10 Most Underrated Bob Dylan Songs

Bob Dylan and the movies are so intertwined that Belle & Sebastian wrote a song about it. His big screen efforts haven’t always gone too well - see the incredibly odd Masked And Anonymous (or actually, don’t) - but when the maestro meshes with the right project, magic happens.

Dylan has a small part in Sam Peckinpah’s Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid, and frankly he’s not great. His score, though, is sublime. It’s best remembered for “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”, but more interesting is his instrumental work, particularly the main title theme.

A beautiful, subtle piece of guitar music, it perfectly sets up the elegiac nature of Peckinpah’s film, as well as distancing it from the previous generation of westerns. There’s no room for bombast or triumph here - the shuffling tune is delicate and melancholy. This isn’t a film about heroes and villains, but about people, with all their complexities.

Dylan would go on to win an Oscar for his contribution to 2000’s Wonder Boys, but his early foray into film music - like the film itself - still doesn’t get the credit it deserves.