working on the movie with Jason Robards late one night, and for some reason [Dylan] just called me up and asked me to come over to the studio and to play on the song, and I played bass on it.”
The other musicians on “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” are:
Vocals, Guitar: Dylan
Guitar: Roger McGuinn
Drums: Jim Keltner
Harmonium: Carl Fortina
Flute: Gary Foster
Backup Vocals: Brenda Patterson, Carol Hunter, Donna Weiss
From Songfacts
Dylan wrote it for the 1973 Western film, Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid. It plays while Sheriff Colin Baker is dying from his gunshot wounds.
Guns N’ Roses covered this on their 1991 album, Use Your Illusion II. They played it in 1992 at a tribute concert for Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen, who had died of AIDS. 72,000 people attended the concert, which was held in London’s Wembley Stadium. In case you’re wondering, towards the end of the end of this version, the man on the telephone says, “You just better start sniffin your own rank subjugation Jack, ’cause it’s just you and your tattered libido, the bank and the mortician, forever man and it wouldn’t be luck if you could get out of life alive.”
In 1996, Bob Dylan allowed the Scottish musician Ted Christopher to record a new verse for “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” which Christopher had written in memory of the schoolchildren and teacher killed in the Dunblane massacre. This is one of the rare times Dylan has officially permitted someone to add to or change the lyrics to one of his songs. Christopher’s version reached #1 in the UK.
One of the few times Dylan authorized a sample was when he let the British singer Gabrielle use this song as the basis of her 1999 track “Rise,” which went to #1 in the UK. According to Gabrielle, Dylan not only allowed it, but waived some of the royalties he was entitled to.
Warren Zevon recorded this for his 2003 album The Wind. Zevon was dying of lung cancer when he recorded the track, and died shortly after the album was released.
This song has been covered in reggae style by multiple artists including G.T. Moore & The Reggae Guitars, Arthur Louis and Eric Clapton.
Other artists to have covered this song include Avril Lavigne, Dolly Parton, Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Cold Chisel, Neil Young and Aretha Franklin.
The title of the song was used as the original title for the Cowboy Bebop movie. Cowboy Bebop is a popular Japanese Anime that made a big hit in America when the dubbed version (done in the late ’90s) was broadcast on Cartoon Network in 2001. Bebop was known for taking influences from pop culture (example: The title of episode 6 is “Sympathy for the Devil,” obviously a take off of the Rolling Stones Song). When a full length Bebop movie was made in Japan, it was titled Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door. When it was dubbed and brought to theaters in America for a short time, they changed it to Cowboy Bebop: The Movie so Dylan wouldn’t take any legal action against them.
This song is musically similar to Neil Young’s “Helpless,” which was recorded in 1969 and features on the Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young album, Déjà Vu.
In October 2007, 1,730 guitarists in Shillong, India strummed this song for five minutes to set a world record for the largest ever guitar ensemble.
Knocking On Heavens Door
Mama, take this badge off of me
I can’t use it anymore
It’s gettin’ dark, too dark to see
I feel I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Mama, put my guns in the ground
I can’t shoot them anymore
That long black cloud is comin’ down
I feel I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
…
I love Bob Dylan’s music; he’s a brilliant storyteller. However, I generally prefer his words in someone else’s mouth, e.g., Peter, Paul & Mary. (I’m much the same way about Charles Dickens, which is a tale for another time.)
The one exception is this song. I have never heard anyone sing it with the same depth and poignancy as Dylan himself.
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As far as me…I like his voice…I guess it just grew on me but I get what you are saying completely.
This song…you are right. He conveys depth to it like no others. It’s hard for me to listen to a cover of it.
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Me too. I find the voice a big part of the story telling.
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I agree with Sharon- this is my favorite Dylan record and one of the few where I think he does it better than the later imitators or cover artists.
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This one and Lady Lady Lay seems to be the two people say that about. I do like his voice in this one…of course I say that a lot lol. The ONE song I don’t like his voice…and there is only one… is…”All I Really Want To Do”…I don’t know what he was thinking.
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One of Dylan’s better “airplay tunes.” I also like his “You Gotta Serve Somebody”. The tip of the Dylan iceberg. The man is an iconic giant in the world of music.
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Lay, Lady, Lay is also easier on the masses ears…
I love the fact he won a grammy for vocal of the year with You Gotta Serve Somebody
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Wow didn’t know that.
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Yes he did…I have comically thrown it up in friends faces when Bob was mocked lol
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🙂
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“Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” remains a timeless classic and one of my favorite Dylan songs. Every time I listen to the tune, I feel the end is somewhat arbitrary and the song should have been longer. But perhaps it was the great poet’s way of illustrating that the poor sheriff’s life was slipping away.
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Yes he kept this one simple and it fits perfectly
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One of the most haunting songs in existence. My favorite Dylan song. I can’t stand G -n- R’s version. I want to punch Axl in the face. I need to find Christopher’s version.
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Thank you…I’ll punch Axl after you are through…the ending really gets on my nerves of their version
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😆
I found Christopher’s…well, one of them. It’s cool. It’s got Mark Knopfler playing guitar. It’a awesome.
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I think your on to something.
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