“The song came to me complete, full in the eyes like I’d been traveling on the garden pathway of the sun and just found it. It was illuminated. I’d seen a shooting star from the backyard of our house, or maybe it was a meteorite.”
– From Bob Dylan’s memoir Chronicles: Volume One
Shooting Star is the tenth and final track on Dylan’s critically acclaimed 80’s Oh Mercy album. It is more than an apt choice to end the record because it is a last round; ‘closing bar’ time Dylan song. It puts me into a quiet space of gentle melancholy about lost acquaintances. It is a simple song of lost love with a beautiful melody for his reflections. I think he ended the record on exactly the right note. When I was in my youth I considered Shooting Star my favourite from the album, but I prefer other songs from the record now such as Most of the Time and Ring Them Bells, and if he had put Series of Dreams of it, it could have been extraordinary.
[Verse 1]
Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of you
You were trying to break into another world
A world I never knew
I always kind of wondered
If you ever made it through
Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of you
[Verse 2]
Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of me
If I was still the same
If I ever became what you wanted me to be
Did I miss the mark or overstep the line
That only you could see?
Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of me
[Verse 3]
Listen to the engine, listen to the bell
As the last fire truck from hell
Goes rolling by
All good people are praying
It’s the last temptation, the last account
The last time you might hear the sermon on the mount
The last radio is playing
[Verse 4]
Seen a shooting star tonight
Slip away
Tomorrow will be
Another day
Guess it’s too late to say the things to you
That you needed to hear me say
Seen a shooting star tonight
Slip away
Rolling Stone magazine included Shooting Star on a list of “Bob Dylan’s Greatest Songs of the 1980s“, noting that it “echoes some of the self-doubt and regret heard earlier on ‘Most of the Time“. According to his official website, Dylan performed the song 126 times in concert on the Never Ending Tour between 1990 and 2013. A live performance from New York City in 1994 was filmed and officially released on the Bob Dylan MTV Unplugged television special and accompanying live album in 1995.
The song is prominently featured in Curtis Hanson’s Academy Award-winning 2000 film Wonder Boys which featured here at Friday’s Finest back in August 2021.
References:
1. Shooting Star (Bob Dylan song) – Wikipedia
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
Observation Blogger 
Thanks for the intro to yet another Bob Dylan song that was entirely new to me. I like it! Coincidentally, I featured another gem by maestro in my Sunday Six today. Dylan is a true treasure box.
I’m sorry I haven’t responded to your messages until now. The last few days have been rough. ‘Like a Rolling Stone’ isn’t a bad song to include into your mix. Haha.
Yes, how cool was it that Kooper came up with that organ riff?
I’m glad you liked today’s song. You have a wonderful day, Sir.
Thanks, Matt, glad you feel Dylan passed the audition with “Like a Rolling Stone”! 🙂
On a more serious note, I fully get most of us are blogging on the side and have to deal with plenty of the stuff everyday life throws at us. While I like getting comments, please don’t ever feel the need to apologize in case you don’t get to it. Believe me, I’ve been there before myself. Thanks! 🙂
Thanks for your understanding and communicating your thoughts about it.
To tell you the truth, if you hadn’t commented on my post today, it’s unlikely I would have responded to any other previous comments (by you or others). So thanks for doing that. Sometimes, it just takes one person to make the difference. Cheers Friend.
Thanks, Matt. And, as noted, I’m never mad if a fellow blogger doesn’t respond or reacts with a delay! 🙂