Every Grain of Sand-The influence of Christianity in Bob Dylan’s Lyrics / Durjoy Choudhury

In a many dark hour
I’ve been thinkin’ about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can’t think for you
You’ll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side.

—Bob Dylan from “With God on Our Side”

Bob Dylan has been influenced by the holy Scriptures of Christianity, the Old and the New Testaments, not only in the above-mentioned verse from “With God on Our Side” which appeared in the 1964 album, ‘Times They Are A-Changin’, but over and over again. However, the fact remains that he has always denied that his lyrics and poetry contained some kind of message, hidden deep beneath the subtle metaphors and allegories that he used. He is not a big interpreter of his own works. As a matter of fact, he did not like to interpret his lyrics nor did he want anyone else to do so. At a press conference, once, when asked whether his songs held a subtle and an obvious message,^[1] he blatantly denied about any such leanings, saying that he just wrote them without trying to prove anything else. He also felt that his works would always be misinterpreted. In one of his poems, “Advice for Geraldine on her Miscellaneous Birthday”, he states:

do Not create anything.
it will be misinterpreted.
it will not change.
it will follow you the rest of your life.
when asked what you do for a living say you laugh for
a living.

Regardless of this fear-psychosis, Bob Dylan has created over 600 ‘somethings’, which were subject to interpretations and misinterpretations by scholars and critics, all over the world for more than 45 years. His lyrics are subjected to so much dissection that several universities, across the world, offer different courses on ‘Dylanology’.

Robert Allan Zimmerman, a.k.a. Bob Dylan was born in Duluth, on May 24, 1941 in a Jewish family; grew up in Hibbing, Minnesota, a mining town; entered the University of Minnesota, in Minneapolis, in the spring of 1960; and left it in the autumn of the same year and decided to visit Woody Guthrie at the Greystone Hospital, in New Jersey.

After moving to New York and kick-starting his career as a folk-singer with the release of his first album, Bob Dylan (1962), followed by The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963) and The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964), Dylan was ever changing in terms of forms of music, lyrics and philosophies.

With the release of his 1964 album, Another Side of Bob Dylan followed by Bringing It All Back Home (1965), Highway 61 Revisited (1965) and Blonde on Blonde (1966), Dylan marked the end of his folk-singing career, only to transform himself into a rock ‘n’ roll artist. He once stated, “If you’re a folk-singer or a Christian, then rock ‘n’ roll is the Devil…”

It was as if, Bob Dylan did not like to look back at his past. He does not discuss his parents, preferring to let his songs tell whatever he wants to say about his personal history. In one of his interviews to Nat Hentoff, he said, “My background’s not all that important though. It’s what I’m doing’ now that counts.”^[2]

In the January of 1979, two pastors of the Vineyard Fellowship in California spoke to Dylan. In February 1979, he was converted into a Christian and was baptised. The following years saw the release of three gospel albums, Slow Train Coming (1979), Saved (1980) and Shot of Love (1981).

In 1983 he joined an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect, Lubavitcher Hasidim. There has been some debate as to whether or not Dylan is still a Christian. James W. Earl once stated: “Those who follow Dylan primarily through rumour or the press often ask if he hasn’t gone back to being a Jew, but the question is wrong. After the first flush of his rebirth he rediscovered and reabsorbed his Jewishness in new and personal ways.”^[3]

Certainly, Dylan’s album Infidels (1983) is heavily influenced by the Hebrew Scriptures and a Jewish view of the world, but it is also impossible to begin to interpret some of the songs on it, like “Sweetheart Like You” and “Jokerman” outside of a Christian context. As a matter of fact, he opened his 1987 concert tour with the following words:

“I’m gonna sing a song about my hero. Everybody’s got their own hero. I don’t know who your hero is, maybe Mel Gibson…maybe for some people it’s Michael Jackson…or Bruce Springsteen… Anyway, I don’t care nothing about none of those people. I have my own hero. I’m gonna sing about my hero now.”^[4]

He then performs the song, “In the Garden” from the album Saved (1980).

