Tryin' to Get to Heaven
"Tryin' to Get to Heaven" is a song by Bob Dylan, recorded in January 1997 and released in September that year as the fifth track on his album Time Out of Mind.
| "Tryin' to Get to Heaven" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Bob Dylan | |
| from the album Time Out of Mind | |
| Released | September 30, 1997 |
| Recorded | January 1997 |
| Genre | Rock, Folk |
| Length | 5:21 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan |
| Producer(s) | Daniel Lanois |
| Time Out of Mind track listing | |
11 tracks
| |
It is a folk-rock ballad whose narrator has traveled "all around the world" and, in the song's memorable refrain, is "trying to get to heaven before they close the door."[1] It is notable for being the only song on Time Out of Mind on which Dylan plays the harmonica.[2]
Critical reception
Dylan scholar Jochen Markhorst ranks the song among the author's "most beautiful works," noting that it's similar to but "more accessible" than the celebrated "Not Dark Yet" because it offers the "prospect of redemption in an afterlife."[3]
In their book Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track, authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon call the song "hypnotic" and compare its sound to the work of Bruce Springsteen and Phil Spector. They note that Dylan's harmonica solo, which "requires several hearings to appreciate", achieves an unusual "electric" effect because of the way engineer Mark Howard ran it through a distortion box.[4]
Live performances
Between 1999 and 2019, Bob Dylan performed the song 335 times in concert on the Never Ending Tour.[5] A live version from October 5, 2000 in London, done in a jazz arrangement and with a slower tempo, was officially released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006.[6]
Cover versions
Lucinda Williams has officially released two cover versions of the song: one on the Chimes of Freedom compilation album in 2012 and another for her 2020 live album Lu's Jukebox Vol. 3 - Bob's Back Pages: A Night Of Bob Dylan Songs.
Robyn Hitchcock covered it on his 2004 album Spooked.
Joan Osborne covered it on her 2017 album Songs of Bob Dylan.
A cover by David Bowie, recorded in 1998, was released as a single on January 8, 2021.[7]
References
- "Tryin' to Get to Heaven | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
- "Lucinda Williams – Tryin' to get to heaven – The Best Dylan Covers | Born To Listen". Retrieved 2020-12-21.
- "Tryin' To Get To Heaven but not falling from the sky | Untold DylanUntold Dylan". Retrieved 2020-12-21.
- Margotin, Philippe,. Bob Dylan : all the songs : the story behind every track. Guesdon, Jean-Michel, (First ed.). New York. ISBN 1-57912-985-4. OCLC 869908038.CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
- "Bob Dylan Tour Statistics | setlist.fm". www.setlist.fm. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
- "The Bootleg Series, Vol 8: Tell Tale Signs | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
- "David Bowie - Mother/Tryin' To Get to Heaven | Rhino". www.rhino.com. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
