Bob Dylan’s handwritten lyrics to Like A Rolling Stone up for auction

Bob Dylan in 1965
Bob Dylan in 1965 (Image credit: Getty)

Handwritten lyrics for Bob Dylan’s 1965 classic Like A Rolling Stone are currently up for auction.

The single page draft was written this year and is being sold by Nate D. Sanders Auctions – and the lyrics and Dylan’s signature have been authenticated by the singer, songwriter’s manager.

The auction site states that “apart from the original draft, these are the only known lyrics of Like A Rolling Stone that have been offered at auction.”

In 2014, the original draft went under the hammer at $2 million – setting a new price record, soaring beyond the $1.2m cost of John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for 1967 Beatles track A Day In The Life.

Dylan wrote his words on four sheets of headed notepaper from the Roger Smith Hotel in Washington, DC. The pages include scribbles, ideas and unused lyrics including a reference to gangster Al Capone and the line “Dry vermouth / you’ll tell the truth.”

The 2017 draft has a minimum bid requirement of $125,000 – and, at the time of writing, and the auction coming to a close, no one has so far made an offer.

Bob Dylan lyrics sell for $2m

Scott Munro
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Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.