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Bob Dylan
Gene Simmons Revisits a Little-Known Dylan Co-Write
Gene Simmons’s recollection of writing “Waiting for the Morning Light” with Bob Dylan supplied the day’s one genuinely new Dylan-related detail: an intimate, early-2000s account of a collaboration that has remained peripheral to both men’s public histories.
It does not point to renewed Dylan activity or a newly unearthed recording. But it adds texture to an unusually unlikely co-writing credit, and it extends a recent run of coverage in which Dylan’s present-day news has been sparse while older corners of the catalogue and career continue to invite fresh attention.
In a new MusicRadar interview, Simmons said Dylan came to his Los Angeles home after Simmons reached out through Dylan’s manager, and that the pair developed “Waiting for the Morning Light,” later released on Simmons’s 2004 solo album Asshole. Simmons said he recorded their conversation and recalled that Dylan had not completed lyrics for the song.
The anecdote is interesting chiefly because it shifts the collaboration from a bare credit into a scene: two highly distinct songwriting personalities working informally at Simmons’s home. Still, the account rests on Simmons’s memory. Without the recording he says he made, session paperwork, or a fuller account from Dylan’s side, it is best understood as a firsthand recollection rather than a newly established archival discovery.
Key Points
- The day reinforced the recent pattern: Dylan remains culturally active in the sense that writers keep returning to his songs, albums, and associations, but that is different from new activity in the catalogue or onstage. Pieces on Highway 61 Revisited, “I’ll Keep It With Mine,” and hypothetical Traveling Wilburys lineups revisited familiar history without changing it.
- Simmons’s story stands out because it offers a potentially verifiable detail rather than another retrospective argument. Even a modest recollection can matter when it points toward an actual document—in this case, the recording Simmons says exists.
Implications
For listeners tracing Dylan’s collaborations beyond his own albums, “Waiting for the Morning Light” now has a more vivid origin story. Its historical value, however, depends on whether underlying documentation ever emerges; the reported session does not yet revise what is known about Dylan’s early-2000s work.
The broader takeaway is one of cultural persistence rather than movement. Dylan’s history continues to generate worthwhile marginal stories, but the distinction between renewed discussion and new evidence is especially important on quiet days.
Watchpoints
Watch
Whether Simmons, his archive project, or another primary source makes available the recording or other documentation from the songwriting session. That would clarify Dylan’s contribution and the song’s unfinished-lyrics story.
Watch
Any official Dylan announcement involving touring, performances, releases, or archival projects, which would mark a shift away from the present run of retrospective coverage.
Fallout
A light day centered on a single new recollection about an obscure Dylan collaboration, while the rest of the coverage largely recycled established historical material.
Dylan’s Little-Documented Collaborations
Gene Simmons’s account brings renewed attention to “Waiting for the Morning Light,” a rare Dylan-associated writing credit outside the usual map of his collaborations.
Fresh developments
Simmons told MusicRadar that he and Dylan developed the song during a session at Simmons’s Los Angeles home in the early 2000s. The song was later released on Simmons’s 2004 solo album, while Simmons says Dylan left its lyrics incomplete.
Why we noticed
The account offers a concrete, firsthand glimpse of an unusual creative encounter. It is notable less as a revelation about Dylan’s current work than as a possible lead toward documentation of a poorly illuminated episode.
Watch for:
- Release of the recording Simmons says he made during the session.
- Session records, drafts, or other primary material that could clarify Dylan’s role in the composition.
Final Thought
The day’s small revelation is a useful reminder that Dylan’s vast public history still has unlit rooms. But a compelling recollection becomes durable history only when the material behind it can be heard, seen, or independently confirmed.