5 Famous Rock and Country Songs That Took Years To Finish

Some songs come together quickly, but that’s not always the case—some have sat unfinished for years before musicians dusted them off and polished them up into the songs we know and love today. Sometimes, musicians have scraps of songs completed, but it can take years for the final pieces to fall into place. Some songwriters keep tweaking until a song is just right.

“Dream On” by Aerosmith

Aerosmith’s hit “Dream On” first began to take shape when frontman Steven Tyler was just a child—he would listen to his father, a Juilliard-trained musician, playing a keyboard, and the chords he would play inspired the track. It began to take shape when Tyler was a teenager, and he worked on it for about six years before the other members of Aerosmith helped fill in the blanks.

“Wagon Wheel” by Old Crow Medicine Show

Bob Dylan began writing “Wagon Wheel” in 1973 during his Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid sessions, but he never finished it—only the chorus and melody could be heard on bootleg demos from the time. Years later, Old Crow Medicine Show member Chris “Critter” Fuqua heard one of those bootlegs and played it for bandmate Ketch Secor, who eventually added the verses 25 years after Dylan originally started writing.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” by Queen

It’s no surprise six-minute rock epic “Bohemian Rhapsody” didn’t come together quickly—Queen frontman Freddie Mercury reportedly first started working on the song in the late 1960s, before Queen had even formed. Guitarist Brian May recalled Mercury playing an early version, saying, “And this song he had was full of gaps where he explained that something operatic would happen here and so on.”

“Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen

“Hallelujah” is considered one of Leonard Cohen’s best and most beloved songs, and it’s a great example of his work as a songwriter. He reportedly wrote between 80 and 180 verses for the song, although many of them were similar. “To find that song, that urgent song, takes a lot of versions and a lot of work and a lot of sweat,” he said.

“American Pie” by Don McLean

Don McLean’s “American Pie” is a sprawling song inspired by the 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens, but its complex lyrics explore so much more. McLean spent about a decade working on the song, from its initial inspiration to its finished product. The opening came together quickly, but the chorus and additional verses weren’t written until some time later.