Father Barron and Bob Dylan! Well he's now won the Noble Prize. I absolutely agree with Fr.Barron! Excellent! By the way, I have it on VERY good authority that Dylan STILL is Christian.
Seems like he is given various statements he has made, though he's rather circumspect about it. If he's not, he at least takes a lot from Christianity in his work, as well as from Judaism.
Great video! I love his Christian albums too.. which mysteriously aren’t referenced in his Wikipedia page. Check out “property of Jesus”, “Jokerman” and “when you gonna wake up”. It’s all there; great music. He continues to move ahead of the horde. He is beyond cool.
@cityofimmigrants Oh I think that's too easy. Do you really think that "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands," "Desolation Row," "Tangled Up in Blue," "When He Returns," "Not Dark Yet," and "Sugar Baby" don't have a pretty profound depth of meaning?
I think it's odd that so many people don't want Dylan to be in any way connected to the Judeo-Christian tradition. I think it's interesting that Dylan himself eventually became a very outspoken Christian (although he has had a tough time of it), as if that conversion came out of nowhere, and he gave us no hints in his previous work of the direction he was going.
More to it, Bob Dylan sang Blowin' in the Wind for Pope John Paul II at a Eucharistic Congress in Bologna. I doubt he would have done this had he considered the song a paeon to agnosticism!
@littleRayRay306 I know that people are saying this on the basis of the 60 Minutes interview, but I have to admit that your take on the interview utterly puzzles me. In line with his instincts throughout his career, Dylan was saying that he was following the command of God, whom he called "the chief commander both in this world and in the world you cannot see." How you conclude that he was talking about the devil is beyond me.
@J T granted everything you're saying is true , do you think Jesus would be proud of you for saying this?, even Paul was happy the gospel was being preached regardless of people's motivations , Bishop Barron is still preaching the gospel , and I don't know why someone would seek their soul just to get bigger and preach the gospel. And the way you came to the conclusion is faulty anyway accusing someone of selling their soul to the devil is a hefty accusation to make going off a "shit eating grin" isn't anyway to determine that. But going off this comment I don't think I'm getting any type of reasonable answer back
Thanks for that balanced response! Man, what the heck makes you so cock-sure? Did Bob Dylan tell you what his songs mean? Religious concerns are evident in Dylan's songs from the very beginning. You might be an agnostic, but Bob Dylan sure isn't!
Everything? Heck, I've reviewed a handful of movies and songs! Out of hundreds of thousands of cultural offerings, I've noticed biblical motifs in a few. This is stretching?
@emmeuly Oh come on, friend. Put that one quote from 1965 (which I've never seen before) up against the whole corpus of Dylan's work and tell me that he's not deeply and abidingly religioius.
Friend, you're not looking nearly hard enough. Biblical themes run through Bob Dylan's work from beginning to end. There is absolutely no warrant for a Biblical reading of "Wind Beneath My Wings," but there is a huge warrant for such a reading of Dylan's work.
I discovered Bob Dylan probably at the age of 13 which would be in the early '80s with his album "Slow Train Coming", but I would have to say one of my most favorite songs of Dylan's has got to be "With God on Our Side" just because of the fact that it's not really a song about God but of Man's stupidity of creating so many wars thinking that God is on each of their side when in reality God was probably just shaking His head at each war while thinking when are they going to learn? I do agree with you when you say that Dylan uses the Bible throughout a lot of his songs, it's just that he has a distinct way of getting his message across. His album "Slow Train Coming" I think is one of his best albums that really shows the emphasis on God.
Totally underrated album SOLELY because critics were mad he became a Christian. I'm an atheist myself, but Slow Train Coming is a great album and you don't need to be religious to appreciate it.
Friend, that's way too facile. There is simply no way to miss the Biblical motifs, themes, concepts, and language from beginning to end of Dylan's career. This is not "pious eisegesis." It is an honest, objective reading. And just listen to Dylan's own interviews in the course of many decades. His religious interest is unmissable.
@Balzo93 Oh I completely disagree with you here. Blowin the Wind, A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall, When the Ship Comes In, Mr. Tambourine Man, Like a Rolling Stone, All Along the Watchtower, etc., etc. are dripping with Biblical themes. And I wouldn't read that line from It's Alright Ma as anti-religious at all. He's bemoaning the fact that our society is holding nothing truly sacred.
I agree with you in regard to his elusiveness and ambiguity. But those same qualities can be found in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Paul, and Jesus. Authentic religious people rarely speak in straightforward, univocal categories.
I've always loved Bob Dylan's music/poetry, but you threw a light on the spiritual element of his songs that I only dimly grasped previously. Excellent analysis and thank you!
@manwithouthat44 Oh, so Bob Dylan told you! Friend, Bible story after Bible story tell the tale of people being stripped of their attachments in order to live in freedom. That's the basic template of "Like a Rolling Stone."
"You used to be so amused at Napoleon in rags and the language that he used-go to him now he calls you, you can't refuse- when you've got nothing you got nothing to lose-You're invisible now; you've got no secrets to conceal" This obscure and often debated lyric-concerning the person ( the "you" of the song) addressed-if viewed from the perspective of Dylan's history of Biblical allusions suggests that "Napolean in rags" is Jesus of Nazareth. Doubtless Mr. Dylan was aware that Napoleon spoke of his own empire and stated that he, like Alexander the Great, Caesar, Charlemagne founded empires "upon force" but that Jesus-whom he calls no mere man- founded his empire upon love and "at this hour millions of men would die for him." It could easily be surmised that Dylan also knew of Philip Schaff's quote: "Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander the Great, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon..." [and that his] "words of life [the language of the 'Napoleon in rags' that ammused the unknown "you' in Dylan's song] produced effects ... and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times." Finally, H.G. Wells wrote as an unbeliever about this "penniless preacher" (Napoleon in rags): "I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth...Jesus Christ is the most dominant figure in all history." It is often only when a person-once proud and self sufficient has lost everything and has "nothing to lose"-becomes invisible to a world which values above all those who are the "Haves" and their "Secrets" that the "amusing" language of Jesus ("Come to me...and I will give you rest" and I am the resurrection and the life) become "words of life." As Blasé Paschal wrote: Jesus is the God whom we can approach without pride [only Jesus was obedient to the commands of God-to the point of death and is the "beloved Son" in whom the Father is well pleased] and before whom we can humble ourselves [Because Jesus said he came to seek and to save sinners not to condemn them] without despair."