Whatever Dylan’s religious beliefs may or may not be, the fact remains that the Bible, both the Old and the New Testaments has always left a deep-rooted influence in his lyrics and still continues to do so. Dylan who was once termed as ‘Judas!’ by a heckler at a concert at the Albert Hall London, England, 1966,^[5] has used connotations, allegories, influences and contradictions of biblical characters and events in a number of his songs, ranging from “Masters of War” from the album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963) to “Jokerman” from Infidels (1983) or “Things Have Changed” from the original soundtrack of the film, Wonderboys (2000). He has not hesitated for a single moment to accept or criticise Christian characters, myths and events, disregarding his religious beliefs and philosophy.

It is however, my personal belief that, it is impossible to conduct a close study of Bob Dylan’s lyrics without a close reading of the holy books of Christianity.

The Influences from the “Old Testament”

The fact that Bob Dylan has been deeply influenced by the chain of incidents from the ‘Old Testament’ is quite clear in a number of his songs. References of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, Noah’s Ark, Abraham and Isaac, Journey of Moses etc, are quite common in his songs.

For instance, in the “Talking World War III Blues”, from the album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963), he refers to Adam and Eve, from the “Book of Genesis” of the Old Testament, in one of his verses:

Well I spied a girl and before she could leave
“Let’s go and play Adam and Eve”
I took her by the hand and my heart it was thumpin’
When she said, ‘Hey man, you crazy or sumpin’
You see what happened last time they started’

Bob Dylan referred to the Creation of Man from the Book of Genesis, of the Old Testament, where God created Man on the sixth day and then created a Woman [Eve] from the rib-bone of the Man [Adam].

In the Garden of Eden, the serpent convinced Eve to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge.

“It said unto Eve, “Ye shall surely not die: for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.”

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.” [Genesis]

The eyes of the Man and of the Woman and of their successors were opened since then and they knew about good and evil and everything followed after that. Men started to improvise with knowledge, from the discovery of fire and wheels to the invention of nuclear weapons of chemical dust. Men themselves had paved the way for their own destruction, the thousands of years of misery, sufferings, fear, jealousy and World Wars and the possibility of a Third World War. Dylan possibly suggested the destruction of the human race after the Third World War and its regeneration, through this subtle biblical connotation.

Bob Dylan also refers to the Garden of Eden in the song, “Gates of Eden” from the album Bringing It All Back Home (1965). According to the Bible, our fallen world (i.e. the world outside the Gates of Eden) is inhabited by the fallen angel, Satan, who is the “cowboy angel” of the introductory stanza:

Of War and Peace the truth just twists Its curfew gull just glides
Upon four-legged forest clouds
The cowboy angel rides
With his candle lit into the sun
Though its glow is waxed in black
All except when ‘neath the trees of Eden.

These lines begin to make sense within the context of some verses from Ezekiel. In the first set of verses, the Lord speaks to ‘the King of Tyrus’, who is often thought to represent Satan.

When “neath the trees of Eden”, Satan was full of beauty and “brightness”, but now, cast down from heaven and outside the Gates of Eden, the glow of Satan’s candle is “waxed in black”. It is this dark side of Satan, which became his identity; we shall never know him as a cherub “with his candle lit into the sun.”

With a time-rusted compass blade
Aladdin and his lamp
Sits with Utopian hermit monks
Side saddle on the Golden Calf
And on their promises of paradise
You will not hear a laugh
All except inside the Gates of Eden.

In the world that we live in, all have succumbed to idolatry. Both the pagans (represented by Aladdin) and the Christians (represented by monks) sit upon “The Golden Calf”, the idolatrous object of the Israelite worship in the Book of Exodus (32: 4). This calf is also an object for worship in the Book of Kings I. Jeroboam set up a golden calf in Dan and another in Bethel for the northern tribes to worship because they could not go to the temple in Jerusalem. Likewise, mankind today can only worship an idol instead of, God Himself. Even those who make “promises of paradise” have little idea of true paradise, the Garden of Eden.

Dylan ends this song with “there are no truths outside the Gates of Eden” where he judges in a straight forward way that in this world, everything is a lie and this world itself is a hoax.

We find reference to Cain and Abel, the sons of Adam and Eve in “Every Grain of Sand” from the album Shot of Love (1981):

Don’t have the inclination to look back on any mistake
Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break
In the fury of the moment I can see the Master’s hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand.

