Decades Before Their New Duet, Bob Dylan Wrote a Song for This Iconic Singer That She Still Hasn’t Released

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Decades Before Their New Duet, Bob Dylan Wrote a Song for This Iconic Singer That She Still Hasn’t Released originally appeared on Parade.

Bob Dylan and Barbra Streisand are making headlines with their recently released duet on the standard “The Very Thought of You,” which is featured on Streisand’s new duets album, The Secret of Life: Partners, Volume 2.

With the release of the duet, an interesting bit of trivia involving the two iconic performers has resurfaced. In a 1971 interview with Dylan that was not made public until 2020, the legendary songwriter revealed that he wrote his classic 1969 hit “Lay Lady Lay” for Streisand, per CNN.

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Prior to that interview resurfacing, there were a few theories about the song’s inspiration. One suggested that Dylan wrote the song for the soundtrack of the film Midnight Cowboy, but it wasn’t submitted in time to be included in the movie. Another theory, shared by Billboard chart historian Joel Whitburn, suggested that Dylan wrote the song for his then-wife Sara Lownds.

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However, transcripts from the 1971 interview conducted by Dylan’s friend Tony Glover for Esquire, but never published, revealed that Streisand was the true inspiration. The interview transcripts became public when they were auctioned off in 2020 following Glover’s death.

“You said ‘Father of Night’ was written for a play, and ‘Lay Lady Lay’ was done for Midnight Cowboy,” Glover said in the interview with Dylan.

“Actually, it was written for Barbra Streisand,” he replied.

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Streisand, however, didn’t know that Dylan wrote the song for her until the interview surfaced in 2020.

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“I’m very flattered to find out that Bob Dylan wrote ‘Lay Lady Lay’ for me,” Streisand said in a statement to NBC News at the time. “What I remember is getting flowers from him with a handwritten note asking me to sing a duet with him, but I just couldn’t imagine it then. Guess what, Bob, I can imagine doing it now!”

Decades later, that imagined duet has finally become a reality, just on a different tune.

Decades Before Their New Duet, Bob Dylan Wrote a Song for This Iconic Singer That She Still Hasn’t Released first appeared on Parade on Jun 30, 2025

This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 30, 2025, where it first appeared.