@DRR180 But Dylan has been reading the New Testament at least since he was in his early twenties, he became a born-again Christian in the 1980's and he has continued to write and perform songs with explicitly Christian themes.
@jamesharrel: In 2001, post 9/11 (I think), at the end of an interview in Rolling Stone, Dylan was asked if he still thought that there was a "slow train coming." The question was a reference to the title track from his album of the same name. In the song, the metaphor ("slow train") was for the return of Christ. Dylan replied that now, he saw it as being more of a locomotive. That may be an indirect statement of Christian faith, but taken in context with the song, it's pretty emphatic.
Not sure whay anyone thinks Dylan is speaking about the devil.I watched that interview(without knowing anything about the devil mentioned etc) and instantly KNEW he was speaking about God..
Keith Fitzsimons Exactly. I was across the street when he gave that 60 mins interview in Northampton MA. And...we'll I could go on and on but yeah Dylan was joking and letting people hype about "The Chief Commander"
(4) SENSES of Lyrical/Biblical Interpretation= (1) LITERAL + (3) SPIRITUAL= (1)ALLEGORY - (2)MORAL - (3)ANAGOGY “Letter(LITERAL)speaks of deeds; ALLEGORY to faith; The MORAL how to act; ANAGOGY our destiny.”
Songs touch our heart & soul with different “senses” at different times. We appreciate music: beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion. The beauty of music appreciation includes the lyrics. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of expression. "Lyric" derives via Latin lyricus- the adjectival form of lyre. 🕊Save me, Lord, and to the sound of the harp we will sing to you. Isaiah 38 🕊 🕊I will turn my ears to a mystery, I will expound a riddle on the lyre🕊
@kwixotic So Bob Dylan not saying what his songs mean rules out my speculating on their meaning?! How does that follow? The vast majority of poets and artists don't tell you what they had in mind when they were creating their art. So what? Should all departments of literature and art just shut down? Should all critics just stop writing?
@kwixotic Hey man, no one is forcing you to! If you don't like my reading, move on. But you can't tell me that I don't have the right to offer my point of view or that my interpretation is "nonsense" simply because Bob Dylan hasn't told us what his songs mean.
I've been going to Dylan concerts since the '80s and listening to his music since childhood, and it has always felt like a spiritual experience. Good to get a theological confirmation. 🎸My go-to album when I need to address some issues is Saved. I work things out while listening to it.
How do you know it wasn't written biblically? The Bible is such a dominant influence in the work of Bob Dylan. Therefore, when scriptural motifs appear in his writings, it isn't too much of a stretch to assume that he had the Bible in mind.
As a long time Dylan fan ( I'm 78 and an atheist ) I enjoyed your Christian view of Dylan's work. I agree and have I've always felt from the beginning that many of Dylan's songs were spiritually aware ( well before he professed his Christianity.) I also liked your take on 'Rolling Stone'. It's a song I perform frequently and your take will be in my head the next time I do ( Covid permitting ).
I know that his ecclesiastical affiliation has been all over the place, but I'm more concerned with the undoubtedly biblical themes that are everywhere in his songs, from the earliest period to today.
Love this interpretation of Like a Rolling Stone--never thought of it that way, but it makes perfect sense. I find Dylan's work to be endlessly rich and fascinating and I love hearing the spiritual angle. Also, thank you for saying Bob is a great singer--it drives me bananas when people say he can't sing.
Bob Dylan never sold his soul to the devil; not on 60 minutes or anywhere else. He is a lover of the Lord Jesus Christ; just check out the lyrics on his new album Rough and Rowdy Ways. Bishop Barron I would love to hear your review of the new album. God bless you and Dylan!!
Look up his interview with Ed Bradley, Dylan believes he sold his soul to the devil, not in a figurative sense but in a literal sense, if you are a true Christian (a priest of all people) be careful whom you admire. Not trolling, just see for yourself....
Fr. Robert Barron i took it as him selling his soul because when bradley asks 'the god of this world??' i thought of 2 Corinthians 4:4...glad to hear that someone like you with a greater understanding of the scriptures disagrees! because i love dylans music.thanks for all the great videos!
But he said, "the chief commander of this world and of the world you can't see." Why would you think for a moment, especially given all of the evidence from his life and songs, that he is talking about anyone other than God here?
ED "Why do you do it? Why are still out there? Dylan "The destiny thing. I made a bargain with it a long time ago and I'm holding up my end." ED "What was your bargain?" Dylan "To get where I am now." ED "Should I ask who you made the bargain with?" Dylan "With the, ah (laughing), with the y'know, with the chief commander." ED "On this Earth?" Dylan "On this Earth and in the world we can't see."
I'd like to suggest, in the spirit of Father Barron's commentary on the great Bob Dylan, that the inspiration for 'Tambourine Man' was most likely David from the Old Testament.
a further thought- Like scripture good poetry is living. We find new meanings, new layers throughout time. As our lives grow, go through changes, deepen so does our glimpses through the veil of words to find new meaning. I doesn't really matter what the writer meant at the time. What matters is what we find, how we are touched, moved, thrown into a new AHA moment. and a month, year or 10 years later that same line opens anew. Dylan's lyrics are certainly living.
