"NEVER COULD LEARN TO DRINK THAT BLOOD"

The gospels according to Bob Dylan (DAVID MENCONI, May 12, 2003, Raleigh News & Observer)

"It's probably one of the most consistent themes of Dylan's career, his relationship with a higher power," says Jeffrey Gaskill, executive producer of the new multiple-artist tribute album, Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan (Columbia Records).

Still, nothing could have prepared the faithful for Dylan's sudden metamorphosis in 1979. With that year's Slow Train Coming, the one-time master of the counterculture emerged as a Bible-toting, fire-and-brimstone believer telling his fans: The end was coming and they'd better get right with God.

To many fans' dismay, Dylan's concerts turned into sermons in which he played only his new religious songs like "When You Gonna Wake Up," "When He Returns" and "I Believe in You."

"A lot of his fans were repulsed by the religiosity," says producer Jerry Wexler, who worked on two of Dylan's gospel albums. "There was all kinds of trouble and hell-raising. But ('Slow Train Coming') has withstood the test of time and is a great record."

In retrospect, "Slow Train Coming" sounds like full-on Southern gospel-soul. Its songs sound even more so on the "Gotta Serve Somebody" tribute, as covered by the Fairfield Four, Chicago Mass Choir, Aaron Neville and Sounds of Blackness.

In the early 1980s, Dylan moved on from his preachy phase. Secular songs returned to his onstage set list, and to his 1983 album "Infidels." But that album also had plenty of religious references, plus a picture on the sleeve of Dylan touching the ground on a hill overlooking Jerusalem.

The Bible continued to be a source for his lyrics, too. In the 1992 book "The Bible in the Lyrics of Bob Dylan," author Bert Cartwright finds scriptural references in 67 of the 88 songs Dylan recorded and released between 1979 and 1990. There are more recent examples, too.

"If the Bible is right, the world will explode," Dylan sang in his Oscar-winning 2000 song "Things Have Changed." Dylan's most recent album, 2001's "Love and Theft," also packed ample fire and brimstone.

At the same time, Dylan has remained connected to the Jewish heritage he grew up with. He played at a 1997 charity benefit for the Simon Wiesenthal Center and has actively supported other Jewish causes.

"Dylan has been accused of spiritual schizophrenia," Marshall says.

"Why was he supporting Orthodox Jewish causes at the same time he was singing 'Gotta Serve Somebody'? But he seems to have no problem embracing contradictory things, like his Jewish heritage and a belief in Jesus."

"Gotta Serve Somebody" is another case in point. Not only did Dylan give the project his blessing, but he chose to participate by dueting with Mavis Staples on "Gonna Change My Way of Thinking." It's hard to imagine he would do that if he didn't retain at least a vestige of his Christian faith.

Not sure what it all means, but I've always thought this song, from Empire Burlesque particularly lovely:

Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love)

Well, I had to move fast

And I couldn't with you around my neck.

I said I'd send for you and I did

What did you expect?

My hands are sweating

And we haven't even started yet.

I'll go along with the charade

Until I can think my way out.

I know it was all a big joke

Whatever it was about.

Someday maybe

I'll remember to forget.

I'm gonna get my coat,

I feel the breath of a storm.

There's something I've got to do tonight,

You go inside and stay warm.

Has anybody seen my love,

Has anybody seen my love,

Has anybody seen my love.

I don't know,

Has anybody seen my love?

You want to talk to me,

Go ahead and talk.

Whatever you got to say to me

Won't come as any shock.

I must be guilty of something,

You just whisper it into my ear.

Madame Butterfly

She lulled me to sleep,

In a town without pity

Where the water runs deep.

She said, "Be easy, baby,

There ain't nothin' worth stealin' in here."

You're the one I've been looking for,

You're the one that's got the key.

But I can't figure out whether I'm too good for you

Or you're too good for me.

Has anybody seen my love,

Has anybody seen my love,

Has anybody seen my love.

I don't know,

Has anybody seen my love?

Well, they're not showing any lights tonight

And there's no moon.

There's just a hot-blooded singer

Singing "Memphis in June,"

While they're beatin' the devil out of a guy

Who's wearing a powder-blue wig.

Later he'll be shot

For resisting arrest,

I can still hear his voice crying

In the wilderness.

What looks large from a distance,

Close up ain't never that big.

Never could learn to drink that blood

And call it wine,

Never could learn to hold you, love,

And call you mine.

Posted by Orrin Judd at May 17, 2003 6:28 AM