When word started to spread a few years back that Bob Dylan and Post Malone were working on a musical collaboration during the pandemic, fans started to get excited. And not in that ooh-something-new-is-coming-out-to-watch/stream/binge-during-the-pandemic way we all got excited when much of the entertainment industry was shut down. Musical minds in the know were legit pumped for a pairing of a pop star of the streaming age and a 60s folk singing musical legend.

However, unfortunately for us all, it seems that mashup isn't going to happen. Or at least not for the foreseeable future. Rolling Stone is reporting on the inside story behind the collaboration, and how it apparently “got weird”.

The magazine claims a few years back music producer Michael Cash got an idea to reach out to current hip hop artists like Post Malone about covering Bob Dylan classic songs. Cash sent Bob Dylan's manager Jeff Rosen an image of Post Malone's Dylan tattoo (he's a super fan) and a link to Malone's cover of the Dylan classic “Don't Think Twice, It's All Right”.

A few weeks later, Cash got a response from Rosen: “It was like two o'clock in the morning,” he said. “Jeff texts me: ‘Bob's going to write you something. He's got something in mind that he wants to craft specifically for this.'” Rolling Stone continued that “a source close to the Dylan camp” said Dylan already had the lyrics written.

The song, no longer a cover but an original collaboration — raising the stakes and excitement about the project even more — would be called “Be Not Deceived,” and would include lyrics about “a loss of innocence” that apparently brought Malone to tears.

Later, in March 2021, Malone went to record the song at Cash's studio in upstate New York, but they only got about 40% of it done.

The song was called “Be Not Deceived,” with lyrics about “a loss of innocence” that Cash said brought Malone to tears. In March 2021, Malone went to Cash's studio in upstate New York to record the song, but according to Cash, they only got about 40% of it done. When they couldn't complete the song, Dylan's manager Jeff Rosen took back the lyrics, and to this date no additional work has been done on the song.

Cash also added, “My hopes are that Mr. Dylan and Mr. Rosen give back the right to use the lyrics. I would like it if the record gets finished… So maybe it got weird, but this is two really important musicians that I feel put the work in and it needs to be shared.”

Truth be told, the new insights into the situation just raise more questions than answers. What led to Dylan rescinding the lyrics? Was Post Malone always bugging Bob Dylan to play Magic The Gathering when he is clearly more of a Pokémon TCG guy? Or did Bob Dylan draw in a new face tattoo on Post Malone while he was napping that he didn't care for? Or, being in upstate New York, did they get into a Buffalo wing eating contest that got too competitive and Dylan snatched back the lyrics, now with Frank's Red Hot stains all over the notepad? Or did musical inspiration just float away as quickly as it sailed in?

We may never know, and until we do, the world is left to wonder what the Post Malone-Bob Dylan collaboration could have been.