Does Bob Dylan still have Christian Faith?
On November 3rd, a large selection of Bob Dylan’s ‘gospel period’ is finally getting released as a part of the Bootleg Series. I hope someone asks Mr. Zimmerman if he still holds the faith unabashedly expressed in these songs? These songs go far beyond the depth of anything you’ll hear on contemporary Christian radio…Here’s a selection in a playlist/video:
Well, I’m hangin’ on to a solid rock
Made before the foundation of the world
And I won’t let go, and I can’t let go, won’t let go
And I can’t let go, won’t let go and I can’t let go no more
For me He was chastised, for me He was hated
For me He was rejected by a world that He created
Nations are angry, cursed are some
People are expecting a false peace to come
Well, I’m hangin’ on to a solid rock
Made before the foundation of the world
And I won’t let go and I can’t let go, won’t let go
And I can’t let go, won’t let go and I can’t let go no more
It’s the ways of the flesh to war against the spirit
Twenty-four hours a day you can feel it and you can hear it
Using all the devices under the sun
And He never give up ’til the battle’s lost or won
Well, I’m hangin’ on to a solid rock
Made before the foundation of the world
And I won’t let go and I can’t let go, won’t let go
And I can’t let go, won’t let go and I can’t let go no more
Hear over an hour of the upcoming release here.
The following is not the version included on the new release, you can find that at the link above, but it’s a good example of this work…and it’s a video.
I Ain’t Gonna Go to Hell for Anybody
I can manipulate people as well as anybody.
Hold ’em and control ’em, squeeze ’em and tease ’em.
I can make believe I’m in love with almost anybody.
Force ’em and burn ’em, twist ’em and turn ’em.
All that satisfies the fleshy needs.
I’ve been down that road, I know what it needs.
But I ain’t gonna go to hell for anybody.
I ain’t gonna go to hell for anybody.
I ain’t gonna go to hell for anybody.
Not today, not tonight, not tomorrow, no never, no way!
I can persuade people as well as anybody.
I got the vision, but it caused division.
I can twist the truth as well as anybody.
I know how to do it, I’ve been all the way through it.
But it don’t suit my purpose and it ain’t my goal
to gain the whole world, but give up my soul.
Chorus.
I can twist the truth around as well as anybody.
Wine ’em and dine ’em, fool ’em and rule ’em.
I can rob and steal from people as well as anybody.
I know how to do it, but it don’t suit my purpose and it ain’t my goal
to gain the whole world but give up my soul.
Smoke arises for ever, on a one-way ticket to burn.
A place reserved for the devil
and for all those that done evil.
A place of darkness and shame, you can never return.
I can influence people as well as anybody.
I can cause division, can cause division.
I can mislead people as well as anybody.
Burn ’em and roll ’em, rob ’em and hold ’em.
Won’t get my story in tricks or cards.
I can see through man’s delusions, I can see through his facades.
I can write and steal from people as well as anybody.
Know all the devices, paid a lot of prices,
I can influence people as well as anybody.
Go right up to ’em, I know how to do ’em.
Don’t need to depend on tricks or on cards.
I can see through man’s delusions, I can see through his facades.
But I ain’t gonna go to hell for anybody,
I ain’t gonna go to hell for anybody.
I ain’t gonna go to hell for anybody.
Not today, not tonight, not tomorrow, no never, no way!
Slow Train