This Bob Dylan Classic Started as a 10-Page “Vomitific” Rambling About Revenge and Luck

Bob Dylan’s hit “Like A Rolling Stone”, released in 1965, captures great passion and emotion behind the lyrics. Dylan wrote the song in a Woodstock cabin after returning from England. He went on to write 10 pages in what he described as a “vomitific” manner.

“Like A Rolling Stone” Went From a 10-Page Ramble to a Six-Minute Hit Song

“It was ten pages long. It wasn’t called anything, just a rhythm thing on paper all about my steady hatred directed at some point that was honest,” Dylan told journalist Jules Siegel. “In the end, it wasn’t hatred, it was telling someone something they didn’t know, telling them they were lucky.”

There have been many rumors surrounding who Dylan wrote this song about, whom he had so many passionate, angry feelings toward. Joan Baez believed the song may have been about Bobby Neuwirth, who was a friend and collaborator of Dylan’s. However, many rumored the song was directed toward Baez herself.

The Song’s Rumored Connections to Joan Baez

Dylan broke off his relationship with Baez in 1965, right after his UK tour, not long before he wrote his untitled ten-page ramble that turned into “Like A Rolling Stone”. Some of the lyrics can be applied to Baez:

“Ahh you’ve gone to the finest schools, alright Miss Lonely / But you know you only used to get juiced in it / Nobody’s ever taught you how to live out on the street / And now you’re gonna have to get used to it.”

Baez came from a wealthy and well-educated background, which may be reflected in these lyrics. If directed toward her, Dylan could be highlighting her privilege, connected to how she has to learn how to be on her own since they had broken up.

The Song’s Rumored Connections to Edie Sedgwick

It is widely believed that the song could be directed toward Edie Sedgwick, a model and actress who was the poster girl of Andy Warhol’s Factory. Sedgwick was born into a very wealthy family. That could easily connect her to the lyrics previously mentioned, instead of Baez.

At the age of 21, Sedgwick received an $80,000 trust fund from her grandmother. She used the money to start her life in New York City. There, she met Warhol and became his starlet. However, Warhol quickly moved on. Some lyrics from “Like A Rolling Stone” could relate to the mistreatment of Sedgwick by Warhol:

“Ain’t it hard when you discover that / He really wasn’t where it’s at / After he took from you everything he could steal.”

Sedgwick and Dylan met at The Factory and became quite friendly. It is believed the two had an affair before Dylan married Sarah Lownds, though that rumor was never proven.