Cain, “in fury of the moment” committed a crime, a sin, of killing his own kin, Abel, but did not “look back” or in other words did not repent for what he did. Here “the Master’s hand” is of course the hand of the Creator, God from whom Cain tried to escape…

The reference of Cain and Abel is also found in “Desolation Row” from the album Highway 61 Revisited (1965):

All except for Cain and Abel
And the hunchback of Notre Dame
Everybody is making love
Or else expecting rain…

This is rather a strange imagery that Dylan had created in the “Desolation Row”, bringing alive the medieval notion which the people from the subaltern class and the lower strata of life followed during the Dark Ages in Europe. When it used to rain, the people had hardly anything to do to keep themselves busy, hence they used to ‘make. love’ as an act to entertain themselves. The Church itself created a situation which forced the people of Europe, in the Middle Ages, to stay away from knowledge, as knowledge would lead to questions, and questions were something that the Church would not tolerate. In “Desolation Row”, Dylan also refers to “Noah’s great rainbow” from the Books of Genesis where he says:

And though her eyes are fixed upon
Noah’s great rainbow
She spends her time peeking
Into Desolation Row.

After the great flood had subsided from the face of the earth, all except Noah and his family and the creatures he had given shelter to in his ark had died and were washed away by the great flood. God realised that the ones he had created were the ones whom he had to punish for their own deeds, and He said to Noah: “I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.” [Genesis 9: 13]

The rainbow, as a matter of fact was the covenant between God and the earth which was set by God himself to prevent another great flood.

We also find reference to Noah’s Ark and the Great Flood in “Blowin’ in the Wind” from the album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963), which happens to be considered as one of the greatest anti-war songs of the 20th century.

Yes n’ how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?

The dove is a common symbol of peace, hence it can obviously symbolize “how long will men continue to war with one another?” But it may also allude to the Book of Genesis (8: 8): “Also [Noah] sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground: But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot…” The dove cannot rest— “sleep in the sand” because the consequence of man’s sin, the flood is still upon the earth. The sin according to Dylan in reference to “Blowin’ in the Wind” is obviously “war”, “discrimination”, “lynching” etc.; as a matter of fact this song took its birth in a period when movements like the Civil Rights Movements and the anti-war movements were being conducted in a massive scale all over the United States.

In another biblical reference from the Book of Genesis, Bob Dylan is possibly questioning the faithfulness of Abraham towards God from the story of Abraham and Isaac, The Book of Genesis, in the title song from the 1965 album, Highway 61 Revisited.

Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”
Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on”
God say, “No.” Abe say, “What?”
God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin’ you better run”
Well Abe says, “Where do you want this killin’ done?” God says, “Out on Highway 61.”

According to the Book of Genesis, God said to Abraham,

“take now thy son, thine only son, Isaac whom thou lovest and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of…

…The next day they prepared for the offerings and they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an alter there, laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the alter upon the wood. And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.

And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said, “Abraham, lay not thine hand upon thy lad, neither do though anything unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, Seeing that thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.”…” [Genesis]

In the story that one comes across in the holy scriptures of Christianity, it is said that in order to test the faithfulness of Abraham towards God and to see whether he can perform anything that God would ask him to perform, and to judge whether he still fears Him, God ordered Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. In the Book of Genesis, Abraham did not revolt against the demands of his Lord and say for a moment that he did not wish to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Bob Dylan in his song, “Highway 61 Revisited”, however makes a mockery of this scene, where God had to threaten Abraham in order to make him follow Him, just like the way this ‘Political World’ functions, where a super power threatens small powers and force them to join their side.

The “Highway 61” has been chosen by Bob Dylan as the theme of this song which is of course the highway that runs 1,4000 miles, all the way from Wyoming, Minnesota to New Orleans, Louisiana, near the Gulf of Mexico.

In the song “When the Ship Comes In” from the album, The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964), he speaks about Moses’ passage through the Red Sea and also David’s conquest of Goliath in the concluding stanza:

…And like Pharaoh’s tribe
They’ll be drowned in the tide
And like Goliath, they’ll be conquered.

According to the Old Testament, “By faith [The Israelites] passed through the Red sea as on dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned.” (Hebrews 11: 29).

Again, the story of David’s Conquest of Goliath was described as; Goliath is conquered by faith more than skill, laid low by a representative of “the armies of the Lord.”

