“Forever Young” was not a Bob Dylan single (except, it seems, maybe in Germany), but it is one of his most famous songs. Planet Waves includes two versions of it – one at the end of side one and the other at the beginning of side two, or back-to-back on the CD that I’m listening to at the moment. The latter is technically titled “Forever Young (Continued)”, although it doesn’t display that way on my car stereo.

I’m still listening to Planet Waves, so I’m a bit torn about which is the superior version (leaning towards the second), but I am fascinated by the longevity of this song. It’s the most epigrammatic of all Dylan’s songs. Need proof? Just head on over to Etsy and search on homemade “Forever Young” products for sale. Samplers, pillows, plaques, paintings – you name it, you can get it all on Etsy!

In 2008 Dylan will even release a children’s book based on the song, but that would be skipping ahead.

The other thing that I learned today is that the Rod Stewart song of the same name, general tone and tune resulted in a settlement between Stewart and Dylan, with Stewart forking over part of the royalties to Dylan. I guess he has a good lawyer. Here’s Rod. Don’t worry that it’s lousy, I’m sure Bob is getting a 1/4 of a cent every time someone watches this on YouTube.