Added: 3 years ago
From: MetroidfanCNC
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  • a most beautiful version by the Z man...thank u for posting this...

  • Open up. Open up. Open up. Open up. Open up . . .

  • This song was important to me when I got back from "Knocking" a few years ago. Covered Warren's version with my band at the time. It was the first one they let ME sing. I thank Dylan for writing it, of course, but NO ONE can produce what Warren did in his version without the impetus he had, and I shared. May the G-ds bless and keep him so he can open it for me when I go and knock again.

  • A beautiful song performed by a very talented musician.

  • Beautiful! RIP Warren Zevon. Your music lives on ......

  • What a Great And Sensitive artist. Love the guy.

  • This song is meant to sound like it's sung by a dying gunfighter, as it was in the Dylan original. This version is nice, Guns N' Roses is way way off.

  • "Open up, open up fo me".

  • how can people not know this wasn't a GNR orig? People today and their lack of musical knowledge is upsetting... every artist now samples from somewhere not that this is a sample but at least know and respect the orig

  • Warren is a legend!!!!!

  • When my times come, I hope I can face that old reaper with 1/5th the dignity, class and strength this mad genius did. What a man, what a musician.

  • its too bad warren died and cant see how much we loved him.

    maybe he can!

  • 00:28 "Mama take this vag off of me."

  • what a heartfelt performance ~ sung without a trace of self-pity. what greatness!

  • 12 people dislike this - get a life 

  • i cant believe that he know he was dying of cancer and did this song. Brings tears to my eyes thinking about it. Rest in Peace --Warren-  Great stuff Man

  • no matter who covers this song it's always great and always hits the right chord.

  • Momma put Guns n Roses in the ground, I can't stand them anymore.

    I actually like a few GnR song, but it's annoying that this song is associated with them in the eyes of many. Their cover is a disgrace to my favorite version (the original) and this amazing cover by the late, great Warren Zevon.

  • @uw10isplaya it was written by bob dylan

  • @djorganic yup, that's why I said I like this amazing cover by Mr. Zevon.

  • cool!... versions of guns n roses and warren zevon is the best!

  • @foxlimacharlie Bob Dylan wrote this song for the soundtrack of the 1973 film Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. Axl Rose was not even in High School when this song was released. And Bob was professionally singing for over 10 years by the time this song came out.

  • almost great, vocals by all, sorroy warren and insruments suckie either old and not set up up crrect, or you tube sucks the big one. help me figure this version out please! is it old track, you tube, or warrens buddies fualt which i doubt. lousiest version and bassy statick i ever hear111 SOMEONE WITH BETTER MUSICAL KNOWLEDGE PLEASE LET ME KNOW FAST111 im terminally ill1 ILL CHECK BACK SOON FOR A PROS ANSWER1 dadybear...

  • Warren, God was only too happy to let you in. Always in our hearts. RIP

  • @njjetsfan1

    >implying there's a god

  • He looks like Jean Claude Van Dame at 1:13 / 1:32

  • @gauchosolitario2

    He looked like Chuck Norris right before that. A legitimate badass.

  • I laughed when in the beginning the poster had to say this wasn't a GnR song. Does anyone actually think that??

  • @donmei youd really be surprised... most kids i know barely know who bob dylan is...

  • @hockeybich13 i mean me and my homies know but not the dumb kids i know

  • @donmei Considering that GnR has 34 million views, I think they did a pretty good job re-mastering it. Dylan wrote alot of great tunes and it would be stupid not to try and see how you compare to an original american icon.

  • @donmei sometimes idiots laugh at things they don't know about

  • r.i.p zevon

    

  • Warren was truly an amazing man, hopefully one day his incredible contribution to music will be fully recognised. One of those few people who you actually felt you knew through his music. he side guitar is brilliant here, you can feel the guitarist's emotion

  • Excellent.

  • so haunting this song sung by a dieing man makes one troubles seem like nothing

  • before that Guns 'n' Rose?

  • RIP Warren, you lit the light in many lives and created many smiles. Kat

  • I consider this one of the better versions of this song. It's given added power when you consider the fact he was dying when he recorded it. I read an oral biography on him a few years ago ("I'll Sleep When I'm Dead") and apparently while recording the last album people had to literally hold him up or he'd fall over.

    He started playing this at Billy Bob Thornton's house, spur of the moment. Everyone there picked up and joined in. They nailed it in 3 takes

  • Comment removed

  • how come everyone covers bob dylan songs but you can never find bob dylan songs on youtube?