This song was however written and composed by Bob Dylan overnight when he was not granted admission into a hotel, when Joan Baez came to his rescue to get him a room at the same.^[6]

Bob Dylan incorporated the visions taken from the Old Testament in his songs which created a revolution in the music industry of the 1960s and the 70s and which projected him as one of the greatest songwriters of all times. Behind his lyrics, lay subtle metaphors and allegories that bridged contemporary social politics with that of ancient times. He would often refer to the incidents and characters taken from the Old Testament to describe something that was quite contemporary to his times without ever being archaic in terms of thinking and style of writing.

The Influences from the “New Testament”

Bob Dylan has taken ideas, drew images and came up with new interpretations of some of the characters, incidents and connotations from the New Testament of the Bible. Dylan has depicted Jesus of Nazareth, Judas Iscariot, John the Baptist and others in his songs incorporating them with unconventional imagery, surrealist thought and post-structural labelling. From time to time Dylan has drawn a parallel, symbolising Jesus Christ with ‘Truth’ and Judas Iscariot with ‘Betrayal’, which are nothing but conventional symbolisms.

In one of his early songs, “Long Ago, Far Away”, in the introductory stanza, Bob Dylan states:

And to talk of peace and brotherhood,
Oh, what might be the cost!
A man he did it long ago
And they hung him on a cross.
Long ago, far away;
These things don’t happen
No more, nowadays.

It is an obvious reference to the Crucifixion of Christ, “Jesus was crucified on Golgatha, which means the place of the Skull” [Mark 15: 22]. Dylan seems to be denying the optimism of moral progressives, who believe that man has advanced morally with time, in this song. We may look back upon crucifixion, the Roman gladiators, and slavery and conclude that we have advanced morally because “Things like that don’t happen/No more nowadays.” But Dylan asks, with a tone of doubt, ‘Do they?’ Though the human kind has moved away from barbarism like slavery, crucifixion, gladiator fights, but they now have different dimensions to describe the word, ‘barbarism’. ‘Slavery’ has been replaced by ‘Exploitation of the human labour’; ‘Crucifixion’ by the ‘Electric Chair’ or the ‘Firing Squad’; ‘Gladiator fights’ by ‘Boxing’ and ‘Wrestling’ matches, though the loser does not have to die each time. Furthermore, we have ‘World Wars’, ‘Nuclear Weapons of mass destruction’, etc. But still “Things like that don’t happen / No more nowadays.”

Dylan has gone back to the imagery of the Crucifixion of Christ several times in his writings. In “Idiot Wind”, from the album Blood on the Tracks (1975), for instance he again refers to it as:

There’s a lone soldier on the cross,
Smoke pourin’ out of a boxcar door,
You didn’t know it, you didn’t think it could be done,
in the final end he won the wars
After losin’ every battle.

The “lone soldier on the cross” is of course referred to Jesus Christ, who “in the final end he won the wars” or rather whose philosophy won the final war, and was established all over the world. Christianity, based on Jesus’ preaching is perhaps the religion with the maximum number of followers in the world, at present. Even in the song “When You Gonna Wake Up?” from the album Slow Train Coming (1979). Dylan uses the same connotation of Jesus’ Crucifixion:

There’s Man up on a cross and He’s been crucified.
Do you have any idea why or for who He died?

Bob Dylan has gone back to the reference of Jesus Christ, over and over again in his songs, much before he was baptised and converted into Christianity. For instance, in his major hit, “Shelter from the Storm” from the album Blood on the Tracks (1974), in one of the stanzas he has portrayed himself as Jesus Christ of Nazareth when he says:

Suddenly I turned around and she was standin’ there
With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair.
She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns.
“Come in,” she said,
“I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”

The “Crown of thorns” obviously refers to the “crown of thorns” of Jesus Christ which was dressed on His head before crucifixion. “Jesus was mocked by the soldiers as they dressed Him in a purple robe and a crown of thorns” [John 19: 1-3]. Bob Dylan has also related to some preaching of Jesus Christ in his songs. example is “Desolation Row”, from the album Highway 61 Revisited (1975), where he talks about the “The Good Samaritan”:

And the Good Samaritan, he’s dressing
He’s getting ready for the show

“And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise, a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.” [Luke 10: 30-35].

