Bob Dylan
For those of you who don’t know, Bob Dylan used to be (or still is depending on who you ask) a Christian. Way before RUN D.M.C. was down with the King, Bob Dylan was friends with Jesus.
It seems like most people go gospel after they’ve fallen off the map (Bushwick Bill, Candy Stanton, Michael McDonald, Smokey Robinson, all the members of KORN, except for the lead singer), but Dylan went gospel in his prime.
He released two and a half “gospel” albums after his conversion in the late 1970s.
Slow Train Coming and Saved were explicitly gospel, and “Shot of Love” had some gospel songs and some secular songs.
The music he produced was a strong witness for Christ, so much so that people thought Dylan had lost it.
“Years ago they said I was a prophet,” Dylan said during a performance at the Orpheum in 1980.
“I used to say, ‘No I’m not a prophet.’ They used to convince me I was a prophet. Now I come out and say Jesus Christ is the answer. They say, ‘Bob Dylan’s no prophet.’ They just can’t handle it.”
Even John Lennon, shortly before his death, recorded a diss song about Dylan’s conversion, called “Serve Yourself.”
In contrast to Dylan’s message of submission to God, Lennon penned the words, “Act by oneself. Nobody can help you,” according to an exhibit at the John Lennon museum in Japan.
Despite the mixed reactions to Dylan’s proselytism through music, “Gotta Serve Somebody” on Slow Train Coming was a Top 30 hit in the United States, and won Dylan a grammy.
Slow Train Coming also outsold both Blood on the Tracks and Blonde on Blonde in its first year of release.
Dylan hasn’t released anymore explicitly gospel albums since the 1980s, but he still performs songs from his gospel period, and religious imagery still pops up in some of his songs.
Even his 2001 release, Love and Theft, “deals with the struggles and complexity of the idea of the 'old man' and 'new man' co-existing in the life of the believer in this world and those things which point towards God and away from God,” according to Cross Rhythms magazine.
All-in-all, Dylan released some awesome gospel songs, and I wish he would release more. Here are my top 10 Gospel-era Dylan songs
1. “What Can I Do for You?”
This is my favorite Dylan song from this period. For the person who knows God’s provision, there’s the question of what you can give back to God. The answer is nothing, but the question is good to think about.
2. “Every Grain of Sand”
Many people have said that this song is the masterpiece of Dylan’s gospel period, comparing it to the poetry William Blake. The lyrics are haunting, “In the fury of the moment, I can see the master’s hand/In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand.” It’s very self-reflective, and features Dylan’
3. “In the Garden”
Dylan puts his theological ponderances on wax. Did people know that Jesus was the Son of God when they arrested Him in the garden of Gethsemane? And all the people who bore witness to Jesus’ miracles—Did they know who Jesus was? If they did, how could they deny such a sure salvation? If you saw Jesus healing blind and cripple people, how could you not be converted?
4. “Covenant Woman”
This song can be taken a couple of ways, I think. It could be about a virtuous woman, a woman who prays for her man, and takes care of him. Dylan says, “Yes, and I gotta tell you that I do intend, to stay closer than any friend… Yes, and I just gotta thank you once again, for making your prayers known unto heaven for me, and to you, always so grateful, I will forever be. I also think it could be about the matrimonial relationship between Christ and his Church.
5. “Saved”
Bass, tambourines, gospel singers, guitar, and piano. This song has it all. It’s about Dylan’s joy that God saved him.
6. “Pressing On”
As the title states it’s about “keep-on keeping on” when you don’t feel like you don't have it in you. The Apostle Paul described life as a race. In a race, those who endure to the end, win.
7. “I Believe in You”
"They ask me how I feel, and if my love is real, and how I know I’ll make it through"… Dylan answers his critics, who say his faith isn’t genuine on this track.
8. “Property of Jesus”
This song recounts the struggle that those who actually live the Christian life actually go through. When people are the property of Jesus, the world ridicules them eventhough the world has no real alternative. Dylan says the world’s alternative is a “heart of stone.”
9. “Watered Down Love”
Twangy and gospelly at the same time,”Watered Down Love” is the intersection of gospel and rock. The song speaks of a “love that’s pure, a love that won’t lead you astray. A love that hopes all things, believes all things. It’s reminds me of 1 Corinthians 13.
10. “The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Altar”
This song is juke joint-esque. It’s bluesy and dirty, but that’s probably because it talks about an unrequited love–Jesus is waiting for his chosen people, the Jews, to come to Him.
Honorable mention: “Man Gave Names to All the Animals”
This song sort of sounds silly, like it was intended for a children’s nursery rhyme, but it’s talking about the activity in the Garden of Eden, before mankind fell into sin. I like it.
Interact: What do you think about this article? Let me know by leaving a comment.
Originally published here: http://theundergroundsite.com/index.php/2009/04/gospel-bob/
Comments
Ms. Orr, great article! thank you. I hope Dylan plays "Pressing On" tomorrow night at Ripken Stadium.
Awesome. I wish I could go to that concert. I haven't seen Dylan in concert since he was at the Midtown Music Festival in Atlanta. That was like in 2001. Have fun!
A nice piece on a side of Dylan many people don't think of anymore. He doesn't play a lot of these songs in concert anymore (except Gotta Serve Somebody and Every Grain of Sand), and it's a shame....
Some interesting choices in your top 10. Me, I'd have make sure that "When He Returns", "Solid Rock", "I Believe in You" and "Slow Train" were on the list...
