Bob Dylan wrote this in 1967 but it was not until 1971 on his Greatest Hits Vol. II album that his version was officially released. The Band, who backed up Dylan on his first electric tour, recorded it for Music From Big Pink, which was their first album. Their version is the most well-known.
This song could be either an anti-death penalty composition or a metaphoric attempt by Dylan at looking forward to being released from Hell on Earth - possibly awaiting the "release" from the hell of being an innocent man wrongly imprisoned. There is a very solemn, religious hymnal quality to the song that is represented by the lyrics, "My light come shining from the west unto the east," which is an apocalyptic reference.
In Robert Shelton's biography No Direction Home, he gives the song a different meaning. After Dylan's motorcycle accident in 1966, when he was 25, he retreated from the spotlight. This was after he had suffered great disappointment at the reception his European and American tour dates brought. He'd been booed offstage, called a traitor, and attendance dropped at some of his concert dates. Dylan was seriously injured in the accident, and Shelton states that Dylan withdrew not only to recuperate, but to spend the time in self reflection, and with his family. He goes further, saying that the song represents Dylan's search for personal salvation.
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