Perhaps, Bob Dylan’s favourite use of metaphor to denote ‘betrayal’ is Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, who is conventionally believed to have ‘betrayed Christ after the “Last Supper” in the ‘Garden of Gethsemane’ (Sometimes referred to as the ‘Garden of Tears’ by some hymn writers) and leads directly to the arrest of Christ by the army of the Sanhedrin, a Jewish judicial body. Jesus was then put on trial by Jewish authorities to determine whether his guilt, in their eyes, justified handing him over to the Roman Government Pontius Pilate with their request that the Roman Empire put Jesus to death on popular demand from the people.

Perhaps Jesus Christ knew from beforehand, what he was about to face.

“And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these sayings, he said unto his disciples, Ye know that after two days is the feast of the passover, and the Son of man is betrayed to be crucified. Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas, And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill Him. But they said, Not on the feast day, lest there be an uproar among the people.” [Matthew 26: 1-5].

This act of Judas Iscariot led to the symbolisation of ‘Judas’ as the ideal case of betrayal for the centuries to come. His name started to denote ‘betrayal’ allegorically since the rise of Papal supremacy in Europe as a power structure.

Bob Dylan, himself hasn’t restrained himself in using this age-old metaphor to describe and denote ‘betrayal’. As early as 1963, he used this connotation perhaps for the first time, in a song called “Masters of War” from the album The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963) when he referred to Judas Iscariot in comparison with the military power structure of the world, or the real “Masters of War” as the Judas of the new generation who “Lie and deceive”:

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

Bob Dylan has also referred to Judas’ betrayal in the song “With God On Our Side” from the celebrated album The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964), where he portrayed God as a “Power-Structure”. He states:

In a many dark hour
I’ve been thinkin’ about this
That Jesus Christ
Was betrayed by a kiss
But I can’t think for you
You’ll have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot
Had God on his side.

Judas revealed Christ’s identity to his enemies with a kiss: “And while [Christ] yet spake, behold a multitude, and he that was called Judas, one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest though the Son of man with a kiss?” Dylan wanted to portray that whoever wins a war, has “God on his side”, some have actually thought that Judas did have God on his side, the Jewish judicial body and the Roman Empire. Some have even viewed Judas as having been given a task to betray Christ, so in this case he supposedly had God at his side literally. Just as each disciple had a role to play (just like, Peter would be the ‘rock’) so Judas was given his own role. He obeyed when Christ told him, “What thou doest, do quickly.” But eventually he hung himself in remorse because he had not wanted to play that part.

“The Holy Kiss” has been referred by Bob Dylan even in an unreleased song of his, “Love is Just a Four Letter Word”. This “holy Kiss” might denote the kiss of Judas Iscariot which ultimately turned as the kiss of betrayal for Jesus Christ.

“And he that betrayed him had given them a token, saying, whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he; take him, and lead him away safely. And as soon as he was come, he goeth straightway to him, and saith, Master, Master; and kissed him. And they laid their hands on him, and took him…” [Mark 14: 44-46].

After waking enough times to think I see
The holy Kiss that’s supposed to last eternity
Blow up in smoke, its destiny
Falls on strangers, travels free.

According to the Gospel of Mark, Judas has asked the ones who had come to arrest Jesus Christ to “lead him away safely” and according to the Gnostic Gospel, “Gospel of Judas”, which was later written down by his son, Benjamin Iscariot, states that Judas had not betrayed Jesus Christ, rather he was worried about him and wanted to help him from the Roman Empire and the Jew judicial body, Sanhedrin. It can be questioned ‘did Judas betray Jesus Christ or was he framed in the act?’ However the mystery is still unsolved, hence we can accept the traditional Christian belief that Judas has betrayed Jesus Christ and that the “holy Kiss that’s supposed to last eternity/Blow up in smoke, its destiny”, and Jesus was arrested and later crucified at Golgatha, the place of the Skull. It can well be said, owing to the common Christian belief that this “holy Kiss” of Judas Iscariot put Jesus Christ on the cross.

Judas was also referred to in the song “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest” from the album, John Wesley Harding (1968). The moral of the song as a whole is biblical in nature.

Bob Dylan has used imageries from the New Testament in an unconventional fashion incorporating surrealist visions, verses of protest and post-structural labelling in his songs much before he was converted into a Christian.

However, there are some songs which cannot be defined only by the Old Testament or the New Testament, but a close reading of both the Testaments. Songs like “Tombstone Blues” from the album Highway 61 Revisited (1965), “All Along the Watchtower” from John Wesley Harding (1968) or “Jokerman” from Infidels (1983) can only be explained with a clear idea of the books of the Bible belonging to both the Old and the New Testaments.

