Using the Bible as a Key to Unlock the Meaning of Bob Dylan's "Jokerman"

The enigmatical nature of Bob Dylan’s song "Jokerman" makes it subject to many wildly different interpretations. It has been argued that the Jokerman represents Christ, an antichrist, Israel, and Bob Dylan himself. In the light of such varied readings, it may seem ludicrous to attempt to pin down the symbolic nature of the Jokerman. CLICK HERE to read more

Forgiving son's killer brings Regina McCrary Peace

It was the cross tattooed on her son's arm, sticking out from under the white sheet, that started the pain Regina McCrary can only describe as insanity. CLICK HERE to read more

“Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground” - Blind Willie Johnson

There could be no more appropriate song for Good Friday, and I might call this the most beautiful song I’ve ever heard. CLICK HERE to read more

Three gospel songs in Saarbrücken tonight (Palm Sunday)

In Saarbrücken, Germany, this very night, Bob Dylan included three tunes from what’s commonly known as his gospel period in the set list. He kicked off the show with Gotta Serve Somebody, did Every Grain Of Sand as the fourth song, and I Believe In You as tune number twelve. It seems to me that it probably hasn’t been since sometime in the 1980s that he included three songs from those gospel albums in one set list, although I could certainly be wrong. At any rate, it’s got to be an extremely rare occurrence in any post-gospel-era gig. CLICK HERE to read more

Tryin’ to get to heaven-My ponderings on Bob Dylan and the Christian Faith

For the past few months I have been listening to Bob Dylan’s Christian music and have been greatly helped by it (“I Believe In You” from Slow Train Coming has become a song that says it all for me-I don’t seem to tire of listening to it). I cannot help but think (as I know many others do) about where Dylan stands in regard to Christ. CLICK HERE to read more

The Spiritual Journey Of Bob Dylan

Ever since its inception two thousand years ago, Christianity has played a large role in art. Whether out of devotion or necessity, it has been perhaps the most explored topic of the last two millennia. CLICK HERE to read more

Ring them Bells - Bob Dylan's Road to Damascus

Every bit the sneering, instinctive, anti-puritanical, vote-splitting impulsive Prometheus, shifting his feet on the limited generic boundaries, Bob Dylan’s outlandish late 1970s conversion from a safe secular vote amongst the hipper than thou, rocked the very “didacticism” of the post punk ethos much in the same light as Shelley’s riposte, nearly 200 years previously, to his horrified erstwhile Whig contemporaries. CLICK HERE to read more

The Dylan Mass

The band debuted these five Dylan covers sitting at the front of the nave, seated in a semi-circle with their backs to the audience. They chose these specific songs to carry the congregation through the liturgy of an Anglican Mass (see here). Throughout the service, the band remained obscured, the music supporting the proceedings rather than becoming them. CLICK HERE to read more

Polarizing power of 'Hallelujah'

It all started when dreadlocked Jason Castro sang Cohen's "Hallelujah" on "American Idol" last March. Simon Cowell was duly impressed, as were American audiences, who promptly sent the late Jeff Buckley's 1994 cover of the same song to the top of the iTunes charts. CLICK HERE to read more

Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking

Just another night and just another date on that long, long road: November 18th, 1979. Click here for a clip of Bob Dylan and his band performing Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking. CLICK HERE to read more

Preacher Abandons Bible For Dylan Lyrics

Calling his movement The Zimmerman Way, the once Reverend Chuckie Leven announced to his surprised congregation that he would no longer teach from the Bible and would, in the name of postmodernism, preach only from Dylan lyrics. The reaction was predictable; CLICK HERE to read more

Dylan Gets Saved

Anyway, one of those books I'm currently reading is a book about Bob Dylan called "Dylan Redeemed." Here, the author chronicles Dylan's three so-called "Christian" albums from the late seventies and into the early eighties. His first, 1979’s “Slow Train Coming,” is more Christian than much of what passes as Christian music today. CLICK HERE to read more

Dylan Get's Saved (Part 2)

Much could be said about the overall library of Bob Dylan's music. While I'm somewhat a fan of Dylan, I'm by no means the Dylan expert. I leave that label for the real experts, such as those who've actually listened to his corpus of music in it's entirety. Stephen Webb, in his book that I've been reading titled "Dylan Redeemed," suggests that when one looks at the whole of Dylan's recordings, one finds the origins of what would later become Dylan's three Christian recordings. CLICK HERE to read more

Dylan Get's Saved (Part 3)

It's interesting that much is made about the faith of Bob Dylan and that many questions whether his turn towards the Christian faith (from his Jewish upbringing) was simply a farce. CLICK HERE to read more

Bob Dylan: Review of Shot of Love

Dylan makes the dichotomy of the Christian life so clear and real in this album. A believer may enjoy the eternal summertime of God’s presence and live a life of gracious love that heals and strengthens but he must endure the mocking, the oppression the real threats from the non-believing world. CLICK HERE to read more

