Forever Young

Album: Planet Waves (1974)
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Songfacts®:

  • Dylan had four children between 1966-1969, including his youngest, Jakob, who went on to front The Wallflowers. In 1974, he got back together with his original backing group, The Band, and recorded Planet Waves, which included this uplifting message from a parent to a child. The song has endured as one of Dylan's classics.
  • Some of the many artists to cover this song include Joan Baez (1976), Diana Ross (1984), The Pretenders (1994), Susan Anton (2001) and Meat Loaf (2003). Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders said of the song: "It's got such a beautiful lyric. I just love it. He's the pride of our generation. The song is genius."
  • Dylan performed "Forever Young" with The Band on Thanksgiving 1976 at The Band's "Last Waltz" concert, which was made into a film and released in 1978 along with a very popular soundtrack album.
  • Dylan included two versions of this song on the Planet Waves album: a slow version followed by a more uptempo take labeled "Forever Young (Continued)." The album was Dylan's first to hit #1 in America.
  • Rod Stewart released his own song called "Forever Young" in 1988, which is also a message from a parent to a child. Before releasing the song, Stewart and Dylan struck a deal granting Dylan half the publishing. On physical copies of the single and the various albums the song appears on, Dylan isn't listed in the songwriting credits, but his publishing company, Special Rider Music, is. When music went digital, Dylan was listed among the writers of Stewart's song.
  • In 2008, illustrator Paul Rodgers published an illustrated children's book based on this song. Dylan's lyrics are used to form the story. >>
    Suggestion credit:
    DeeTheWriter - Saint Petersburg, Russia Federation
  • In 2009, will.i.am remixed "Forever Young" for a popular Pepsi commercial.
  • Blake Shelton covered the song for the 2015 family movie Max. The Nashville star is joined on the track by former The Voice team member Gwen Sebastian, who lends harmonies. Their version also served as a trailer for the film.
  • The 17-year-old English singer Louisa Johnson performed the song live on The X Factor UK final on December 13, 2015. She released her cover as the winner's single immediately after winning the show, peaking at #9 on the UK chart.

Comments: 3

  • Tim from Gl MiPlease see Rod Stewart's Forever Young version which is vastly better. I was 14 when Dylan's version came out, but I never heard of it until now; I think Dylan's execution is really bad.
  • Ann Hines from Greensboro, NcForever Young makes this 92 year old think positive with joy in my heart. Thanks.
  • Dj from Hope, NjWhen my daughter was born I was a policeman, a job that involved working rotating shifts, so I was frequently off during the day. Because of this I spent as much time with her fulfilling the traditional "mom" role as did her mother. One of the things we often did to pass the time was put on music and dance around the family room. She was still a baby the first time this song happened to come on, and I decided right there on the spot that it would be the song we danced to on her wedding day.
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