@wordonfirevideo But in the line which reads “……how many times must the canon balls fly Before they’re forever banned” it unambiguously suggest that he is ant-war and that’s directly irreconcilable with Religion - since many wars have been waged - and perhaps many would be - for sake of legitimizing the Religion.
Thank you for this wonderful commentary. I have been a fan of Bob Dylan's since childhood - and for me also, "Like a Rolling Stone" was one of those songs that really "rocked my world". I have thought deeply and for a long time about the Biblical and spiritual influences in Dylan's work - and I think they are too often overlooked, or like one commenter here, dismissed as not "spiritual" but as using the Bible as "literature". I think you are absolutely correct in seeing how central it is to BD.
This man is very inspiring to listen to. . Bob Dylan has always touched me in a similar way. I think people who live on the edge often have a greater understanding of God.
While I’m not sure that “ Blowin’ in the wind “ was the Holy Spirit , this interpretation is as good as any. I agree with the Bishop that Bob’s music has from the beginning and still is very spiritual. Dylan let’s the listener decide what his songs are about. chimes of freedom is my favourite Dylan song. Besides for all the others he sings for in that great song, the final line. “ every hung up person in the whole wide universe “ is a gem
I will never forget the day I bought Highway 61 Revisited in a budget bin at the mall at age sixteen, unwrapped it, and put it in the cd player in my car, and heard "Like a Rolling Stone" for the first time. Amazing.
someone, the right one, gets Bob..this is the way I hear him and his music. I cannot express the respect and admiration I have for Dylan. Like a Rolling Stone...
I would suggest Fr. Barron read E. Michael Jones on Bob Dylan. Jones puts him in the context of a Traditionalist Catholic history of the revolutionary spirit of Judiasm in 20th century America and it's a lament for the time before the ascendancy of a Talmudic ethos and popular culture in this country. E. MIchael Jones is the Pierre Teilhard de Chardin of Western cultural conservatism. He's no the banjo, either.
Hey Father Barron, other wise people in other cultures and religions than the Christian one said the very same thing tens and hundreds of years B.C. Confucius and Socrates anyone? Father Barron, you are a good man, but you are also soooooo deluded. Wish you the best man! I give you 100% on «Creative Interpretation» of another person's opinion. Did Bob's opinion is the same as yours?? Does it now? Can you not be a Christian fanboy of Bob? Cheers, sir! - a guy who can't believe you...!
James (sorry for butting in here-- ok, not really, hehe :-)), Seriously, I would never be one to *promote* suffering. As a Christian, I'm not a masochist, and I don't enjoy seeing other people suffer. Christians are called by Christ Himself to alleviate suffering in this world (and in the *next* one, by respectfully sharing the Gospel with people in *this* one!). I also know that suffering, when it cannot be avoided, *does* purify and build character. I have a physical disability (CP).
James, If Dylan is no longer a Christian, why does he still perform his Christian songs in concert, such as "Saving Grace" and "I Believe in You"? Go on Dylan's official website and look at his set lists from the past several years. You will find that he still plays at least some of his Christian material (not at every concert but at many of them). Is he being ironic? As far as "Blowin' In The Wind," Jesus does indeed say that the Holy Spirit is like the wind, blowing where it will...
jamesharrel, I just reviewed all my posts here and there is not one iota of ideology in any of them. If I had written "Boy, isn't the sunset beautiful tonight?" while we were sitting on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, would you have made this comment? So don't know where you're coming from with your comment.
I'm ambivalent. When did Father Barron did his commentary? I agree in many points of his generalizations. But Bob Dylan does not appear to be a believer in my eyes, although I keep praying that he will be. What a blessing to the church if he would continue to produce praise as he did in his brief period of putative belief.
It's good to see Bob Dylan among the regions of abstract and transceding songwriting and being referred to as such. For it is he who is a god we should all follow.
that is because atheists are fervent believers...in not believing. Agnostics are a more amenable group. Hence, harder to engage in meaningful discussion. Many of my friends are agnostics, but it is my atheist friends who provide the most engaging and meaningful discussions.
Father Barron and anyone else who cares to can speculate all they want on the "meaning" of Bob Dylan's lyrics but it's all nonsense......Dylan refused time and again to explain himself to anyone which is great because it remains a mystery, Got that Father?
@Lonhall: If you think this is rough, try commenting on an atheist's video, in order to argue for the reasonableness of Christian faith. It can get bloody. TH-cam atheists are often vicious and rarely coherent (in my personal experience). :-)
If it wasn't written Biblically, you don't need to read it Biblically. It's very similiar to the "lenses" point you made in your Religulous video. Why are you looking at his work thinking of God when it isn't about God?
