Gospel Bob

For those of you who don't know, Bob Dylan used to be 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 (as recorded on Gotta Serve Somebody, and subsequent albums), 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 as recently as 2001's Love and Theft, which "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.

Dylan's top 10 gospel 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? They must been blinded or something.

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.

5. "Saved" Bass, tambourines, gospel singers, guitar, and piano. This song has it all. It's about Dylan's joy that God gave him salvation.

6. "Pressing On" As the title states it's about "pressing on" ... "keep-on keeping on" when you don't feel like you 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

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, but they have 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 reminiscent 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 bride, 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.

Originally posted at: www.theundergroundsite.com