“Tombstone Blues”

This song from the album Highway 61 Revisited (1965) holds hidden visions from both the Old and the New Testament. References of “John, the Baptist” and “Samson and Delilah” are found in this song alongside other surrealist images and post-structural viewpoints.

Well John the Baptist after torturing a thief
Looks up at his hero the Commander-in-Chief
Saying, “Tell me great hero, but please make it brief
Is there a hole for me to get sick in?”

We all know who John, the Baptist is; he was the person to baptise Jesus Christ. According to the Gospels of Luke:

“For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John.” [Luke 7: 28-29].

He is indeed considered as one of the greatest prophets according to the Christian religion. We can find the baptism of Jesus Christ by John the Baptist, in the Gospels of Mark:

“John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins. And John was clothed with camel’s hair and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey; And preached, saying. There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan. And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying. Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased…” [Mark1: 4-11].

Yet, we do not understand very clearly what Dylan means by “torturing a thief” or whether Jesus Christ is portrayed as “the Commander-in-Chief”.

However, it seems that just like “Highway 61 Revisited” from the same album, Dylan has portrayed “John the Baptist” incorporating with some post-structural and unusual thoughts, which is clearly outside the Christian context. In another context Dylan has referred to some parts of the Old Testament:

The king of the Philistines his soldiers to save
Put jawbones on their tombstones and flatters their graves.

The reference of “jawbones” and “Philistines” can be found in the ‘Book of Judges’ from the Old Testament where “with a jaw bone of an ass, Samson slaughters a Thousand Philistines”.

The geometry of innocence flesh on the bone
Causes Gallileo’s math book to get thrown
At Delilah who sits worthlessly alone
But the tears on her cheeks are from laughter

Dylan has taken the idea of the second half of the stanza as stated above, from the Book of Judges, from the Old Testament, which states:

“And when Delilah saw that [Samson] had told her all his heart, she sent and called for the lords of the Philistines, saying, Come up this once…Then the lords of the Philistines came up unto her, and brought money in their hand, And she made [Samson] sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she cause him to shave off the seven locks of his head; and she began to afflict him, and his strength went from him. And she said, The Philistines be upon thee, Samson, And he awoke out of his sleep, and said, I will go out as at other times before, and shake myself. And he wilst not that the Lord was departed from him. But the Philistines took him, and put out his eyes, and brought him down to Gaza…” [Judges 16: 18-21].

“Jokerman”

“Jokerman” is perhaps one of the most enigmatic songs of Bob Dylan. It appeared in the 1983 album, Infidels. It has been argued by several critics that the “Jokerman” may represent Jesus Christ, an antichrist, or even Bob Dylan himself.

It may seem strange as to the connection of Jesus Christ as a ‘Joker’. John Henry has pointed out that in the deck of Tarot cards; the Creator is most often associated with the Joker (24). Dylan must have been conscious of this; he portrays his Jokerman with “A small dog licking [his] face”. Similarly, in the Tarot deck, “…the Joker is generally portrayed… with a small dog nipping at his leg”.^[7] Nor is this necessarily the first time Dylan has used a Joker figure to represent Christ. It may be argued that the Joker of “All Along the Watchtower” represents Christ, who, according to the Gospels of Luke (23), was crucified between two thieves: one which refused to “Talk falsely” and one which mocked Christ as though “life [were] but a joke”.

The song begins with connotations that lead to both Christian beliefs as well as some pagan beliefs and visions.

Standing on the waters casting your bread
While the eyes of the idol with the iron head are glowing,
Distant ships sailing into the mist.
You were born with a snake in both of your fists while a hurricane was blowing.
Freedom just around the corner for you
But with truth so far off, what good will it do?

Jesus Christ said He was “the bread of life” [Henry 1; John 6.48]. Hence the phrase “Standing on the waters casting your bread” can lead to the “Jokerman” being Jesus Christ. But phrases like “…eyes of the idol with the iron head…” or “You were born with a snake in both of your fists…” surely does give the introductory stanza a pagan outlook. Rather there is some relation with Greek mythology as well. When the Greek mythological figure Hercules was born, “Hera put two great snakes in [his] crib, hoping they would crush him to death. But the child used his superhuman strength and strangled the snakes”.^[8] The next stanza also leads to Christian connotations:

So swiftly the sun sets in the sky,
You rise up and say goodbye to no one.
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
Both of their futures, so full of dread, you don’t show one.
Shedding off one more layer of skin,
Keeping one step ahead of the persecutor within.

