Bob Dylan: 20 best lyrics on his birthday

Bob Dylan, America's celebrated bard, turns 71 on May 24, 2012. The world of popular music can be measured in two distinct periods, B.D. and After Dylan. He altered the way we think about lyrics – in form, content, and their potential to literally change the world.

Dylan has won many awards throughout his 50-year career, including 11 Grammy Awards, one Academy Award and one Golden Globe Award; he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, and Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2008 Dylan was awarded a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation "for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."

To honor the man on his special day, we submit our top 20 favorite Dylan lyrics.

- John Kehe, Staff

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1. 'Like a Rolling Stone'

"You used to laugh about
Everybody that was hangin’ out 
Now you don’t talk so loud
Now you don’t seem so proud
About having to be scrounging
for your next meal."

(1965)