Bob Dylan’s Unfinished Draft Lyrics To ‘Mr Tambourine Man’ Sell For Half A Million Dollars At Auction

Caroline Frost
·1-min read

Bob Dylan is enjoying yet another wave of recognition with his story of coming to superstardom being told in the film A Complete Unknown.

Now, BBC News reports that two pages of old paper containing the draft lyrics to one of his most famous songs have sold at auction for $508,000.

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Two yellow sheets contained three typewritten versions of the lyrics to Mr Tambourine Man – notably not including the final version that was eventually recorded – and also show the folk musician’s handwritten notes in the margin.

The sale also included a 1968 oil painting created and signed by Dylan, as well as one of his old guitars, a 1983 Fender Telecaster.

An account by music journalist Al Aronowitz of how the song came to be written was also included in the sale. Aronowitz recalled how Dylan came to his home and spent the night writing and tweaking the lyrics on his host’s typewriter.

The song, believed to have been written in 1964, was released by both Dylan and then The Byrds, the latter making it to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and also topping the charts in the UK.

Also up for sale at Julien’s Auctions were a denim jacket worn by Dylan in the film Hearts on Fire (1987) and some of his draft sketches. The BBC reports that, in total, the auction house sold items totalling nearly $1.5m.

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A Complete Unknown, directed by James Mangold and also starring Ed Norton, Monica Barbaro and Elle Fanning debuted in December 2024. So far it has taken a reported $54million at the box office.

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