Top 5 Bob Dylan songs you didn't know he wrote
Nobel Prize winner’s surprising songbook of faith
Legendary musician Bob Dylan has been awarded the prestigious Nobel Prize for Literature, 2016. For almost 60 years, Dylan has been a defining presence on the global music scene, with his lyrics being among the most famous – and controversial – of any modern song-writer.
While the Nobel Prize will fuel the ongoing debate about whether Dylan is a literary genius or not, his high-profile win should cause millions of music fans to rush back to his prolific back catalogue. Among his 35 studio albums, Dylan made three in the late 1970s and 1980s, during what’s been called the “born-again Christian” phase of his career. Eternity has selected the Top 5 songs from Dylan’s Slow Train Coming, Saved and Shot of Love albums. A tuneful list of tracks which might surprise you, in their joy and exuberance about living life with God and Jesus.
1. Saved (1980, from Saved album)
I was blinded by the devil
Born already ruined
Stone-cold dead
As I stepped out of the womb
By His grace I have been touched
By His word I have been healed
By His hand I’ve been delivered
By His spirit I’ve been sealed
I’ve been saved
By the blood of the lamb
Saved
By the blood of the lamb
Saved
Saved
And I’m so glad
Yes, I’m so glad
I’m so glad
So glad
I want to thank You, Lord
I just want to thank You, Lord
Thank You, Lord
2. Pressing On (1980, from Saved album)
Well I’m pressing on
Yes, I’m pressing on
Well I’m pressing on
To the higher calling of my Lord
Many try to stop me, shake me up in my mind
Say, “Prove to me that He is Lord, show me a sign”
What kind of sign they need when it all come from within
When what’s lost has been found, what’s to come has already been?
Well I’m pressing on
Yes, I’m pressing on
Well I’m pressing on
To the higher calling of my Lord
3. Gotta Serve Somebody (1979, from Slow Train Coming album)
You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody
You might be a rock ’n’ roll addict prancing on the stage
You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage
You may be a businessman or some high-degree thief
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody
4. When You Gonna Wake Up (1979, from Slow Train Coming album)
God don’t make no promises that He don’t keep
You got some big dreams, baby, but in order to dream you gotta still be asleep
When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up
When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?
Counterfeit philosophies have polluted all of your thoughts
Karl Marx has got ya by the throat, Henry Kissinger’s got you tied up in knots
When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up
When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?
You got innocent men in jail, your insane asylums are filled
You got unrighteous doctors dealing drugs that’ll never cure your ills
When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up
When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?
You got men who can’t hold their peace and women who can’t control their tongues
The rich seduce the poor and the old are seduced by the young
When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up
When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?
Adulterers in churches and pornography in the schools
You got gangsters in power and lawbreakers making rules
When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up
When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?
Spiritual advisors and gurus to guide your every move
Instant inner peace and every step you take has got to be approved
When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up
When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?
Do you ever wonder just what God requires?
You think He’s just an errand boy to satisfy your wandering desires
When you gonna wake up, when you gonna wake up
When you gonna wake up and strengthen the things that remain?
5. Property Of Jesus (1981, from Shot of Love album)
Go ahead and talk about him because he makes you doubt
Because he has denied himself the things that you can’t live without
Laugh at him behind his back just like the others do
Remind him of what he used to be when he comes walkin’ through
He’s the property of Jesus
Resent him to the bone
You got something better
You’ve got a heart of stone
Stop your conversation when he passes on the street
Hope he falls upon himself, oh, won’t that be sweet
Because he can’t be exploited by superstition anymore
Because he can’t be bribed or bought by the things that you adore
He’s the property of Jesus
Resent him to the bone
You got something better
You’ve got a heart of stone
Pray
Some prayer points to help
Pray that music fans will be struck by the lyrics of these Bob Dylan songs.