Sorry, no. No disrespect, Sir, but Bob Dylan has nothing in Christ, nor ever has had. In a June 21, 1984 interview by Rolling Stone magazine (The piece is entitled, "Bob Dylan, Recovering Christian"), the interviewer refers to Dylan as born-again, to which Dylan replies that he'd never said that, and that "born again" is just "a media term." Would a follower of Jesus Christ object to being referred to as "born-again," and then go on to say that the phrase itself--spoken from the mouth of Jesus Christ himself--was simply a media term? "Like a Rolling Stone" mocks another person for having lost her position in society; she is out on her own; like a complete unknown; with no direction home...and this is exactly the condition of all who are lost: Alienated from God; void of significance in the eyes of the world (unless one has privilege and money); and without means to reconciliation with God. Jesus Christ is the foundation. He is the stone that never rolls. The only stone that rolls that is of any consequence in this consideration is Satan, for he desires nothing more than to occupy the seat of God, to be "like The Most High." Satan knows he'll never be The Most High, but he insists upon being regarded as a god--at least, in this world. Also, who is "the mystery tramp" of whom Dylan sings? What is meant by the passage in the lyric in which the lost girl finds herself staring into "the vacuum of his eyes," only to hear the mystery tramp ask her is she wants "to make a deal?" While I'm here, I'll also suggest you have a look at the lyrics of "Mr. Tambourine Man" in light of Ezekiel's lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, "the workmanship of [whose] tabrets and of [whose] pipes was prepared [in him] in the day that [he] was created." A tabret or timbrel is what we'd call today a tambourine. Furthermore, in this same song, Dylan speaks of being "branded on his feet." He is "owned" by another, and it's well to remember that the first instances of the branding of men were those imposed upon criminals--the lawless. Such persons--like Cain--bore a mark, and the way of Dylan's being "a wanderer on the Earth" will be the way of lawlessness. Those that walk in The Spirit are to be shod with "the sandals of the preparation of the gospel of peace." And here in this song, as in the song in which we hear of "the mystery tramp" ("going to and fro upon the Earth, and up and down in it"), we get a ragged clown following the shadow at the singer's back--a clown that we are to pay no mind to (even though the singer makes sure to get the ragged clown into the song anyway :). I've gone on at length here about this because my pastor at my church has become fascinated by Bob Dylan's mystique. And if all this isn't enough, then check out Scorsese's "No Direction Home," and Dylan's recounting of his crossroads experience; and also Dylan's interview with Ed Bradley on 60 Minutes, in which Dylan speaks of having made a bargain with destiny, and that the one with whom he struck the bargain is "The Chief Commander...in this world...and in a world we can't see." The only way not to see the truth about Bob Dylan is to choose not to see it.
So the Bishop suggests that the LARStone song is actually celebrating the freedom which comes from ridding oneself of the trappings of pride, celebrity, fame and fortune.
Like a Rolling Stone is on video by Jimi Hendrix ( With particularly shameless remarks, so one is warned ). And this is a sort of 《sed contra》: the song 《Marianne》 of Leonard Cohen reminded me of the Ave Maria, as if it served as the matrix - now this is intuitif non verified feeling- which leeds me to think that this generation of great musicians was on the contrary seeking to lead away from the spiritual by secularising it. Now i agree that seeing some of your knowledge on the subject, Dylan is not nescesarily of the same kind, but if the mainline seems to be some kind of lukewarmness; to go short i have hope to hear Hendrix in heaven, Dylan seems more problematic according to evangelical texts. I hope though. And by the way, if you listen f.e. hear my train comming in the l.P. version, live on video( And Hendrix played pieces the public know nothing of) he would have the talent to compose great Masses, even if this will shock many. Who could interpretate better the feeling of suffering than the Rembrandt of pop-guitarists? Make no mistake, Hendrix had a gift of translate different feelings, some of which i never heard imitated, beyond grasp of all.
4:52 even more to your point, right before that line comes “you used to be so amused/ at Napoleon in rags and the language that he used/ go to him now, he calls for you, you can’t refuse!” Now, whether Dylan meant to specifically reference Jesus when he sang of an Emperor in rags who calls for you at your lowest moment, or if more generally he’s just preaching humility toward the ragged outcasts of society, can be debated, but I think the biblical messaging is there for sure.
Here is the controversial opinion you were looking for: If Bob Dylan does not masquerade his Christianity, his songs would not have been played on the radio. Therefore, his faith is wisely hidden in the lyrics of his songs.
The blowing in the wind symbolism by the bishop is ludicrous anachronism. Lol. Sure Dylan is spiritual and alludes a lot to Biblical themes but these interpretations are ridiculous.
My God, Father, your words are inspiring! That's two pieces of homework you've got me doing: 1) Watch The Gran Torino 2) Listen to Bob Dylan. Ohhh yeah.
In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and God was the word so he does not know this is OK God played him and he got paid oh how mighty is this God of all things great and small.
Ah but that tone in his voice--it's not just gloating; it's also an invitation.
Father Barron and Bob Dylan! Well he's now won the Noble Prize. I absolutely agree with Fr.Barron! Excellent! By the way, I have it on VERY good authority that Dylan STILL is Christian.
Seems like he is given various statements he has made, though he's rather circumspect about it. If he's not, he at least takes a lot from Christianity in his work, as well as from Judaism.
Great video! I love his Christian albums too.. which mysteriously aren’t referenced in his Wikipedia page. Check out “property of Jesus”, “Jokerman” and “when you gonna wake up”. It’s all there; great music. He continues to move ahead of the horde. He is beyond cool.
@cityofimmigrants Oh I think that's too easy. Do you really think that "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands," "Desolation Row," "Tangled Up in Blue," "When He Returns," "Not Dark Yet," and "Sugar Baby" don't have a pretty profound depth of meaning?
Love your take on Dylans songs. But... Blowing in the wind was in my 5th grade song book in 1965. Even then every word was obvious. ♡.
I mean I'm with you all the way
Wow, this was really insightful! Thanks!
Thank you amazing father
I think it's odd that so many people don't want Dylan to be in any way connected to the Judeo-Christian tradition. I think it's interesting that Dylan himself eventually became a very outspoken Christian (although he has had a tough time of it), as if that conversion came out of nowhere, and he gave us no hints in his previous work of the direction he was going.
More to it, Bob Dylan sang Blowin' in the Wind for Pope John Paul II at a Eucharistic Congress in Bologna. I doubt he would have done this had he considered the song a paeon to agnosticism!
I've been a Dylan fan some 40 years , great reflection Bishop Barron, I now follow your channel too , thanks and God bless you 🙏
He likes to beat women with the power of music lol
@littleRayRay306 I know that people are saying this on the basis of the 60 Minutes interview, but I have to admit that your take on the interview utterly puzzles me. In line with his instincts throughout his career, Dylan was saying that he was following the command of God, whom he called "the chief commander both in this world and in the world you cannot see." How you conclude that he was talking about the devil is beyond me.