  • @wushock1991: because youtube is changing...lots of artists have pulled their stuff off now--or most of it--because of copyright issues. You can find some Bob Dylan on Bob Dylan's youtube channel.

  • My eyes are tearing

  • So much talent, so much soul and was always so much fun. There will never be another one like Warren, we miss him so much.

  • Some don't even botther knocking.

    Some knock and never get an answer.

    Some stand on the other side, chuckling quietly, playing their guitar.

    You're a genious, Warren.

  • Warren rules !!!

  • cry cry cry... heavens door...

  • This is unquestionable the best version of this song. Yet, over on the right, I see that April Lavigne's version has over 700,000 hits. No bash to her, but WTF??

  • Best version I've ever heard

  • Strictly A-List, Top Shelf Vintage Rock and Rocker! RIP, Warren, and THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!

  • definetly his best

  • Not sure but this may be the most covered Dylan tune ever

  • 10 people have never experienced heaven..><

  • I saw WZ in the 70's and he covered this tune. So, no he did not just play it cause he was dying. I believe he always wanted to record this song and knew time was running out.

  • I don't think Zevon performed this song "because of his cancer" (and if he did it for this reason, then he added a sarcastic feeling to it). He performed it because it is a great song.

  • Strange he would play this considering his other works, mokey wash donkey rinse and vast indifference of heaven......

  • Kurwa Mać! Warren jest zajebisty o wiele bardziej niż większość ludzi razem wziętych ,których widziałęm w życiu. He is the best!

  • @Blaevy polski głos, i to polski głos rozsądku, a to coraz rzadziej się ostatnio zdarza! Warren wiedział o co w tym wszystkim kurwa chodzi. W tej całej gierce.

  • Holy crap!!!!

    I heard Tommy Shaw in an interview said there wasn't a dry eye in the studio when he sang/recorded this..... He died a short time later.

  • Super version. What a strong person. What a great musician. What a loss to humanity. We all leave someday, but WZ left way, way too soon. Thank you for posting.

  • like the chorus on this one but like the non chorus bits in guns'roses version.

  • ima piss you all off and say Eric Claptons Cover was the best, but this is gr8 also:)

  • what a great man god bless his soul, just amazing the talent this man had, now i bet he playes for god in heaven

  • @girlmagnet12 He was an atheist so I doubt he's doing anything for your middle eastern "God".

  • No version is better than Dylan's. It's a song that's beautiful almost every time it's covered but none compares to Dylan doing any of his versions of it.

  • Love that Zevon version.

  • Bob Dylan let him use this song free of royalties and any strings attached, almost like a gift from one great song writer to another.

  • @EyeJustSkateboard It could be so as you told but it is a waste he did not do anything good with the song .

  • @hankypanky541 What i said was a fact, what makes you think i give a fuck about your opinion?

  • @hankypanky541 I try to respect the deaf as much as I can, but you should go play in some traffic.

  • @EyeJustSkateboard Or because he did this song when he found out that he had lung cancer and Bob was just being nice.

  • @rondon5678 Yeah I think thats what he's saying genious!

  • I play this now and then and it makes me cry. I love this version and I loved Warren Zevon. I am a 51yo male and this touches something inside me.

  • I am a huge fan of Warren, but check out Antony and the Johnsons, another version that will make the hairs on your neck stand up.

  • every version has its own merits so many people have covered it and im not sure there are some songs you can sing without feeling your mortality, this being one of them.

  • The Purity and Truth are too much for my heart and my eyes.

    I do miss you Warren.

    Make the people happy in Heaven!

  • everyone in the studio started crying when Warren recorded this, because it was beautiful and they knew he was dying

  • who was the first to write this song ?

  • @GiantDude55 think it was bob dylan

  • @GiantDude55 bob Dylan 

  • Bob's version from the move Pat Garrett And Billy The Kid is heartbreaking enough but this song just kicks my ass all over again. RIP Warren Zevon.

  • only the good die young but assholes keep gettin reincarnated

  • @Sonehag92 Axl Rose is shit compared to a genius like Zevon. Simply sticking "Hey, hey, hey, hey, yeah" into a kareoke version of the original is not the same as facing your own mortality and feeling the song as you're recording it.

  • @njbubba27 I second this, Axl is shit.

  • @njbubba27 Oh, settle down. The oldsters hate G'n'R and the youngsters don't give a crap about the oldsters. Big surprise. If people weren't so bitter and didn't have giant sticks up their butts they'd see that this and Axl's version are both great and artistic re-interpretations of a beautiful classic.

