Composed by Bob Dylan for the soundtrack of Sam Penkinpah's 1973 western drama Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, Knockin' on Heaven's Door has gone on to become a folk rock classic. As the Wikipedia contributors note, "[t]he song describes the collapse of a deputy sheriff, dying from a bullet wound; he tells his wife 'Ma, take this badge off me; I can't use it anymore.'" Here's my favorite cover, a reggae influenced version by Eric Clapton from 1975, released as a single and on later compilations.
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One of the most covered tunes of all time, but usually as a 'Live' teaser, probably because it only had two verses to fit the movie format. But Dylan, being Dylan, couldn't let it lie like that. See http://dylanchords.info/12_billy/knockin_on_heavens_door.htm for a lot of his variants.
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