By the phrase “You rise up to say goodbye to no one…Dylan can mean to project the ‘Resurrection of Christ’. “When He is first resurrected, Christ sees no one. When the women enter the tomb, He is already gone. “Fear ye not,” an angel tells them, “for I know that ye seek Jesus…He is not here: for he is risen” [Matthew. 28: 5; Henry 6]. Jesus eventually does see His disciples again, and he does speak with them, but he “says goodbye to no one”. Instead, He says, “…and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” [Matthew 28. 20; Henry 7].

You’re a man of the mountains, you can walk on the clouds
Manipulator of crowds, you’re dream twister.
You’re going to Sodom and Gomorrah.
But what do you care? Ain’t nobody there would want to marry your sister.
Friend to the martyr, a friend to the woman of shame,
You look into the fiery furnace, see the rich man without any name.

Jokerman is further described as “a man of the mountains” who “can walk on the clouds” He’s a “manipulator of crowds” and “a dream twister”. Christ spent time in the mountains. A mountain was the sight of the Transfiguration. And the Bible says that “…when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed Him” [Matthew 8: 1; Henry 8]. In this one verse, Christ is associated with both the mountains and crowds. He was, in a sense, a manipulator of crowds. He intentionally spoke to the people in parables so that they would not understand the mysteries. He was revealing: “Therefore I speak to them in parables: because they seeing see not: and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand” (Matthew 13: 13). Christ is also a man of the clouds because “The Lord hath his way in the whirlwind and the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet” [Henry 8].

But the fact that the “Jokerman” has visited “Sodom and Gomorrah” somewhat contradicts with orthodox Christianity. “Sodom and Gomorrah” were the twin cities destroyed by God as they did not follow God, the Lord; or in other words, they were punished as they were ‘Pagans’. According to the Book of Genesis,

“And the Lord said [to Abraham], “Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know”…Lord said to Lot, “Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.

Lot escaped from Sodom and entered into Zoar. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.” [Genesis]

The next few lines deal straight with one of the holiest books of the Old Testament, “The Book of Leviticus” and “The Book of Deuteronomy”. The Book of Leviticus is the book which scripts the ‘Holiness Code’, a set of twenty-five rules which were provided by God as a teaching to Moses.

“This book was a manual for the use of the priestly tribe of Levi. A work of a priestly school of writers whose compilations covered about a century and a half-from the Captivity (597 BC) to the promulgation of the priest Ezra of his legislative code.

The law of Holiness (The keynote of which is “speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, ‘Ye shall be holy, for I the Lord Your God am holy’,”) is akin to Deuteronomy and shows the need of moral guidance in a social life that was becoming more highly organised. Much of the book is concerned with the minutia of ritual, though the detailed account of the observance of the Day of Atonement is of more than archaeological interest. It is used in the Epistle to the Hebrews for the purpose of an exposition of the work of Christ as the great High Priest…” ^[9]

“The Book of Deuteronomy (‘The Second Law’) has been described as ‘a book of national religion’…To Christ it was the most precious treasure of the Scriptures, and quotations from it are frequently on His lips.

Like other books of Hexateuch, Deuteronomy is a composite work and probably received its final form after the Exile. It consists mainly of a discourse attributed to Moses” ^[10]

Well, the Book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy,
The law of the jungle and the sea are your only teachers,
In the smoke of the twilight on a milk-white steed,
Michelangelo indeed could’ve carved out your features.
Resting in the fields, far from the turbulent space,
Half asleep near the stars with a small dog licking your face.

Though the books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy from the Old Testament are both holy books for the Christians, yet this stanza has a pagan undertone, with the words, “The law of the jungle and the sea…”.

Christ rides a white steed in Revelation: “heaven opened, and behold, a white horse; and he that sat upon was called faithful and true, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war…and his name is called The Word of God” [Revelation 19: 11-13]. Christ often retired to the desert or “fields” to pray and to escape the “turbulent crowds”. One example occurs in the Gospels of Mark, when Jesus tells His disciples, “Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while” [Mark 6: 31-32]. Christ could also be resting in the fields and half-sleeping “near the stars” because He is homeless: “…the foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests: but the son of man hath not where to lay his head” [Matthew 8: 20].

