1969 Song of the Day- Lay Lady Lay- by Bob Dylan. The song- written by Dylan was recorded on February 14, 1969. Lay Lady Lay would be released as a single- and be one of Bob Dylan’s biggest hits going to #7. It was part of his Nashville Skyline album released in July 1969. Lay Lady Lay was originally written for the movie Midnight Cowboy- but was not submitted in time. Dylan sings the song in a low voice not his usual nasal singing style. Dylan says the change in singing style on this album was due to his quitting smoking before recording the album. Lay Lady Lay has been covered by numerous artists over the years from The Byrds to The Isley Brothers, Duran Duran, Ministry and many others.
slicethelife 
He really reinvented himself a little with the country phase…one of the many times.
Apparently he only wrote a couple of songs for Nashville Skyline in advance, this was one of them.
I’m not sure I believe the part about his voice changing was due to him quitting smoking. I think the nasal sound worked better for him so he changed it. This song had a strong effect on me at that time it was on the radio, without knowing anything about who sang it. It seems very different than most of his other music, not sure if it is just because of the voice or not.
I am not buying the quitting smoking story either! That album is good but way way too short- under a half hour. Come on Bob!
::high five:: on the voice. never heard that album, and with the sheer volume of songs he’s done, there is no excuse for shortchanging on an album. i looks through his wiki song list for song lyric sunday and am astounded at the sheer number of songs
It is hard to believe but the 60th anniversary of his first album is coming up in a couple years..
Agree with you on this @msjadeli!
Great song on a weak album (for me anyway!)
I’m not a Dylan fan in general but, some of his stuff appeals to me. This is one. I liked it for the very reason that he doesn’t sound nasally.
Dylan sung like this in ‘I threw it all away’ on the Johnny Cash show. This voice with this song was another perfect match.
He must have took up smoking again- because he soon went back to his old singing voice..
Like someone mentioned above, I too am not sure if it was down to smoking. I think the change was deliberate. Also Lay Lady lay with his typical nasely tone would have lost its charm I suspect.
The ever evolving Dylan. Even live I’ve seen him a few times, no one decade the same, and I really like that. This is one of my fave Dylan songs.