Bob Dylan's handwritten draft lyrics for Like a Rolling Stone sell for $2m

The draft was written on four sheets of letterhead stationary from a Washington DC hotel.

15:07 25 June 2014

Sotheby’s in New York has confirmed that Bob Dylan’s handwritten draft lyrics for Like a Rolling Stone, which is one of the most celebrated songs of all time, was sold for $2 million in an auction. Sotheby’s added that it was a record amount for a pop manuscript. 

 

The draft is written in pencil on four sheets of letterhead stationary from a Washington DC hotel. Aside from lyrics, it includes doodles of the hat, a bird, and an animal with antlers. 

 

The famous lines are legible in Dylan's scrawl: "How does it feel .To be on your own." 

 

"No direction home. Like a complete unknown. Like a rolling stone."

 

Sotheby’s said that the seller was a 'life long' fan from California who had bought the draft directly from the singer. 

 

Meanwhile, the auction house did not reveal the identity of the winning bidder who paid a total of $2.045 million, including a buyer's premium.

 

The price is the highest paid for a pop manuscript so far. In 2010, John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for The Beatles classic A Day in the Life, sold for $1.2million.