In 1965, Bob Dylan released "Subterranean Homesick Blues", a song from his fifth studio album, Bringing It All Back Home. Although it was not among his biggest commercial successes, the track became his first Top 40 single and left a strong impression on fellow musicians, including The Beatles' John Lennon, who said it made him question his own songwriting ability. The article highlights how influential Dylan had already become, only a few years into his recording career.

In a 1980 interview, one of his last, Lennon admitted that hearing the song made him worry he would never be as good a songwriter as Dylan, while noting there was nothing wrong with admiring others. Dylan himself drew on other artists, citing Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business" and 1940s scat songs as inspiration, and named folk singer Woody Guthrie as his own guiding influence. The single, notable for a title that never appears in its lyrics, preceded Dylan's first No. 1 hit, "Like A Rolling Stone", released later the same year.