@J T granted everything you're saying is true , do you think Jesus would be proud of you for saying this?, even Paul was happy the gospel was being preached regardless of people's motivations , Bishop Barron is still preaching the gospel , and I don't know why someone would seek their soul just to get bigger and preach the gospel. And the way you came to the conclusion is faulty anyway accusing someone of selling their soul to the devil is a hefty accusation to make going off a "shit eating grin" isn't anyway to determine that. But going off this comment I don't think I'm getting any type of reasonable answer back
He was asked in an interview, that was on TH-cam, whom he serves. It's not God!
@@monicabella7894 Nonsense! It’s perfectly clear that he’s speaking of God.
@@BishopBarron Mabe so, but most observers believe Bob meant Satan. In Xtian mythology, it is Satan who is known as "the lord of this world", not God.
@@raydavison4288 He didn’t say “Lord of the world.”
Thanks for that balanced response! Man, what the heck makes you so cock-sure? Did Bob Dylan tell you what his songs mean? Religious concerns are evident in Dylan's songs from the very beginning. You might be an agnostic, but Bob Dylan sure isn't!
Everything? Heck, I've reviewed a handful of movies and songs! Out of hundreds of thousands of cultural offerings, I've noticed biblical motifs in a few. This is stretching?
@emmeuly Oh come on, friend. Put that one quote from 1965 (which I've never seen before) up against the whole corpus of Dylan's work and tell me that he's not deeply and abidingly religioius.
J T Um...what?
Friend, you're not looking nearly hard enough. Biblical themes run through Bob Dylan's work from beginning to end. There is absolutely no warrant for a Biblical reading of "Wind Beneath My Wings," but there is a huge warrant for such a reading of Dylan's work.
I discovered Bob Dylan probably at the age of 13 which would be in the early '80s with his album "Slow Train Coming", but I would have to say one of my most favorite songs of Dylan's has got to be "With God on Our Side" just because of the fact that it's not really a song about God but of Man's stupidity of creating so many wars thinking that God is on each of their side when in reality God was probably just shaking His head at each war while thinking when are they going to learn? I do agree with you when you say that Dylan uses the Bible throughout a lot of his songs, it's just that he has a distinct way of getting his message across. His album "Slow Train Coming" I think is one of his best albums that really shows the emphasis on God.
Totally underrated album SOLELY because critics were mad he became a Christian. I'm an atheist myself, but Slow Train Coming is a great album and you don't need to be religious to appreciate it.
With God on our side a terrific live version on unplugged
Thanks for not hating Christians (like so many atheists do). @@docsavage8640 ❤
Friend, that's way too facile. There is simply no way to miss the Biblical motifs, themes, concepts, and language from beginning to end of Dylan's career. This is not "pious eisegesis." It is an honest, objective reading. And just listen to Dylan's own interviews in the course of many decades. His religious interest is unmissable.
it is unmissable. If you listen to Bob Dylan’s own interview on 60min you will see who his inspiration comes from.
@Balzo93 Oh I completely disagree with you here. Blowin the Wind, A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall, When the Ship Comes In, Mr. Tambourine Man, Like a Rolling Stone, All Along the Watchtower, etc., etc. are dripping with Biblical themes. And I wouldn't read that line from It's Alright Ma as anti-religious at all. He's bemoaning the fact that our society is holding nothing truly sacred.
I agree with you in regard to his elusiveness and ambiguity. But those same qualities can be found in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Paul, and Jesus. Authentic religious people rarely speak in straightforward, univocal categories.
I've always loved Bob Dylan's music/poetry, but you threw a light on the spiritual element of his songs that I only dimly grasped previously. Excellent analysis and thank you!
The bishop talks about Dylan more extensively in his book, "To Light A Fire On The Earth", in chapter 2 under "Baseball and Bob Dylan. " Beautiful!
This video ROCKED my world! Thanks Bishop Barron!
@benabaxter Oh I disagree! I'm with Rolling Stone Magazine, which named Bob Dylan as one of the top five vocalists of the rock era.
@manwithouthat44 Oh, so Bob Dylan told you! Friend, Bible story after Bible story tell the tale of people being stripped of their attachments in order to live in freedom. That's the basic template of "Like a Rolling Stone."
"You used to be so amused at Napoleon in rags and the language that he used-go to him now he calls you, you can't refuse- when you've got nothing you got nothing to lose-You're invisible now; you've got no secrets to conceal" This obscure and often debated lyric-concerning the person ( the "you" of the song) addressed-if viewed from the perspective of Dylan's history of Biblical allusions suggests that "Napolean in rags" is Jesus of Nazareth. Doubtless Mr. Dylan was aware that Napoleon spoke of his own empire and stated that he, like Alexander the Great, Caesar, Charlemagne founded empires "upon force" but that Jesus-whom he calls no mere man- founded his empire upon love and "at this hour millions of men would die for him." It could easily be surmised that Dylan also knew of Philip Schaff's quote: "Jesus of Nazareth, without money and arms, conquered more millions than Alexander the Great, Caesar, Mohammed, and Napoleon..." [and that his] "words of life [the language of the 'Napoleon in rags' that ammused the unknown "you' in Dylan's song] produced effects ... and furnished themes for more sermons, orations, discussions, learned volumes, works of art, and songs of praise than the whole army of great men of ancient and modern times." Finally, H.G. Wells wrote as an unbeliever about this "penniless preacher" (Napoleon in rags): "I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth...Jesus Christ is the most dominant figure in all history." It is often only when a person-once proud and self sufficient has lost everything and has "nothing to lose"-becomes invisible to a world which values above all those who are the "Haves" and their "Secrets" that the "amusing" language of Jesus ("Come to me...and I will give you rest" and I am the resurrection and the life) become "words of life." As Blasé Paschal wrote: Jesus is the God whom we can approach without pride [only Jesus was obedient to the commands of God-to the point of death and is the "beloved Son" in whom the Father is well pleased] and before whom we can humble ourselves [Because Jesus said he came to seek and to save sinners not to condemn them] without despair."
