In 1969, Bob Dylan Wrote A Masterful Song That Artists Lined Up To Cover

While it may not be one of Bob Dylan's more underrated tunes, having been covered by 50 artists, "Lay Lady Lay" is one of his most off-brand tracks. Unlike so many of the thought-provoking songs Dylan has written about injustice and times a' changin', this little ditty originated as a commissioned song for the film "Midnight Cowboy." However, the song wasn't ready by the deadline and never made it into the film, so Dylan instead released it as a single ahead of putting it out on his 1969 album, "Nashville Skyline."

The other thing that makes "Lay Lady Lay" different than your usual Dylan fare is the way he sings. If you didn't know it was a Bob Dylan song, you might not recognize it as one just by hearing it. Plus, it has a pedal steel guitar, bongos, and cowbells. The elements of the song combine to produce a captivating sound that most people liked more than Dylan seemed to. According to the Financial Times, Dylan said, "I never ... thought it was representative of anything I do." 

In 1969, "Lay Lady Lay" went to No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and has been covered by a multitude of other artists from the Byrds to the Flaming Lips, each putting their own unique spin on the song about wanting the object of their desire to stay and lie across their big brass bed. 

The Flaming Lips' extra-dreamy effort was on the "Dylan Revisited" compilation album released in 2021. When the Isley Brothers covered "Lay Lady Lay," they created multiple acoustic guitar parts under a soulful vocal delivery with backup singing. Even Ministry took a stab at the song, turning the soft curves of Dylan's version into a harder-edged, darker-toned offering, yet keeping that bongo sound for posterity.

Neil Diamond gave "Lay Lady Lay" the Diamond treatment, taking the song to an interesting new place by slowing it down and putting so much instrumental feeling into it that we feel like we're interrupting a private moment between the "Sweet Caroline" singer and the lady he's trying to woo. Speaking of ladies, Melanie covered "Lay Lady Lay," too, and it's ... spirited, for lack of any better words. Bryan Adams covered it in 2014, and you gotta think he'd just been waiting for his moment to put that one out. He didn't change much about Bob Dylan's version, even keeping that cool steel pedal guitar in his arrangement. Duran Duran included a synth-rock take of the song on their 1995 album "Thank You" — an unusual choice for the New Romantics, but apparently they slipped it in when no one was paying attention. 

The Everly Brothers, Isaac Hayes, Buddy Guy, Richie Havens, Magnet, and even Della Reese are just a handful of the dozens of other artists who have covered Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay," and it's always fun to check out someone else's twist on a classic. Still, no one hits it quite like the original.