  • Enjoy every sandwich. Loved that quote first time i heard it! Everyone should try living life that way. Warren sure did!

  • As far as I know, this is the only (at least mainstream) version of this song done by somebody who, at the time, knew they we're dying. This is just so beautiful. The world misses you Warren Zevon!

  • Heaven is hungry,I guess...

  • this magic 134,534 views

    Justin Bieber's Baby 316,000,000 views

    

  • @HarpoonTorpedo ...What do you want to say with that.?...Look for Beethoven 5th symphony and see how many hits it has...In a few years i am sure Bieber will be well forgoten and Beethoven and Zevon will be remenbered and people will be listening to their composition, so do not worry..just give the matter a little time

  • @arturoewallis Bieber, is like one of the teen idol singer/songwriters of the late 1950's to early 1960's like Frankie Avalon or something, and hiphop is the equivalent to bad 70's disco. Before you know it, it will be the 80's all over again!

  • @Kerwalk , Yes, is like a cycle. But let me tell you, Hiphop and Rap are taking a lot longer than disco to fase out. Its getting tedious.

  • @arturoewallis purely because some hip-hop, is really well done and does take a fair amount of talent to create, even if you don't like it musically, it is the truth :) although pretty much the only hip-hop I'd listen to are from or before the 90's

  • @Kerwalk Oh shit! That means we get punk all over again, hahahaha... I sincerely hope it doesn't spawn from emo this time around, that's all.

  • @HarpoonTorpedo That's because when this man was around, youtube and probably you, wasn't.....

  • so fucking emotional, i've never heard a better version....this song was meant for zevon, especially during the time he recorded it

  • NOBODY but NOBODY has done a more poignant version of this song. It's like Dylan wrote it knowing someday someone like Zevon would have to record it.

  • not written by GNR? thanks for stating the obvious lol

  • I've always felt like a life is a work of art, like music. I always figure it's a good piece of music if you wish it went on longer. Same with a man's life.

  • WEREWOLVES OF LONDON!!!!

  • his ride came way to soon RIP WARREN

  • muy bien

  • There's something about this version that just seems unique. Even if it sounds a lot like Dylans original, it's a billion times better just knowing that he really was knockin on heavens door as he sang this.

  • Good christ, this is sad. Brings a tear to my eye.

  • Hey Warren did a great cover of Prince's Raspberry Beret and if anyone posts it I would be pleased.

  • @11xzxzxz I don't know of a full version but there's a 30" clip @4.20 if you search for "I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: Virgin/Giant Era"

  • @Kenipedia OK thanks !

  • enjoy every sandwich .. they say Zevon was brighter than Einstein. This is my fav cover of this song and that is not just sentimental hygiene.

  • Shit... Zevon's cover of this song makes me cry.

  • @fullmetalstrawberry YOU AND ME BOTH HE ALWAYS OPENED WITH JOHNNY STRIKES UP THE BAND  WHEN I DIE I JUST PLAY THAT AND THIS AND MY RIDE HERE THATS MY SEND OFF

  • Idk Youtube Universe I just woke up 2day thinking about this song because of all the problems going on in the Earth that was meant for every Human to live on but becuz of war nd race its not how it should be...idk it jus sucks...

  • @gshineman

    make it better

  • @RippdUb I hear ya buddy...I Will...

  • The 7 people who "disliked" this video are knockin' on heaven's door.

  • Warren, dear friend...... you don't have to knock anymore. The doors were opened for you, now just follow the light and guide my Grandma along the way.

  • Wow - great cover

  • The really smart people have to dug themselves to deal with the stupid fucking world...Missing another gneu=ius

  • The good always die young :(

  • nothing like suffering cardiac arrest to give one the feeling of

    knocking on Heavens door. that was one month and one day ago.

    by the absolute grace of God I am still here to tell the tale.

    picked up the guitar again after many years.

    this is the first song I am learning.

    Love Warren's cover , and his statement ....

    []

    "... you're supposed to enjoy every sandwich."

    []

    peace

  • @bIZAROsPRMN11 I am happy things worked out for you and you are are still here. Live for today! Good Luck.

  • Knockin'....

  • I always found it interesting that this is the one rendition of this song actually sung by somebody who was dying at the time.

  • When his voice cracks at 3:24..."for me".....it makes ya want to cry. I'm not ashamed to admit it.

