The 333 Best Pop Songs of the 2000s: #280

#280: "Thunder on the Mountain" (2006) - Bob Dylan

Backed by the same crack band he’s had since the late ‘90s, Dylan’s down in the groove, here. For the past several years, Bob Dylan’s had a musical resurgence, making music as effortlessly and timeless as ever. Though his songs aren’t outwardly political anymore, and most of his characters/protagonists don’t seem as troubled as they once were, Dylan’s contemporary music is just as essential (if for different reasons). He plays and sings with grace and humor, sliding into middle-age with possibly the best backing band of his career, and his songs, swinging and swaying with confidence, immensely danceable, combining a bit of blues, a hint of honky-tonk, and a smattering of shuffle—New Orleans style. His lyrics are as witty as ever—love the musings on Alicia Keys and her whereabouts, even if that entire verse was lifted from an old Memphis Minnie blues song (where she shouted out to Ma Rainey), and he's got the good sense to spotlight the best reason to listen to this one: guitarist Denny Freeman's fantastic C&W solos.