“Man Gave Names to All the Animals” is only about the Garden of Eden on the surface. Each verse is a fairly transparent allegory. "Man" is Dylan.
I'd go for Trouble in Mind! Great outtake from Slow Train :-)
Hey Tiff,
Great article. You are spot on with your song choices. There are so many others that I love. Saving Grace, You Changed My Life, Ring Them Bells, Lord Protect My Child and Death Is Not The End. I strongly recommend "Gotta Serve Somebody" The Gospel Songs Of Bob Dylan covered by some of gospel's best singers including Shirley Caesar, Mavis Staples, Aaron Neville & Rance Allen. Great performances!!! Thank you for a very heartfelt and honest article on such an amazing artist.
Excellent article. I hear several of the songs on Modern Times as devotional, at least in part, especially the stunning Ain't Talkin'.
great article. his most impassioned performances come from this period. for believers, and those who admit to dylan´s giftedness it should be no surprise. gd is the great conducter, regardless of where mr. bob is at currently.
bob dylan has always has religious hints or full blown out referances to the bible. most have been charted in the list above. one of my favorites is jokerman" the book of levticous and duerotomy
Mike, I'll have to check out Jokerman. Sounds interesting.
Bill- You are right. Even though Dylan isn't creating "full" Gospel albums right now, I often wonder how many people heard the Gospel for the first time because of Bob Dylan's albums.
Helen, I will re-visit to "Ain't Talkin." I have Modern Times, but haven't given it a spin in a few. Thanks for the reminder.
DB, Thanks to Pandora and the documentary about the album, I've actually been able to hear some of the songs off of Gotta Serve Somebody. You are right, there are some good covers on that album. Def. worth buying.
Niels-great choice.
Tweeter-I'm intrigued. Could you tell me a little more about what you mean? I really have just understood it on the surface. If there's a deeper meaning, I'd like to understand.
R.L.- All of those are awesome songs. You know how it goes with greatest lists, when every song is just so good--you can't include them all. And then you have to rank them, which is even harder. :(
SEE YOUTUBE
Gold Medal for Excellence
Audience Choice for Best Music Documentary
2006 PARK CITY FILM MUSIC FESTIVAL
GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY:THE GOSPEL SONGS OF BOB DYLAN
The best African-American covers of Dylan songs since Jimi Hendrix. --International Herald Tribune
"This DVD overflows with interest, and, more importantly, with music." -Michael Gray, author of The Bob Dylan Encyclopedia and Song & Dance Man III: The Art of Bob Dylan.
An interesting rewind to the powerful gospel music Bob Dylan wrote in the late 70's and early 80's. -Bobdylan.com
Interviews with Dylan musicians: Jim Keltner, Spooner Oldham, Regina McCrary, Fred Tackett, Terry Young, Mona Lisa Young, and producer Jerry Wexler
Participating artists: Bob Dylan, Shirley Caesar, Chicago Mass Choir, Dottie Peoples, Aaron Neville, Sounds of Blackness, Helen Baylor, The Fairfield Four, Great Day Chorale,
I don't know if you're familiar with the bootlegs, but the best examples of these songs can be found there. There's even an unreleased song, "Coverdown Breakthrough", that is among his very best of the period. I can appreciate this stuff, even as an atheist. I've long gotten over any ambivalence over the lyrics, now I just consider it "something that happened". What he's saying doesn't faze me at all, I can enjoy the energy and performance. Still, I'm glad he moved on... even believers would have to concede that this isn't the deepest songwriting in the world. He would learn integrate faith into his songs much more interestingly. And kudos for giving "What Can I Do For You?" some press, even proponents of the period tend to put it down. Like "I Believe In You", "What Can I..." can be meaningful even to a godless heathen like me.
"but god is my shield, and he won't lead me astray" Time Out of Mind...i think Dylan is still very much a believer...the word "Christian" can hold my labels that even i don't like to have...i think spiritual belief is an important part of every person, even non-believers...everyone believes in something when their lying in their death beds..."meet me jesus meet me, meet me in the middle of the air, if these wings should fail me lord, wont you make me another pair" LOVE IT
Oh great article too by the way lol
On the Top list I would put the great "When He Returns" (besides "Every Grain of Sand"). I think this is one of the most passionate songs ever written and performed. Amazing the piano playing! I never have heard something like this anywhere else...
Great article. Some great songs on Youtube from this era. Unreleased classics like 'Aint Gonna go to hell for anybody' and 'I will love him, I will serve him'. He also has some cracking versions of traditional gospel 'Somebody touched me' and 'Hallelujah, I'm ready to go'.
Forgot to say, check out the lyrics to 'What good am I' from 1989's Oh Mercy album. Its full of 'Christian' instruction on how to treat others.
From Modern Times "Thunder on the Mountain"
"Someday I'll stand beside my King."
From his first album until the present, I agree with others here that Dylan songs have always been steeped in biblical imagery and references.
When I first heard "Slow Train" I was not surprised. He gave several hints on "Street Legal" Remember "Changing of the Guards?"
May God's blessings keep you always Bob!
i liked your article very much
and agree with you.
thank you
and may the great spirit up high bless you
and the ones you love
bruce
Hi Tiffany. I enjoyed your article and I pray for Bob Dylan, my favorite songwriter of all. When you fall in love with Jesus, it's hard to forget Him.
I enjoyed your article and found your song choices interesting. I beleive Bob will be with the saints ,one day, singing "WORTHY IS THE LAMB".
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