@DRR180 But Dylan has been reading the New Testament at least since he was in his early twenties, he became a born-again Christian in the 1980's and he has continued to write and perform songs with explicitly Christian themes.
@DRR180 So was Jesus. What's your point?
@jamesharrel:
In 2001, post 9/11 (I think), at the end of an interview in Rolling Stone, Dylan was asked if he still thought that there was a "slow train coming." The question was a reference to the title track from his album of the same name. In the song, the metaphor ("slow train") was for the return of Christ. Dylan replied that now, he saw it as being more of a locomotive. That may be an indirect statement of Christian faith, but taken in context with the song, it's pretty emphatic.
@itonlyadds Who's "taking" him? I'm proposing an interpretation. Take it or leave it.
I'm a fan of Bob Dylan and Father Barron
spirit on the water, darkness on the face of the deep. Been thinkin bout you babe and I can hardly sleep.
I got that reference - see what you did there. Good song
And I suppose you're not biased!
@dgrass6 Oh and I suppose you're not brainwashed!
Not sure whay anyone thinks Dylan is speaking about the devil.I watched that interview(without knowing anything about the devil mentioned etc) and instantly KNEW he was speaking about God..
Keith Fitzsimons Exactly. I was across the street when he gave that 60 mins interview in Northampton MA. And...we'll I could go on and on but yeah Dylan was joking and letting people hype about "The Chief Commander"
Ruach in Hebrew has three meanings: breath, wind, and spirit.
spiritu sancte means holy breath
literally spoken I mean
@sabyasachikgp And tell me, friend, precisely how you know that.
I'm with you all the brother, I have always so much in bobs songs
(4) SENSES of Lyrical/Biblical Interpretation= (1) LITERAL + (3) SPIRITUAL= (1)ALLEGORY - (2)MORAL - (3)ANAGOGY
“Letter(LITERAL)speaks of deeds; ALLEGORY to faith; The MORAL how to act; ANAGOGY our destiny.”
Songs touch our heart & soul with different “senses” at different times.
We appreciate music: beauty of form, harmony, and expression of emotion.
The beauty of music appreciation includes the lyrics. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of expression. "Lyric" derives via Latin lyricus- the adjectival form of lyre.
🕊Save me, Lord, and to the sound of the harp we will sing to you. Isaiah 38 🕊 🕊I will turn my ears to a mystery, I will expound a riddle on the lyre🕊
Good for you!
@kwixotic So Bob Dylan not saying what his songs mean rules out my speculating on their meaning?! How does that follow? The vast majority of poets and artists don't tell you what they had in mind when they were creating their art. So what? Should all departments of literature and art just shut down? Should all critics just stop writing?
@kwixotic Hey man, no one is forcing you to! If you don't like my reading, move on. But you can't tell me that I don't have the right to offer my point of view or that my interpretation is "nonsense" simply because Bob Dylan hasn't told us what his songs mean.
I've been going to Dylan concerts since the '80s and listening to his music since childhood, and it has always felt like a spiritual experience. Good to get a theological confirmation. 🎸My go-to album when I need to address some issues is Saved. I work things out while listening to it.
How do you know it wasn't written biblically? The Bible is such a dominant influence in the work of Bob Dylan. Therefore, when scriptural motifs appear in his writings, it isn't too much of a stretch to assume that he had the Bible in mind.
As a long time Dylan fan ( I'm 78 and an atheist ) I enjoyed your Christian view of Dylan's work. I agree and have I've always felt from the beginning that many of Dylan's songs were spiritually aware ( well before he professed his Christianity.) I also liked your take on 'Rolling Stone'. It's a song I perform frequently and your take will be in my head the next time I do ( Covid permitting ).
I know that his ecclesiastical affiliation has been all over the place, but I'm more concerned with the undoubtedly biblical themes that are everywhere in his songs, from the earliest period to today.
Please talk about Bob Marley next!
Amen!! this dude is all over JAH..send us another brother Moses....for example
Totally agree!! Bob Dylan’s messages are amazing...top shelf songwriting.
Love this interpretation of Like a Rolling Stone--never thought of it that way, but it makes perfect sense. I find Dylan's work to be endlessly rich and fascinating and I love hearing the spiritual angle. Also, thank you for saying Bob is a great singer--it drives me bananas when people say he can't sing.
Bob Dylan never sold his soul to the devil; not on 60 minutes or anywhere else. He is a lover of the Lord Jesus Christ; just check out the lyrics on his new album Rough and Rowdy Ways. Bishop Barron I would love to hear your review of the new album. God bless you and Dylan!!
@MrNewkingjames Sure wish you'd tell me where all this "cash" is!
@Abr022575 So were Jesus, Peter, and Paul!
@fireman8900 That's utter nonsense!
Look up his interview with Ed Bradley, Dylan believes he sold his soul to the devil, not in a figurative sense but in a literal sense, if you are a true Christian (a priest of all people) be careful whom you admire. Not trolling, just see for yourself....
Nonsense! I've watched the Bradley interview a number of times. How you or anyone thinks that he is referring to the devil is just beyond me.
Fr. Robert Barron i took it as him selling his soul because when bradley asks 'the god of this world??' i thought of 2 Corinthians 4:4...glad to hear that someone like you with a greater understanding of the scriptures disagrees! because i love dylans music.thanks for all the great videos!
But he said, "the chief commander of this world and of the world you can't see." Why would you think for a moment, especially given all of the evidence from his life and songs, that he is talking about anyone other than God here?
Fr. Robert Barron youre right.thanks for the reply father!
ED "Why do you do it? Why are still out there?
Dylan "The destiny thing. I made a bargain with it a long time ago and I'm holding up my end."
ED "What was your bargain?"
Dylan "To get where I am now."
ED "Should I ask who you made the bargain with?"
Dylan "With the, ah (laughing), with the y'know, with the chief commander."
ED "On this Earth?"
Dylan "On this Earth and in the world we can't see."
