Knockin' on Heaven's Door

For other uses, see Knockin' on Heaven's Door (disambiguation).

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
Song

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door"
Song

"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a song written by Bob Dylan from Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid, the soundtrack of the 1973 film of the same name. The song consists of four chords in the key of G major: G, D, Am7, and C. The basic pattern throughout the song is G-D-Am7-Am7 and then G-D-C-C, and this is repeated. The lyrics consist of a story surrounding the death of the Russian Orthodox bishop Jonah of Manchuria using the backdrop of the American Western frontier. In 2004, it was voted number 190 by representatives of the music industry and press in Rolling Stone magazine's "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" issue.

Covers

Although it was originally recorded as a slow acoustic country song, "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" has been covered in many tempos and styles, by many artists, including Guns N' Roses (which reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart), The Grateful Dead, Bob Marley, Bryan Ferry, Mark Knopfler, Roger Waters, Givan Tichy, Eric Clapton, The Sisters of Mercy, Seether, Cold Chisel, U2, Television, Guided By Voices, Stained Class, Avril Lavigne, Warren Zevon, Daniel Lioneye, Bon Jovi, Randy Crawford, Beau Jocques, Chaozz (Czech), Zé Ramalho (Brazil).

In 1976 British punk Rock band, Siouxsie and the Banshees, peformed the song at the 100 Club Punk Festival

In 1989 it was covered on the album Cherry Knowle by british punk band Leatherface, although it was just listed as "Heaven".

In 1993 it was performed by the Red Army Chorus and Ensemble with the Leningrad Cowboys in the Total Balalaika show and subsequent video.

In 1998, South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo and U.S. country diva Dolly Parton teamed up to record the song.

The song was used to somewhat of a humorous effect in the 2005 film, Be Cool and thus it is featured on the movie's soundtrack. It was most recently featured on the reality show Rock Star: Supernova, performed by Toby Rand. The song was part of the soundtrack for the film Lethal Weapon 2 and was also sung by Korean artist Youme for the movie Windstruck The song was also played on Supernatural

With the consent of Bob Dylan, Dunblane musician Ted Christopher wrote a new verse for Knockin' On Heaven's Door in memory of the Dunblane schoolchildren and teacher killed in the Dunblane massacre. The recording of the revised version of the song, which included brothers and sisters of the victims singing chorus and Mark Knopfler on guitar, was released on December 9, 1996 in the UK, and reached number 1. The proceeds went to charities for children.

Although not a cover, Gabrielle's 2000 UK number one single Rise samples extensively from the track.

External links

• A list of cover versions
• Lyrics