Anthony Raffin ’17

In 1966 Bob Dylan released his classic “Like A Rolling Stone,” which Rolling Stone had named the greatest song ever recorded. Dylan had never previously released an official music video except for a couple recorded live performances. On November 19, Dylan released the music video to his 48 year old song (in collaboration with Interlude Studios),  which is proving itself to be one of the most viewed music videos of the year due to the fact that it pushes the conventionality of music video of the this year.

When the video starts, it changes from many various channels containing actual TV shows ranging from the Food Network to Pawn Stars.  Additionally, a sidebar opens allowing the viewer to change the channel, turn up the volume, and carry out other functions you can normally carry out with a TV remote.  As you flip through the channels you realize that all of the actors on all of the channels mouth the words to “Like A Rolling Stone” while carrying on as if it were a normal show taping. A very cool aspect that many music videos have tried before, but was perfected by director Vania Heymann, 27.

CEO of Interlude Studios, Yoni Bloch, told Rolling Stone following the release of the video, “You’re flipping yourself to death with switching channels [in real life].” You’ll always miss something because you can’t watch everything at the same time.” Bloch is utterly correct, I found myself excessively flipping channels to see what I was missing on the other channels. The genius of the director is that each show was specifically hand picked so that one channel is devoted to a certain section of lyrics in the song. Moreover, the music video brings a “new” way to interpret the song, the way Dylan expresses his resentment and yearning revenge towards Miss Lonely. Or how Dylan is really singing about the loss of innocence and the harshness of experience. The point that comes across here is that the music video allows the visual aid that provides the viewer with a variety of new ways to interpret the song.
Bob Dylan is one of the greatest folksingers of the 1960’s and 1970’s. He is known for his #1 hits such as, “Hurricane, Times They Are A-Changin, Maggies Farm, Like A Rolling Stone, etc.” Many of Dylan’s greatest hits have gone without a formal music video, seeing as music videos did not hit their prime until the rise of MTV. “Like A Rolling Stone,” is one of the greatest songs ever recorded, it is only just that one of the most unique and cool music videos accompany it.
View the video here: http://video.bobdylan.com/desktop.html
“Like A Rolling Stone” Music Video -Bob Dylan