The Dylan Watch (by Lawrence J. Epstein)

This is a post about Bob Dylan and Judaism. Were Dylan more of an ordinary person, an ordinary analysis might suffice. Such an analysis would include the normally revealing facts that Robert Zimmerman was born to Jewish parents, raised as a Jew, given a lavish Bar Mitzvah, and attended Camp Herzl in Webster, Wisconsin for four consecutive summers, from 1954-1958. CLICK HERE to read more

Bob Dylan: Review of Saved

While the songs of Slow Train Coming might have attained a natural groove, some of the songs on this album really rock, manifesting the jet-blast power of faith. Saved is one of those songs. CLICK HERE to read more

Bob Dylan: Infidels Review

Here’s my commentary on the philosophy behind the songs. CLICK HERE to read more

Learning to write great songs

Dylan’s born-again period with Slow Train Coming and Saved are part of his creative use of the Bible. I’m not saying he didn’t convert to Christianity for awhile. But Christianity is just a next stage in Judaism, always a strong source for Dylan. Did Dylan become a Christian missionary? No, he became a Christian songwriter. Listen to Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan recorded by authentic gospel singers and ask: how does a white, Jewish boy from northern Minnesota write black gospel songs that sound authentic? Learn and absorb. CLICK HERE to read more

Bob Dylan: Jokerman and Authenticity

The picture is of one standing on the cliffs of the sea with a loaf of bread, all that one owns in the world to rely upon, and he’s are taking it apart, piece by piece and throwing into the waves and the wind. Casting your bread upon the waters is a reference from Ecclesiastes about abandoning one’s self and substance to God in faith, expecting to be provided for. CLICK HERE to read more

Claude Jeter, Gospel Singer With Wide Influence, Dies at 94

The Rev. Claude Jeter, the founder of the gospel group the Swan Silvertones whose delicate yet potent falsetto had a wide influence on both pop and religious singers in the 1950s and ’60s, died on Tuesday in the Bronx. He was 94. CLICK HERE to read more

To Artists as An Artist

I was reading an article today about Bob Dylan’s so-called “Jesus period”, that part of his life associated with his friendship with the late Keith Green, his involvement in the Vineyard movement in California, and his baptism and other public presentations of his new-found Christian spirituality (this category includes three albums) in the late 70’s and early 80’s. CLICK HERE to read more

Did Bob Marley confess Jesus Christ?

Bob Marley was indeed a true Rastaman. So could someone please tell me, how in the world could I deduce or even dare ask the question if Bob Marley confessed Jesus Christ? CLICK HERE to read more

Bob Dylan: Slow Train Coming Review

Dylan’s first overtly Christian album is about the coming Great and Terrible Day of the Lord. Here’s my summary of the philosophy of each song. CLICK HERE to read more

Israel - Neighborhood Bully by Bob Dylan

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UN complicty in the massacre 'How many times can a man turn his head and pretend he just doesn't see' - Bob Dylan

The line from Bob Dylan's immortal song 'Blowin' in the Wind' made famous by legends like Stevie Wonder and the trio Peter, Paul and Mary and himself among others takes on a new and poignant relevancy in the context of Israel's vicious attacks on the Palestinians in Gaza. CLICK HERE to read more

songs for the journey: Bob Dylan- Saved

I fear I've been duped. Actually I'm a little annoyed because I was stupid enough to listen to others without checking it out myself - I should have known better than that. The word 'out there' was that Saved - one of only 3 Dylan albums I don't have (others are Knocked Out Loaded and Down in the Groove) - was a terrible album. I'd heard it wasn't worthy of the great man, it was far too full of evangelical zeal to bear listening to - simply it was as bad as Self Portrait and I already knew that was a disaster. So I never bothered with it. CLICK HERE to read more

Bob Dylan and the Feminine

I posted this on Sophie’s Ladder as well. It’s a review of three of Dylan’s love songs. I think they can be instructive as to our relationship with God. I encourage you to read the lyrics and listen to the songs. As you do, think about your relationship with God and how it’s so similar to the relationship between man and woman: CLICK HERE to read more

Christmas With Dylan A true-life pilgrimage

It was a few days before Christmas 1968, and my family had gathered. The living room was filled with the intense, clean, resinous smell of the tree. Once we had it hoisted into place, we set about the bristly business of decorating. I was 20, and my mind was full of music. Withdrawing to the sofa, I thought: Bob Dylan wouldn't be caught dead doing this. Click HERE to read more

Hanukkah Receives Kosher Pop Welcome

Matisyahu deployed what may be the only large, mirrored, rotating dreidel in show business — a Jewish answer to a disco ball — at Webster Hall on Sunday night, the first night of Hanukkah. It was also the first of eight New York City shows for Matisyahu in his third annual Festival of Lights series, bringing different opening acts and guests each night. A large menorah was set up for a mid-concert lighting ceremony, with the blessings declaimed in Hebrew by an audience volunteer. CLICK HERE to read more