Finally, the concluding stanza basically portrays the ‘birth of the prince (son of God), Jesus Christ who would “Take the motherless children off the street…”.

It’s a shadowy world, skies are slippery grey,
A woman just gave birth to a prince today and dressed him in scarlet,
He’ll put the priest in his pocket, put the blade to the heat,
Take the motherless children off the street
And place them at the feet of a harlot.
Oh, Jokerman, you know what he wants,

It can be concluded that Bob Dylan’s lyrics has an undertone of messages which leads one directly to the incidents of the Old and the New Testaments, if one wants to have a clearer idea of the background of his lyrics and poetry. Bob Dylan had created a revolution in the music industry in the 1960s and the 70s in terms of poetic ideas and visions.

He has successfully created an amalgamation of ‘Contemporary Social Politics’ and ‘Medieval Christian Beliefs’. All through his musical career, he has written poetry with hidden connotations and allegories that would lead the audience to a historical time and space, which is lost deep beneath the sands of time.

However, it was an effort on my part to portray Dylan’s lyrics containing hidden Cathedral allegories and connotations, overlooking the ones that are ‘Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan’ and labelled as ‘Orthodox Christian Religious Songs’.

Note:

1. “No Direction Home: Bob Dylan”; dir. Martin Scorsese.

2. Hentoff, Nat; “The Crackin’, Shakin’ Breakin’ Sounds”, October 24, 1964, The New Yorker.

3. Earl, James W.; “Beyond Desire: The Conversion of Bob Dylan”, pp. 53-54, 1988.

4. Ibid, pp. 48-49, 1988.

5. “No Direction Home: Bob Dylan”; dir. Martin Scorsese.

6. Ibid

7. Henry, John. “Links of Jokerman and Scripture.” 5 September 1999.

8. Wilkinson, Philip. “DK Illustrated Dictionary of Mythology”. New York: DK Publishing, 1998.

9. The Book of Leviticus, “The Bible: Designed to be read as Literature”—ed. and arranged by Ernest Sutherland Bates.

10. The Book of Deuteronomy, “The Bible: Designed to be read as Literature”—ed. and arranged by Ernest Sutherland Bates.

References of songs and poetry of Bob Dylan (alphabetically):

“Advice For Geraldine On Her Miscellaneous Birthday”; Lyrics 1962-1985; Alfred A. Knopf; New York, 1985.

Interviews:

Hentoff, Nat. “The Crackin’, Shakin’, Breakin’, Sounds”. The New Yorker. October 24, 1964

Shelton, Robert, From “No Direction Home”, March 1966.

Reference and Bibliography:

“Dylan On Dylan: Essential Interviews”; Ed. By Jonathan Cott; Hodder & Stoughton Ltd. London, 2006

Ricks, Christopher. “Dylan’s Visions Of Sin”; Pub. Harper Collins Pub. New York. 2003

Dylan, Bob. “Lyrics 1962-1985”; Ed. By Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 1987

Dylan, Bob, “1962-2001 Lyrics”; Pub. Simon and Schuster UK Ltd. London. 2004

Earl, James W. “Beyond Desire; The Conversion of Bob Dylan”. University of Harrford Studies In Literature. 20.2. 1988

Henry, John. “Links of Jokerman and Scripture”. September 05, 1999.

<http://funnelweb.utcc.utk.edu/~wparr/henryjokerman.html>

“The King James Bible”

“The NIV Study Bible”. Ed. Kenneth Barker. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1995.

“The Bible: Designed to be read as Literature”. Ed. And Arr. By Ernest Sutherland Bates Pub. William Heinemann Ltd. London.

“The New Testament: Psalms”. Pub. The Giddeons International. London.

“The Gospel According to Judas-Benjamin Iscariot”. Ed. by Jeffrey Archer and Francis J. Moloney. Pub. St. Martin’s Press. 2007

Documentaries:

“No Direction Home: Bob Dylan”; dir. Martin Scorsese; Copyright^©International Film Finance Ltd, Educational Broadcasting Corp, Grey Water Park Production, Inc.

Cover Image Courtesy: pinterest.com