Knockin' on Heaven's Door

Written by Bob Dylan for the 1973 film Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, this song became one of Dylan's most popular post-1960s tracks, reaching the Top 10 in several countries when released as a single two months after the film's premiere. Described by biographer Clinton Heylin as "an exercise in splendid simplicity," the song features two short verses commenting on the death scene of a frontier lawman (Slim Pickens) who refers to his wife as "Mama," and was ranked number 190 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.