Life moments have a way of inspiring musicians, and that’s what occurred to Bob Dylan when he originally penned a lullaby for his son that later became “Forever Young.”
As Dylan rose to become one of music’s biggest icons, he was married twice, with the first being to Sara Dylan in 1964 and married in 1965. The couple had four children together, with Jesse Byron Dylan being their first and oldest, born in 1966. Dylan would write “Forever Young” years later about Jesse and released it in 1973 for his 14th studio album, Planet Waves.
“Forever Young” never entered the charts as it was never released as a standalone single, but it still captured the hearts of fans with its heartfelt lyrics. Dylan wrote the song in Tucson, Arizona, as the words flowed right out of him as he was “thinking about” one of his sons and “not wanting to be too sentimental.”
The track was originally a lullaby for Jesse and told the story of a father’s wish for his child to live a strong and happy life, as Dylan understood the sentiment after becoming a father. He would also admit that he “didn’t intend to write” the song.
“I wrote [the song] in Tucson [Arizona]. I wrote it thinking about one of my boys and not wanting to be too sentimental. The lines came to me; they were done in a minute,” explained Dylan in his notes for Biograph.
“You don’t know what it is exactly that you want, but this is what comes. That’s how that song came out.”
Dylan’s heartfelt words would ring true with a lot of fans, even with American journalist Howard Cosell. In 1978, Muhammad Ali defeated Leon Spinks to regain the heavyweight title, and it became a historic victory because Ali became the first to hold the title three times. During the ABC broadcast, Cosell infamously recited “Forever Young” to celebrate Ali’s achievement.
Dyan released two versions of the track, one at a slow tempo and one with a heavier rock sound. It was reported that he couldn’t decided what was better suited and decided on both. Years later, in 1988, the song was revived but for a different reason.
Rod Stewart released his own song titled “Forever Young” for his Out of Order album. At the time, his manager argued there were enough similarities between his and Dylan’s songs, despite Stewart not having been inspired by the original.
“It came about after a long, very touching conversation he had with his 6-year-old son last year. There was this great empathy between them, which I think really moved Rod. And as he remembers it, he saw a film in England around the same time called Forever Young, which is where the title came from,” explained Stewart’s manager Arnold Stiefel, according to American Songwriter.
“And it would be fair to say that while the melody and the music is not at all the same, the idea of the song is similar. The architecture of the lyrics of the song is very much from Dylan—there are definite similarities.”
In the end, Dylan shared songwriting credit and royalties with Stewart for the song. HI version landed at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
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