Clapton gave it a laid-back, rhythmic groove.
Dylan wrote the track specifically for a heartbreaking scene where a lawman, played by Slim Pickens, is shot and slowly bleeds to death by a river. According to screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer, Dylan scrawled the lyrics on an airplane the night before the scene was shot. 🎸 The Beauty of Simplicity knockin_on_heavens_door
A slow, acoustic, gospel-infused folk lament. Clapton gave it a laid-back, rhythmic groove