Knockin' on Heaven's Door

Infobox Single
Name = Knockin' on Heaven's Door


Artist = Bob Dylan
B-side = "Turkey Chase"
from Album = Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid
Released = 1973
Genre = Ballad
Writer = Bob Dylan
Length = 2:32
Producer = Gerald McCartan (Arlington Heights, Illinois)
Chart position =
Last single = "George Jackson"
This single = "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
(1973)
Next single = "A Fool Such as I"Infobox Single
Name = Knockin' on Heaven's Door


Artist = Guns N' Roses
from Album = Use Your Illusion II
Released = 1992
track_no = 4
Recorded = A&M Studios, Record Plant Studios,
Studio 56,
Image Recording, Conway Studios & Metalworks Recording Studios 1990-1991
Genre = Hard rock
Length = 5:40
Label = Geffen
Writer = Bob Dylan
Producer = Mike Clink
Guns N' Roses
prev = "Yesterdays"
Last single = "Pretty Tied Up"
(1992)
This single = "Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
(1992)
Next single = "Yesterdays"
(1992)"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan for the soundtrack of the 1973 film "Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid". It reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. The song consists of four chords in the key of G major: G, D, Am7, and C. The basic pattern throughout the song is G-D-Am7-Am7 and then G-D-C-C, and this is repeated. In 2004, representatives of the music industry and the press voted it #190 in "Rolling Stone" magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time issue.

Meaning

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" was written for the Western "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid". The song describes the feelings and impressions of a dying deputy, who notices that it is getting dark around him as he is knocking on heaven's door. He realizes that he will never use his badge or his guns anymore.

Covers

Although it was originally recorded as an acoustic folk song, "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" has been covered extensively in many styles, most famously by British blues-rocker Eric Clapton and by American hard-rock group Guns N' Roses.

Other artists to record the song include The Grateful Dead, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, The Sisters of Mercy, Bryan Ferry, Meir Ariel, The Alarm, Mark Knopfler, Bruce Springsteen, Heaven, The Lost Dogs, Randy Crawford, Babyface, Beau Jocques, Chaozz, Avril Lavigne, Zé Ramalho, Antony and the Johnsons, Warren Zevon (whose version was released two weeks before his death), and Roger Waters. Duets on the song include a team-up of the South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo and U.S. country diva Dolly Parton, and the Red Army Chorus and Ensemble with the Leningrad Cowboys.

Although it is not a cover, Gabrielle's UK number one single "Rise" samples extensively from the track.clarifyme

Guns N' Roses version

In 1987, Guns N' Roses started including the song in their live sets. They recorded a studio version in 1990 for the "Days of Thunder" soundtrack, and in 1991 it appeared on the Guns N' Roses studio album "Use Your Illusion II". Released as the second single from the album, it reached #2 in the UK singles chart. Their performance of the song at the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in 1992 was included on their "" album, released in 1999.

Eric Clapton version

Eric Clapton recorded a version of the song in June 1975 and released it as a single later that year, two years after Dylan's version was released. Live recordings from this era can be found on official Clapton releases such as 1996's ', which features a London performance from April 1977. The song was not included on a full-length album until the release of the 1982 compilation '. In 1989, Clapton and David Sanborn backed singer Randy Crawford in a new version recorded for the soundtrack of the film "Lethal Weapon 2".

Dunblane tribute version

In 1996, with the consent of Bob Dylan, musician Ted Christopher of Dunblane, Scotland wrote a new verse for "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" in memory of the schoolchildren and teacher killed in the Dunblane massacre. A cover version of the song, which included brothers and sisters of the victims singing the chorus and Mark Knopfler on guitar, was released on December 9 in the UK and reached number 1. The proceeds went to charities for children.

oundtrack appearances

External links

* [http://www.bjorner.com/songsk.htm#_Knockin' A list of cover versions]
* [http://bobdylan.com/songs/knockin.html Lyrics]