Bob Dylan video gets a new look 60 years on

Virgin Radio

6 May 2022, 15:03

The most iconic music video of all time has had a makeover.

Bob Dylan in a London alleyway leafing through the lyrics of ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues’ is etched into rock history. Now, 60 years on from being signed to Columbia Records, the video for the song - which is taken from the folksters 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home - is getting a new twist.

A press release states: “Developed by the independent creative agency Intro and Sony Music’s Josh Cheuse, the new ‘Subterranean Homesick Blues 2022’ clip pays homage to the iconic opening sequence of D.A. Pennebaker Don’t Look Back (the 1967 documentary chronicling Dylan’s 1965 UK tour) with new lyric/cue card visuals created by contemporary artists, filmmakers, musicians and graphic designers.”

And there's some big names among them, with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, Noel Fielding, Jim Jarmusch, John Squire and Bobby Gillespie all visually reinterpreting or redesigning a cue card.

The arrival of the video today (May 6th) is accompanied by the launch of a new Dylan60 microsite, which is housing the clip along with an interactive Augmented Reality (AR) lens filter. Swanky.

Shot in an alleyway close to The Savoy Hotel in London, the original footage was used in one of the first 'modern' promotional film clips, the forerunner of what would come to be known as the music video. Rolling Stone ranked it seventh in the magazine's October 1993 list of '100 Top Music Videos'.

Take a look at the new video below:

Thankfully, all the charm, hidden jokes and incorrect spellings in the original remain!