All Along the Watchtower

"All Along the Watchtower" is a song written by folk-cum-folk-rock musician Bob Dylan. It appeared on his album John Wesley Harding, released December 27, 1967.

As with much of the lyrics on this album, the words to "Watchtower" are Biblical, apocalyptic, and hard to explicate with any degree of certainty. On the face of it, the song concerns a conversation between a joker and thief on the difficulties of getting by, whether in their immediate situation ("there must be some way out of here") or the world in general "there are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke").

The song has been covered by many artists, from Richie Havens to XTC to Indigo Girls to punk band TSOL. The most notable cover, however, must be that which has overshadowed Dylan's own performance. Guitar legend Jimi Hendrix recorded the song as a electrified burst of energy on his album Electric Ladyland. Dylan's subsequent live performances of his own song have since been electric and closer to Hendrix's arrangement than his studio version; that said, however, it must be noted that most of Dylan's live performances are electric nowadays, and he re-arranges all his songs in concert.