Back in 2001, Dylan did something that required enormous chutzpah (which he’s always had in abundance): he rewrote one of the most familiar songs in the world, namely, his own Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, first released in 1973. I don’t mean the lyric, which of-course he’d varied for decades, but rather the chords and melody. The proprietor of the Dylan Chords website noted it this way (when he still had those chords up on the site):

“The most stable chord sequence in the world (maybe with the exception of All Along the Watchtower) has been changed!”

The original sequence, as he’d already indicated, was:
G … D … Am7
G … D … C
(repeat)

A hundred thousand garage bands knew it well and it had surely been sung that way all over the world a million times.

In 2001, it became (again courtesy of the Dylan Chords guru):

E … B … F#m
E … B … A
A … E … B
C#m … B … A

It might be a matter of debate for some, but I’d say that in making this change, a song that couldn’t possibly be improved upon was improved upon. At the very least, it was thoroughly refreshed and stood back up upon its feet. With harmonizing vocals from the band (then featuring the now departed Charlie Sexton and Larry Campbell) the effect in concert was nothing less than spine tingling — with Dylan brokenly enunciating the words behind the beat as if literally at death’s door, and the backing vocals soaring like those of angels (sample here from New York on November 11th, 2002).

Mama, wipe the tears out of my eyes
I just can’t see through ’em anymore
I’m looking up into the dark and empty skies
And I feel like I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door

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