Ballad of Easy Rider

"Ballad of Easy Rider" is a song written by Roger McGuinn, with input from Bob Dylan (although Dylan is not credited as a co-writer), for the 1969 film Easy Rider. The song was initially released in August 1969 on the Easy Rider soundtrack album as a Roger McGuinn solo performance. It was later issued in an alternate version as a single by McGuinn's band the Byrds on October 1, 1969. Senior editor for Rolling Stone magazine, David Fricke, has described the song as perfectly capturing the social mood of late 1969 and highlighting "the weary blues and dashed expectations of a decade's worth of social insurrection".