I've been a Bob Dylan fan ever since the age of 12 or 13, when I discovered my dad's vinyl copies of Greatest Hits and Desire. His work has consistently fascinated me more than any other popular musician's. I took a poetry class at USF about eight years ago and my professor, the cowboy poet Willie Reader, who passed away shortly after the semester ended, allowed me to do a paper on Dylan's lyrics. It ran about 20 pages and I earned an "A+," a rare accomplishment for me in those days. The assignment prompted a friendship between Reader and I; one that led to many long talks and us attending a Willie Nelson concert together. The Dylan paper and, more importantly, the positive feedback I received from Reader, would also eventually lead me into a career of music criticism.

I took great pleasure in seeing Dylan recently collect a Pulitzer Prize:

A Special Citation to Bob Dylan for his profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power.

In honor of Dylan's recent award from the literary world, here's a list I obsessed over longer than I care to admit.

Top 10: Bob Dylan lyrics

1. "Mr. Tambourine Man," Bringing It All Back Home (1965)

Killer lines: "I'm ready to go anywhere / I'm ready for to fade/ Into my own parade / Cast your dancing spell my way / I promise to go under it."

2. “Idiot Wind,” Blood on the Tracks (1975)

Killer lines: “You'll never know the hurt I suffered nor the pain I rise above / And I'll never know the same about you, your holiness or your kind of love / And it makes me feel so sorry.”

3. “Every Grain of Sand,” Shot of Love (1981)

Killer lines: “I gaze into the doorway of temptation's angry flame / And every time I pass that way I always hear my name.”

4. “Desolation Row,” Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

Killer lines: “To her, death is quite romantic / She wears an iron vest / Her profession's her religion / Her sin is her lifelessness / And though her eyes are fixed upon / Noah's great rainbow / She spends her time peeking / Into Desolation Row.”

5. “Jokerman,” Infidels (1983)

Killer lines: “Shedding off one more layer of skin / Keeping one step ahead of the persecutor within.”

6. “Like a Rolling Stone,” Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

Killer lines: “You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat / Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat / 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.”

7. “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding),” Bringing It All Back Home (1965)

Killer lines: “The hollow horn plays wasted words / Proves to warn / That he not busy being born / Is busy dying.”

8. “Highlands,” Time out Of Mind (1997)

Killer lines: “The sun is beginning to shine on me / But it's not like the sun that used to be / The party's over, and there's less and less to say / I got new eyes / Everything looks far away."

9. “Blind Willie McTell,” Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (1991); an outtake from Infidels

Killer lines: “Well, God is in heaven / And we all want what's His / But power and greed and corruptible seed / Seem to be all that there is.”

10. "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963)

Killer lines: "Heard ten thousand whisperin' and nobody listenin' / Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin.'"

WHAT DID I MISS?

This article appears in Apr 2-8, 2008.