Entertainment

Bob Dylan's Handwritten Lyrics Ain't Cheap

by Lia Beck

Word to the wise: If you get super famous and change history forever, one day some papers you wrote on might sell for a million dollars. How do I know this? Bob Dylan's handwritten "Like a Rolling Stone" lyrics are going up for auction and are expected to sell for between $1 million and $2 million. That's a hell of a lot of money for some hotel stationary covered in pencil, but that's how it goes when you're talking about one of the most important artist in history and one of the most well-known songs to ever exist.

The lyrics are "the only known surviving draft of the final lyrics for this transformative rock anthem," according to auction house Sotheby's. The lyrics will go up for auction on June 24 along with other pop and rock memorabilia such as guitars owned by John Lennon and Eric Clapton and a contract with Jimi Hendrix's signature.

In a press release Sotheby's described the pages saying,

In this near complete four-page working draft, the distinctive often repeated 'how does it feel' lyric is clearly visible alongside unused lines, stray thoughts on American cultural imagery, and interesting doodles.

The lyrics were written while Dylan was staying at the Roger Smith Hotel in Washington, D.C. and he used stationary from the hotel to work out the words to what would become an immensely popular song. According to the auction house, the seller of the lyrics, who remains anonymous as of now, "met his hero in a non-rock context and bought directly from Dylan." A "non-rock context?" Can we assume it was at an Illuminati meeting then?

When the Dylan lyrics sell, it is possible that their selling price will break the record for a sale of its kind. The current record is held by John Lennon's handwritten "A Day in the Life" lyrics which sold for $1.2 million in 2010.

Good luck to whoever out there has a million dollars to spend on these four very special, very pricey pieces of paper. A wise word to those people: Start exercising your paddle raising hand now.