I'd like to suggest, in the spirit of Father Barron's commentary on the great Bob Dylan, that the inspiration for 'Tambourine Man' was most likely David from the Old Testament.
a further thought- Like scripture good poetry is living.
We find new meanings, new layers throughout time.
As our lives grow, go through changes, deepen so does our glimpses through the veil of words to find new meaning.
I doesn't really matter what the writer meant at the time. What matters is what we find, how we are touched, moved, thrown into a new AHA moment.
and a month, year or 10 years later that same line opens anew.
Dylan's lyrics are certainly living.
@wordonfirevideo
But in the line which reads “……how many times must the canon balls fly Before they’re forever banned” it unambiguously suggest that he is ant-war and that’s directly irreconcilable with Religion - since many wars have been waged - and perhaps many would be - for sake of legitimizing the Religion.
Bishop Barron for next pope please
Thank you for this wonderful commentary. I have been a fan of Bob Dylan's since childhood - and for me also, "Like a Rolling Stone" was one of those songs that really "rocked my world". I have thought deeply and for a long time about the Biblical and spiritual influences in Dylan's work - and I think they are too often overlooked, or like one commenter here, dismissed as not "spiritual" but as using the Bible as "literature". I think you are absolutely correct in seeing how central it is to BD.
This man is very inspiring to listen to. . Bob Dylan has always touched me in a similar way. I think people who live on the edge often have a greater understanding of God.
You love him so much Bishop Baron it's so endearing
While I’m not sure that “ Blowin’ in the wind “ was the Holy Spirit , this interpretation is as good as any. I agree with the Bishop that Bob’s music has from the beginning and still is very spiritual. Dylan let’s the listener decide what his songs are about. chimes of freedom is my favourite Dylan song. Besides for all the others he sings for in that great song, the final line. “ every hung up person in the whole wide universe “ is a gem
I will never forget the day I bought Highway 61 Revisited in a budget bin at the mall at age sixteen, unwrapped it, and put it in the cd player in my car, and heard "Like a Rolling Stone" for the first time. Amazing.
Very informative, thanks Father!
Great stuff: Fr. Barron, you're my long-lost brother!
This was a cool surprise! Thanks, Father.
This is a superb analysis of one of the most important voices of our times.
I thought you were going to discuss the video on you tubewith him saying he sold his soul for fame
Hmmm. I don't remember him ever saying that.
Dylan's a great songwriter and artist, but like Simon & Garfunkel he's so so depressing 🥶
"I DRIFT LIFE A WAVE ON THE OCEAN, I BLOW AS AIMLESS AS THE WIND."
The bible😅 I cant help myself. Im still training with the master. ☯️
someone, the right one, gets Bob..this is the way I hear him and his music. I cannot express the respect and admiration I have for Dylan. Like a Rolling Stone...
I would suggest Fr. Barron read E. Michael Jones on Bob Dylan. Jones puts him in the context of a Traditionalist Catholic history of the revolutionary spirit of Judiasm in 20th century America and it's a lament for the time before the ascendancy of a Talmudic ethos and popular culture in this country. E. MIchael Jones is the Pierre Teilhard de Chardin of Western cultural conservatism. He's no the banjo, either.
Hey Father Barron, other wise people in other cultures and religions than the Christian one said the very same thing tens and hundreds of years B.C.
Confucius and Socrates anyone?
Father Barron, you are a good man, but you are also soooooo deluded. Wish you the best man!
I give you 100% on «Creative Interpretation» of another person's opinion.
Did Bob's opinion is the same as yours??
Does it now?
Can you not be a Christian fanboy of Bob?
Cheers, sir!
- a guy who can't believe you...!
James (sorry for butting in here-- ok, not really, hehe :-)),
Seriously, I would never be one to *promote* suffering. As a Christian, I'm not a masochist, and I don't enjoy seeing other people suffer. Christians are called by Christ Himself to alleviate suffering in this world (and in the *next* one, by respectfully sharing the Gospel with people in *this* one!).
I also know that suffering, when it cannot be avoided, *does* purify and build character. I have a physical disability (CP).
James,
If Dylan is no longer a Christian, why does he still perform his Christian songs in concert, such as "Saving Grace" and "I Believe in You"? Go on Dylan's official website and look at his set lists from the past several years. You will find that he still plays at least some of his Christian material (not at every concert but at many of them). Is he being ironic?
As far as "Blowin' In The Wind," Jesus does indeed say that the Holy Spirit is like the wind, blowing where it will...
jamesharrel, I just reviewed all my posts here and there is not one iota of ideology in any of them. If I had written "Boy, isn't the sunset beautiful tonight?" while we were sitting on the bluffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, would you have made this comment? So don't know where you're coming from with your comment.
I'm ambivalent. When did Father Barron did his commentary? I agree in many points of his generalizations. But Bob Dylan does not appear to be a believer in my eyes, although I keep praying that he will be. What a blessing to the church if he would continue to produce praise as he did in his brief period of putative belief.
It's good to see Bob Dylan among the regions of abstract and transceding songwriting and being referred to as such. For it is he who is a god we should all follow.
that is because atheists are fervent believers...in not believing. Agnostics are a more amenable group. Hence, harder to engage in meaningful discussion. Many of my friends are agnostics, but it is my atheist friends who provide the most engaging and meaningful discussions.
Father Barron and anyone else who cares to can speculate all they want on the "meaning" of Bob Dylan's lyrics but it's all nonsense......Dylan refused time and again to explain himself to anyone which is great because it remains a mystery, Got that Father?
@Lonhall:
If you think this is rough, try commenting on an atheist's video, in order to argue for the reasonableness of Christian faith. It can get bloody. TH-cam atheists are often vicious and rarely coherent (in my personal experience). :-)
If it wasn't written Biblically, you don't need to read it Biblically. It's very similiar to the "lenses" point you made in your Religulous video. Why are you looking at his work thinking of God when it isn't about God?