This Hallelujah chorus is far from festive

AGED ZEN BUDDHIST JEW composes Christmas smash: who said pop music was lost to irony? Venerable bohemian Canadian poet-monk gets his first (and no doubt last) number one, moreover, thanks to a TV talent show and a young performer who plainly has not a single clue what she is singing. Just as well, really. Leonard Cohen, were he to bother to comment, would no doubt judge all this to be droll. CLICK HERE to read more

The Biblical origins of Bob Dylan's IT'S ALRIGHT MA (I'm Only Bleeding)

In Ecclesiastes, King Solomon explains what he set out to accomplish thusly:

"I applied my mind to seek and probe by wisdom all that happens beneath the sky. I have seen all the deeds done beneath the sun, and behold all is futile." CLICK HERE to read more

Bob Dylan: A Messianic Jew (2007)

The background (or "wallpaper") on my computer's desktop screen is a blurry picture of a man in desperate need of a haircut, wearing tefillin. People often say, "Cool picture, but who is that?" When I tell that it's Bob Dylan at the Western Wall attending his son's bar mitzvah, I get a mix of reactions that range from "I didn't know he was Jewish" to "Who's Bob Dylan?" CLICK HERE to read more

Articles of Faith: Good karma for Cohen

Hallelujah, written by Leonard Cohen, is heading to be the Christmas number one after Alexandra Burke won X-Factor with it. Times writer Alan Franks, who met the legendary Canadian songwriter soon after he ended his retreat as a Buddhist monk, analyses the song's spiritual significance in an exclusive article for this blog. Watch a video of the Alexandra's Hallelujah below. There is a good discussion going about Hallelujah and X-Factor on the forums at Leonard Cohen's own site. CLICK HERE to read more

Your Favorite Cross-Over Song

I recently did a rare thing of preaching through a song (for more, see post "Singing vs. Preaching"). The scripture reading was Romans 8:31-39 ("...nothing can separate us from the love of God..."). And for the sermon I sang the Bob Dylan (as popularized by Garth Brooks) song "To Make You Feel My Love." As I sang, I had images on the screen of Jesus carrying the cross ("I'd go hungry, I'd go black and blue / I'd go crawling down the avenue, / there's nothing that I wouldn't do / to make you feel my love"), walking on the water, and of course, being crucified. You get the idea. CLICK HERE to read more

"In the time of my confession", Memory, prayer and religious roots in the music of Bob Dylan, with Dr Malcolm Guite

Oh the streets of Rome, are filled with rubble,
Ancient footprints are everywhere
You could almost think that you’re seeing double
On a cold dark night on the Spanish stair

This beautiful vignette from When I paint my masterpiece, written in 1971 shows us how aware bob Dylan is of the layering of time, of the latent memories in place and in language, the ways in which poetry can enhance awareness, and deepen vision, especially if we become alert, as he is, to the power of memory. CLICK HERE to read more

GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY: The Gospel Songs Of Bob Dylan. Directed By Michael Borofsky. Image Entertainment.

When Bob Dylan "went religious" in 1979, many of his fans were lost, incredulous -- rabid with ire; I imagine in their minds they just couldn’t understand how the media-proclaimed prophet of the 60s could abandon them. Yet, because of their own naked prejudices, they missed some of the most passionate, bare-boned music Dylan has ever made. CLICK HERE to read more

Odetta, Voice of Civil Rights Movement, Dies at 77

Bob Dylan, referring to that recording, said in a 1978 interview, “The first thing that turned me on to folk singing was Odetta.” He said he heard something “vital and personal,” and added, “I learned all the songs on that record.” It was her first, and the songs were “Mule Skinner,” “Jack of Diamonds,” “Water Boy,” “ ’Buked and Scorned.” CLICK HERE to read more

Saving Grace--song by Bob Dylan

I remember friends getting me to listen to Bob Dylan's gospel music. It was new and old at the same time, I was thinking as the borrowed tapes copied from albums played over my headphones. Dylan was different but I couldn't figure out how. He almost reminded me of the old gospel programs on television in the 60's, mixed with the intelligence of the Psalms of the Bible and the depth of the hymns. As quickly as I was introduced to his music, it quickly disappeared. I couldn't find it in the record store nor the Christian bookstore. It seemed as though no one--secular or inspired--liked him at all. CLICK HERE to read more

BRAND NEW ARRANGEMENT OF GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY

Bob Dylan kicks off his final performance of his current tour with a rousing new version ofGotta Serve Somebody (hit track on his first Gospel album, Slow Train Comin') on Friday night in New York City.   CLICK HERE to read and hear more