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TL;DR:

  • Bob Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay” made Madonna cry over and over.
  • She does not think “Lay Lady Lay” was a sad song.
  • “Lay Lady Lay” influenced a Lana Del Rey track.
"Lay Lady Lay" era Bob Dylan with a guitar
Bob Dylan | Bettmann / Contributor

Madonna used to listen to Bob Dylan‘s “Lay Lady Lay” repeatedly while crying. Subsequently, she discussed why she may have reacted to the song that way. Notably, “Lay Lady Lay” influenced a Lana Del Rey track.

Bob Dylan’s ‘Lay Lady Lay’ could’ve lent its title to an album but Dylan decided against that

Of the songs from Dylan’s Nashville Skyline, “Lay Lady Lay” was the biggest hit on the Billboard Hot 100. During a 1969 interview with Rolling Stone, Dylan said he didn’t want to name the album after the song. 

“I always like to tie the name of the album in with some song,” he explained. “Or if not some song, some kind of general feeling. I think that just about fit because it was less in the way, and less specific than any of the other ones on there. 

“Certainly couldn’t call the album Lay Lady Lay. I wouldn’t have wanted to call it that, although that name was brought up. It didn’t get my vote, but it was brought up. Peggy Day — Lay, Peggy Day, that was brought up.” Dylan also considered naming Nashville Skyline after the track “Girl from the North Country,” but he decided that didn’t fit the album.

Madonna said she only listened to that 1 Bob Dylan song and it made her cry even though it’s not sad

During a 1994 with Paul Du Noyer that was posted to his website, Madonna was asked her feelings about Dylan. “I used to listen to that one record, ‘Lay Lady Lay,’ in my brother’s bedroom in the basement of our house,” she said. “I’d lie on the bed and play that song and cry all the time.” 

The “Like a Virgin” singer attempted to explain why “Lay Lady Lay” made her weep. “I was going through adolescence, I had hormones raging through my body,” she recalled. “Don’t ask me why I was crying, it’s not a sad song. But that’s the only record of his that I really listened to.”

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‘Lay Lady Lay’ outperformed all of the other singles from ‘Nashville Skyline’

“Lay Lady Lay” reached No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for 14 weeks. It lasted longer on the chart than any of Dylan’s other singles released up to that point. The track impacted popular culture when Lana Del Rey mentioned “Lay Lady Lay” in her tune “Religion” from the album Honeymoon.

Two other singles from Nashville Skyline charted. “I Threw It All Away” reached No. 85 on the Billboard Hot 100 and “Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here with You” reached No. 50. “Lay Lady Lay” was the most popular song from the record by far. Meanwhile, the album reached No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and stayed on the chart for 47 weeks.

Madonna liked “Lay Lady Lay” and Dylan’s American audience enjoyed the song as well.

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