Tryin' to Get to Heaven

The song is a medium-tempo folk-rock ballad whose narrator has traveled "all around the world" and, in the song's memorable refrain, is "trying to get to heaven before they close the door".{{Cite web|title=Tryin' to Get to Heaven {{!}} The Official Bob Dylan Site|url=https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/trying-get-heaven/|access-date=2020-12-20|website=www.bobdylan.com}} It is notable for being the only song on Time Out of Mind on which Dylan plays the harmonica.{{Cite web|title=Lucinda Williams – Tryin' to get to heaven – The Best Dylan Covers {{!}} Born To Listen|date=14 November 2020 |url=https://borntolisten.com/2020/11/14/lucinda-williams-tryin-to-get-to-heaven-the-best-dylan-covers/|access-date=2020-12-21|language=en-US}} In their book Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track, authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon call the song "hypnotic" and compare its sound to the work of Bruce Springsteen and Phil Spector. They note that Dylan's harmonica solo, which "requires several hearings to appreciate", achieves an unusual "electric" effect because of the way engineer Mark Howard ran it through a distortion box.{{Cite book|last=Margotin, Philippe|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/869908038|title=Bob Dylan : all the songs : the story behind every track|date=27 October 2015|others=Guesdon, Jean-Michel|isbn=978-1-57912-985-9|edition=First|location=New York|oclc=869908038}} The song is performed in the key of A major.{{Cite web|last=Bob|first=Dylan|date=2013-09-16|title=Tryin' To Get To Heaven|url=https://www.musicnotes.com/sheetmusic/mtd.asp?ppn=MN0122915|access-date=2021-07-03|website=Musicnotes.com}}

Dylan scholar Jochen Markhorst ranks the song among the author's "most beautiful works," noting that it's similar to but "more accessible" than the celebrated "Not Dark Yet" because it offers the "prospect of redemption in an afterlife".{{Cite web|title=Tryin' To Get To Heaven but not falling from the sky {{!}} Untold DylanUntold Dylan|url=https://bob-dylan.org.uk/archives/12746|access-date=2020-12-21|language=en-GB}}

Spectrum Culture included the song on a list of "Bob Dylan's 20 Best Songs of the '90s". In an article accompanying the list, critic David Harris calls it "one of the many triumphs" on Time Out of Mind and notes, "More than anything, 'Tryin' to Get to Heaven' sounds like an aging songwriter taking stock, reliving glories of travel and sexual conquests before he skips off this mortal coil".{{Cite web|date=2020-10-16|title=Bob Dylan's 20 Best Songs of the '90s|url=https://spectrumculture.com/2020/10/15/bob-dylans-20-best-songs-of-the-90s/|access-date=2021-05-01|website=Spectrum Culture}}

A 2021 article in the Irish Independent named it one of the "all-time top 10 tracks by Bob Dylan", noting that, "as Dylan said of one of his own favourites, Neil Young’s 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart', you just want it to go on for ever".{{Cite web|title=Bob Dylan at 80: The times they aren't a changin' as master Dylan continues glorious career|url=https://www.independent.ie/opinion/the-times-they-arent-a-changin-as-master-bob-dylan-continues-glorious-career-40430179.html|access-date=2021-05-22|website=independent|date=20 May 2021 |language=en}}

The Bootleg Series Vol. 17: Fragments - Time Out Of Mind Sessions (1996-1997), released on January 27, 2023, contains a version of the original album track remixed by Michael Brauer as well as two studio outtakes of the song and a live version from 2000.{{cite web |last=Murray |first=Robin |date=2022-11-17 |title=Bob Dylan Announces 'Fragments - Time Out Of Mind Sessions' {{!}} News |url=https://www.clashmusic.com/news/bob-dylan-announces-fragments-time-out-of-mind-sessions/ |access-date=2022-11-17 |website=Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews }}

Between 1999 and 2019, Bob Dylan performed the song 335 times in concert on the Never Ending Tour.{{Cite web|title=Bob Dylan Tour Statistics {{!}} setlist.fm|url=https://www.setlist.fm/stats/bob-dylan-1bd6adb8.html|access-date=2020-12-20|website=www.setlist.fm}} A live version from October 5, 2000 in London, done in a jazz arrangement and with a slower tempo, was officially released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006.{{Cite web|title=The Bootleg Series, Vol 8: Tell Tale Signs {{!}} The Official Bob Dylan Site|url=http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/bootleg-series-vol-8-tell-tale-signs/|access-date=2020-12-20|website=www.bobdylan.com}} Another live performance, from a concert in Birmingham, England on September 20, 2000, was included on The Bootleg Series Vol. 17: Fragments – Time Out of Mind Sessions (1996–1997). The live debut occurred in Lisbon, Portugal on April 7, 1999, a performance that was made available to stream on Dylan's official website in August 1999.{{Cite web|title=Online Performances (bobdylan.com)|url=https://searchingforagem.com/online.htm|access-date=2021-03-06|website=searchingforagem.com}} Another live version, performed in Washington, D.C., on April 4, 2004, was made available to stream on Dylan's site that same month.{{Cite web|title=Online Performances (bobdylan.com)|url=https://searchingforagem.com/online.htm|access-date=2021-05-05|website=searchingforagem.com}} The last performance to date took place at The Anthem in Washington, D.C., on December 8, 2019.{{Cite web|title=Setlists {{!}} The Official Bob Dylan Site|url=http://www.bobdylan.com/setlists/?id_song=26898|access-date=2021-05-29|website=www.bobdylan.com}}

Jordan Tice regularly performs the song live.

David Bowie's version, originally recorded in 1998, was officially released as a single on January 8, 2021.{{Cite web|title=David Bowie - Mother/Tryin' To Get to Heaven {{!}} Rhino|url=https://www.rhino.com/product/mothertryin-to-get-to-heaven|access-date=2020-12-21|website=www.rhino.com|language=en}}

Robyn Hitchcock covered it on his 2004 album Spooked.

Joan Osborne covered it on her 2017 album Songs of Bob Dylan.{{Cite web|title=Cover versions of Tryin' to Get to Heaven by Joan Osborne {{!}} SecondHandSongs|url=https://secondhandsongs.com/performance/592329/versions|access-date=2021-06-11|website=secondhandsongs.com}}

Lucinda Williams has officially released two cover versions of the song: one on the Chimes of Freedom compilation album in 2012 and another for her 2020 live album Lu's Jukebox Vol. 3 - Bob's Back Pages: A Night Of Bob Dylan Songs.

Phosphorescent released a cover as a single in December 2022 as part of their "full moon project".{{Cite magazine |last=DeLuca |first=Leo |date=2022-12-07 |title=Why Phosphorescent Covered Songs by Bob Dylan, Fleetwood Mac for Every Full Moon of 2022 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-country/phosphorescent-full-moon-project-playlist-1234642844/ |access-date=2023-05-27 |magazine=Rolling Stone |language=en-US}}

{{reflist}}

• [http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/trying-get-heaven/ Lyrics] from Bob Dylan's official site

{{Bob Dylan}}

Category:Bob Dylan songs

Category:Columbia Records singles

Category:Song recordings produced by Daniel Lanois

Category:Songs written by Bob Dylan