Rock

How a Bob Dylan anthem made Frank Zappa want to quit music

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Frank Zappa was a man who was shy about nothing. He was known for his eclectic and controversial style of music. Also, he didn’t hold back on anything, be it his opinion of music. He blended rock, jazz, and even classical music which defined him.

Over the years, he didn’t have many influencers. He had a notion of seeing people for what they were and not praising them like idols or stars. This was his character, and what set him apart from other people is how he was also revolutionizing the future of music at the same time.

He was set on what he believed, and there was a time when he criticized Bob Dylan‘s rock and roll theme ‘Like a Rolling Stone’. He was quite harsh about the fact too. The song had elements of his intellectual capabilities and a brilliant melody which made it into the final cut.

‘Like a rolling stone’ is considered to be one of the greatest songs in music history. The song is a six-minute epic, which features blues, rock, and gospel genres. ‘Like a rolling stone’ deals with the themes of disillusionment and social alienation. It also has a way of saying that there is a loss of innocence in this generation now.

Zappa had quite a thing to say about the song. While talking with the writer Clinton Heylin, he said, “When I heard ‘Like a Rolling Stone’, I wanted to quit the music business.” Back then, Zappa didn’t even have an official studio album, however, he went on to create 62 of his own.

The song was a commercial and critical success. It reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US and helped Dylan be one of the most important and influential songwriters. This song had a cult following of its own.

Zappa added to his comments, “I felt [that] if this wins and it does what it’s supposed to do, I don’t need to do anything else. But it didn’t do anything. It sold but nobody responded to it in the way that they should have.”

‘Like a Rolling Stone’ is still considered to be one of the greatest traits of rock n’ roll. As music evolves day by day, this one song pushed many artists to greatness. As one quote suggests, “Ugliness is in a way superior to beauty, Ugliness is in a way superior to beauty.”

Listen to Like A Rolling Stone on any major music streaming platform.

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