Sorry, no.
No disrespect, Sir, but Bob Dylan has nothing in Christ, nor ever has had.
In a June 21, 1984 interview by Rolling Stone magazine (The piece is entitled, "Bob Dylan, Recovering Christian"), the interviewer refers to Dylan as born-again, to which Dylan replies that he'd never said that, and that "born again" is just "a media term."
Would a follower of Jesus Christ object to being referred to as "born-again," and then go on to say that the phrase itself--spoken from the mouth of Jesus Christ himself--was simply a media term?
"Like a Rolling Stone" mocks another person for having lost her position in society; she is out on her own; like a complete unknown; with no direction home...and this is exactly the condition of all who are lost: Alienated from God; void of significance in the eyes of the world (unless one has privilege and money); and without means to reconciliation with God.
Jesus Christ is the foundation. He is the stone that never rolls. The only stone that rolls that is of any consequence in this consideration is Satan, for he desires nothing more than to occupy the seat of God, to be "like The Most High." Satan knows he'll never be The Most High, but he insists upon being regarded as a god--at least, in this world.
Also, who is "the mystery tramp" of whom Dylan sings? What is meant by the passage in the lyric in which the lost girl finds herself staring into "the vacuum of his eyes," only to hear the mystery tramp ask her is she wants "to make a deal?"
While I'm here, I'll also suggest you have a look at the lyrics of "Mr. Tambourine Man" in light of Ezekiel's lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, "the workmanship of [whose] tabrets and of [whose] pipes was prepared [in him] in the day that [he] was created." A tabret or timbrel is what we'd call today a tambourine.
Furthermore, in this same song, Dylan speaks of being "branded on his feet." He is "owned" by another, and it's well to remember that the first instances of the branding of men were those imposed upon criminals--the lawless. Such persons--like Cain--bore a mark, and the way of Dylan's being "a wanderer on the Earth" will be the way of lawlessness.
Those that walk in The Spirit are to be shod with "the sandals of the preparation of the gospel of peace." And here in this song, as in the song in which we hear of "the mystery tramp" ("going to and fro upon the Earth, and up and down in it"), we get a ragged clown following the shadow at the singer's back--a clown that we are to pay no mind to (even though the singer makes sure to get the ragged clown into the song anyway :).
I've gone on at length here about this because my pastor at my church has become fascinated by Bob Dylan's mystique. And if all this isn't enough, then check out Scorsese's "No Direction Home," and Dylan's recounting of his crossroads experience; and also Dylan's interview with Ed Bradley on 60 Minutes, in which Dylan speaks of having made a bargain with destiny, and that the one with whom he struck the bargain is "The Chief Commander...in this world...and in a world we can't see."
The only way not to see the truth about Bob Dylan is to choose not to see it.
The key to spirituality is detachment. Brilliant interpretation of rolling stone
So the Bishop suggests that the LARStone song is actually celebrating the freedom which comes from ridding oneself of the trappings of pride, celebrity, fame and fortune.
Like a Rolling Stone is on video by Jimi Hendrix ( With particularly shameless remarks, so one is warned ). And this is a sort of 《sed contra》: the song 《Marianne》 of Leonard Cohen reminded me of the Ave Maria, as if it served as the matrix - now this is intuitif non verified feeling- which leeds me to think that this generation of great musicians was on the contrary seeking to lead away from the spiritual by secularising it. Now i agree that seeing some of your knowledge on the subject, Dylan is not nescesarily of the same kind, but if the mainline seems to be some kind of lukewarmness; to go short i have hope to hear Hendrix in heaven, Dylan seems more problematic according to evangelical texts. I hope though. And by the way, if you listen f.e. hear my train comming in the l.P. version, live on video( And Hendrix played pieces the public know nothing of) he would have the talent to compose great Masses, even if this will shock many. Who could interpretate better the feeling of suffering than the Rembrandt of pop-guitarists? Make no mistake, Hendrix had a gift of translate different feelings, some of which i never heard imitated, beyond grasp of all.
@manwithouthat44 no way,,hes right on que,its a very good interpretation,and Dylan is very spirtual
“Real spiritual freedom” : Yes! And absolutely I agree that Blowin in the Wind is about the Holy Spirit. Thank you!
4:52 even more to your point, right before that line comes “you used to be so amused/ at Napoleon in rags and the language that he used/ go to him now, he calls for you, you can’t refuse!” Now, whether Dylan meant to specifically reference Jesus when he sang of an Emperor in rags who calls for you at your lowest moment, or if more generally he’s just preaching humility toward the ragged outcasts of society, can be debated, but I think the biblical messaging is there for sure.
the Father beats you on that point, i can see why you didn't respond....You never explained his 'streching"...how come?
Here is the controversial opinion you were looking for: If Bob Dylan does not masquerade his Christianity, his songs would not have been played on the radio. Therefore, his faith is wisely hidden in the lyrics of his songs.
Proverbs 9 for you bishop Barron …find yourself where you are there ….
AVE MARIA
The blowing in the wind symbolism by the bishop is ludicrous anachronism. Lol. Sure Dylan is spiritual and alludes a lot to Biblical themes but these interpretations are ridiculous.
Everyone should see who Bob say’s he attributed his talent and fame to. Maybe the Bishop should evaluate.
Bp Barron seeks the soul of the artist,
nuf said.
"Blowin' In The Wind"... is about the American Flag.
My God, Father, your words are inspiring! That's two pieces of homework you've got me doing:
1) Watch The Gran Torino 2) Listen to Bob Dylan. Ohhh yeah.
I always took that “the answer is blowing in the wind” means the answer is abandoned or “thrown away” and imagined it like a plastic bag in the air
In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and God was the word so he does not know this is OK God played him and he got paid oh how mighty is this God of all things great and small.
Talking to God is as valuable as listening to random white noise on the radio and trying to make out something intelligible.