  • Να σας ψυχοπλακωσω λιγο ακομα

    Ο Warren Zevon ηταν απο τους μεγαλυτερους folk-singers

    Εφυγε μετα απο μια βδομαδα που τραγουδησε αυτο το τραγουδι

    (καρκινος)

    Μαλλον το τραγουδουσε για πατρι του

  • Damn... this one is hard to listen to....I miss Warren Zevon....TC

  • Great song Warren Zevon was one of the most talented people ever wether it was to do with his music or the way he lived life and accepted death he done everything with class to me he defined artist.

  • One of the best versions, obviously with more heartfelt meaning given the time it was recorded in relationship to his passing. Miss you WZ!

  • Don't worry Warren, there are no werewolves in Heaven...

  • Best version better than Bob Dylan or Guns 'n' Roses by far thoguth I'm gunna get attacked for saying that.

  • It's so deep because he really was knockin' on heaven's door

  • I have to agree with you. If you're a zevon fan you should check out the live music archive, theres alot of Zevon sounboards you can download or stream for free  :D

    Damn youtube wont let me post links. but just google "live music archive"

  • Thanks man I'll check it out

  • @eatbananaforlunch I totally agree especially under the circumstances he was singing it makes it a lot more meaninglful. People who relate to Zevon only by Werewolves of London are only scratchig the surface of the tip of that iceberg. Using some of his own lyrics,"HE WAS A GENIUS."

  • Yeah man :D

  • @eatbananaforlunch nah, its true.. plus, GNR blows.

  • @eatbananaforlunch: Open up, open up...that part is great. With the addition of just those two words, he made this song even better.

  • @znkp Yeah man I totally know what you mean :)

  • @eatbananaforlunch It`s always easier to enhance on somebody elses work than to create your own from scratch.

  • @niknjoshsmom True but I still prefer this version

  • @niknjoshsmom Man I think you miss the point - covering a friends song is a compliment to him; and there is no greater compliment than Warren Zevon using this tune to express what was going on in his heart and his life. And I think the word 'enhance' is misplaced as there was no effort or reason to 'improve' on the tune. It is not an ego contest. Just a sharing of truth in musical form. Just an opinion.

  • @eatbananaforlunch

    Obviously you will be attacked : ) Bob Dylan interpretations are always the best hehe. But yeah, this is great,,, My shits fucked up is a better suited for Warren.

  • @xmfdibujito Oh I love that song too :) this guy is a fucking genius, i got into him cause my dad had Excitable Boy, I always like Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner, apparentlly my dad got into him through his dad who I'm trying to track down, I've got his wife on Skype but I'm trying to get their phone number, I really wanna meet my dads dad lol

  • @eatbananaforlunch or 34 thumbs up :P

  • @whack1989 lol a better response than I was expecting, a person I know might have cancer, I'm so scared

  • @eatbananaforlunch imfao maybe better than bob dylans version but not better than gnr`s

  • @xHanniballx Axl Rose can't do it very well, other than that gns version is okay

  • You lived your life on your terms! Love ya bro!!

  • Miss you and Jerome John Garcia - RIP fellas.

  • Zevon was so underrated. Probably the best version of this song I've heard.

  • A great goodbye's album...

  • just now hearing this wonderful artist via a posting on FaceBook

  • YOU WILL BE MISSED MY BROTHER...RIP

  • THANK YOU WARREN Z

  • Many thanks to metroidfan.

    Several dozen of the views were me, when I was recovering this year.

    May Warren bless us all.

  • Great version. This guy was REALLY good.

    If you like this song (and who doesn't) listen to COLD CHISEL or JIMMY BARNES

    RIP Warren

  • Great bassguitar riffs!!!!!

  • Comment removed

  • Wow! (that's all i can say)

  • powerful powerful

  • R.I.P Warren... always will hear ur songs!!!

  • never heard this version before now. its superb. next to Dylans its the best

  • Love this one, Guns N Roses and Dylans all for different reasons. I know a lot of people hate Guns N Roses version but I just love how Axl goes off on the high notes.

  • Considering why he decided to this- makes it mean much,much more i think i like this more than any rendition ive ever heard R.I.P Warren

  • RIP

  • Listening to this as I near the end of "The Wind" at 3:30 a.m. on a bitterly cold winter morning as I near the end of a period where I have been awake for all but about 2 hours of the last 38 . . . probably not the smartest musical choice with that in mind, but sometimes I just have to listen to this last album. So sad at times, yet also so filled with optimism. Brilliant, and Warren you're still missed. RIP.

  • I know how it feels...