Steel Bars

Quite surprisingly, Michael Bolton wrote this song with Bob Dylan. There is little crossover between the folk music legend and the pop powerhouse, but apparently Dylan wanted to write with a contemporary hitmaker, and Bolton was that guy. Dylan's legend was impenetrable, but his new music didn't reach a huge audience; his albums would sell somewhere around 300,000 copies, while Bolton's 1989 Soul Provider moved 6 million. It was Dylan's music publisher who called Bolton and set up the meeting. For two days, they worked together at Bob's mansion in Malibu, resulting in the song "Steel Bars." Dylan came up with the title. "I found that he respected me for my contemporary sensibilities," Bolton told Q magazine. "I think he's aware that he needs to collaborate with people who are not just in touch with the marketplace but who he'll be compatible with."

It's hard to find any trace of Bob Dylan in this song, and hard to believe he would sign off on a lyric like this: Steel bars, wrapped all around me I've been your prisoner since the day you found me The song is a very straightforward metaphor, with Bolton feeling imprisoned by his love interest. He called it "a song about obsession."

Dylan had written with other artists, but never a pop star like Michael Bolton. He co-wrote the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers hit "Jammin' Me," but Petty was his bandmate in the Traveling Wilburys and they wrote songs together for that group. And before they were Wilburys, Dylan helped write George Harrison's "I'd Have You Anytime." Dylan also worked with Willie Nelson on Nelson's 1993 track "Heartland." Whatever Dylan's motive for writing with Bolton, it's clear he got a nice payout for his work. The Time, Love & Tenderness was immensely successful, selling over 8 million copies just in the US. As a co-writer on one of the 10 tracks, they entitled Dylan to substantial royalties.