This song really does represent the best of Bob Dylan he has is terrific when it comes to describing images and places to use and this song also shows a character's journey which does happen frequently in Dylan songs. So while this is not one of his masterpieces this is definitely one to check out. And definitely check out "Mr. Tambourine Man" becuase this is similar to it in a way.

back when this song was released, on the dylan usenet group someone posted their daughter's reaction to this song:

====== Today, on the way home from soccer game, I slipped TOOM into the play mode right after the Dreaded Wallflowers. My 8 year old daughter commented on Trying to Get to Heaven. Her comments were something like this:

"Well they better not close the door to heaven. At least not until everyone is in. [She thinks for a while and then says] Well, I guess it would be ok, as long as they open it when the next person comes. But, why would they do that. Open and close it. Close it and open it. I think they ought to just leave it open."

which is just beautiful.

Pat, that is adorable.

robyn hitchcock's cover of this on Spooked is brilliant

Over the past decade I think Bob has been writing some songs as sort of follow-ups to his classic songs from the 1960's and 1970's. "Things Have Changed" is a sequel to "The Times They Are A-Changin'" and "Trying to Get to Heaven" is a follow-up to "Knockin' on Heaven's Door".

"When you think that you lost everything You find out you can always lose a little more"

This must be the greatest line ever

Agree, bob_dylan_fan. Other great lines in this song:

But I don't know what "all right" even means

and

I close my eyes and wonder/if everything is as hollow as it seems.

Bob Dylan isn't just a great musician... in my opinion he's the embodiment of the American Spirit. Like other greats before him, Thoreau, Kerouac, Martin Luther King Jr., Elvis, James Dean, George Washington, Jesse James.

People say America is a "christian" nation--but all of its greatest heroes were freethinkers and freespirits. There's a blood that pumps through American veins that transcends religion, beliefs, race, or gender--it really is the melting pot of the world. And to say it's a one-religion nation takes away from the thing that, in my opinion, is even better than it's democracy (there are lots of free countries) but there is only one real melting pot, only one country where the ghosts of Billy Kid and Abraham Lincoln live in the collective unconscious... and that's the U.S.

Maybe I'm just in a 4th of July mood... my apologies.

Love the harp in this song.

@ The Thorn Birds: one of the, if not the most decorated hero in American history is Sgt Alvin York--a devout Christian. Billy Graham has helped to change more hearts and impact more lives than anyone I can think of in US history. You may also enjoy reading the writings of Lincoln and Washington sometime. I could make a long list of military, sports, political and others who were Christian. I LOVE your patriotism, but you might want to guard against using all encompassing phrases like "all of its greatest heroes were freethinkers and freespirits" Perhaps I misread your intent though and if so, I apologize.

Great song, from another great album. This song to me eloquently captures the depressed mood of someone, who has seen and experienced a lot of life, but as he gets older he finds himself in a world or in a country that's in great turmoil, so his goals, his dreams, his hopes of a better world in the promised afterlife have become more prevalent in his mind and in his heart. He's just passing through a difficult, problematic world heading toward the Kingdom of Heaven.