5 of Bob Dylan’s Strangest Songs

Bob Dylan has an extensive catalog of widely celebrated songs. His writing earned him a Nobel Prize — a rare honor for a musician — but some of his songs are more baffling than they are moving. In such a large body of work, this is bound to happen. Here are five of Dylan’s most confounding songs.

‘Wigwam’ is a Bob Dylan song without any lyrics

Dylan’s 1970 song “Wigwam” is reminiscent of warm nights and features guitar, piano, and horns accompanying Dylan’s vocals. What’s odd about it, though, is that there are no actual lyrics in the song. Instead, Dylan sings a series of “la-di-da’s” over the loping melody.

The lack of lyrics doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of the song, though. The arrangement is enjoyable, and it received mostly positive reviews upon its release.

‘Man Gave Names to All the Animals’ feels like a song for a children’s show

Released in 1979, the song “Man Gave Names to All the Animals” has a reggae sound and takes inspiration from the Book of Genesis. The song appeared on Dylan’s album Slow Train Coming, which had overt religious themes following his conversion to Christianity. 

The song rhymes and has a storybook quality to the lyrics (He saw an animal leaving a muddy trail/Real dirty face and a curly tail/He wasn’t too small and he wasn’t too big/Ah, think I’ll call him a pig). Because of this, it sounds as though Dylan wrote it for children. It’s one of his strangest songs and among his least popular.

‘All the Tired Horses’ is a Bob Dylan song he doesn’t sing on

The song “All the Tired Horses” doesn’t actually feature any vocals from Dylan. Instead, the three-minute song has a choir of women singing “All the tired horses in the sun/How am I supposed to get any riding done?” on repeat. 

The melody, which evokes a slow-moving horse, stays the same over the song’s entire run. A number of instruments accompany the choir.

‘Wiggle Wiggle’ is seen as Bob Dylan’s worst song

Widely regarded as one of Dylan’s worst songs, the 1990 song “Wiggle Wiggle” also sounds better suited for a children’s television show than one of Dylan’s albums. Per Time, Dylan dedicated the song to his then-four-year-old daughter.

In it, Dylan instructs the listener to “wiggle wiggle wiggle like a bowl of soup,” a “pail of milk,” and a “big fat snake,” among other things. While the song might be too out-there for many adult listeners, younger audiences will likely enjoy it.

‘Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream’ follows an absurd plot

The 1965 song “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream” opens with Dylan and his producer breaking up into laughter after just two lines. It starts with Dylan whale hunting on the Mayflower, naming America, and getting tossed in jail for possession of harpoons. 

Over the course of six-and-a-half minutes, Dylan gets directions from a cow, is robbed of his shoes, and attempts to bail the captain and crew of his ship out of jail. At the end of the song, Dylan meets Christopher Columbus. 

The tune is long, rambling, and decidedly dream-like. It’s a classic example of one of Dylan’s songwriting epics, and absurdity here is the point.