Bob Dylan God's Poet
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Bob Dylan's prolific poems of protest and prediction
But I'm making this page primarily to show that Bob Dylan was both a knowing and an unknowing instrument of God. More on this further on.
Amazon Spotlight: Bob Dylan documentary
by Martin Scorsese
Bob Dylan - No Direction Home
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This documentary shakes us free of our comfortable assumptions. In the process, it plays out on several levels at once, each taking shape as an unfailingly fascinating narrative. Scorsese's 200-plus-minute focus on Dylan's earliest years allows for a portrayal of unprecedented depth, with multiple angles: a rich composite photo is the result. The main narrative has an epic quality: it moves from Dylan growing up in cold-war Minnesota through Greenwich Village coffeehouses and the Newport Folk Festival, climaxing in the controversial 1966 U.K. tour that crowned a period of unbridled and explosive creativity. In his transition from Robert Allen Zimmerman to Bob Dylan, we observe him concocting his impossible-to-describe, unique combination of the topical with the archaic, like an ancient oracle.
Release Date: 09/20/2005
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To give you an idea how he sounds,
If you never heard him, take a listen-- You may or may not like his voice or singing style.
Bob Dylan called America's Poet Laureate
- Aquarius Papers - Global Astrology: Happy Video Birthday to Bob Dylan, America's Poet Laureate
- by Robert Wilkinson
His work is vast, awesome, majestic, and compelling, We haven't known an American poet who embodied such electricity since Walt Whitman. Happy 66th, Lucky Wilbury. You were one of my most potent influences as a teen in...
Just some of his many hit albums and songs. Try searching for more.
NOW you can get these Bob Dylan songs from ! iTunes
| Track | Artist | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mr. Tambourine Man | Bob Dylan | The Essential Bob Dylan | |
| The Times They Are A-Changin' | Bob Dylan | The Essential Bob Dylan | |
| Knockin' On Heaven's Door | Bob Dylan | The Essential Bob Dylan | |
| Tangled Up In Blue | Bob Dylan | The Essential Bob Dylan | |
| Don't Think Twice, It's All Right | Bob Dylan | The Essential Bob Dylan | |
| Maggie's Farm | Bob Dylan | The Essential Bob Dylan | |
| Like a Rolling Stone | Bob Dylan | The Essential Bob Dylan | |
| Subterranean Homesick Blues | Bob Dylan | The Essential Bob Dylan | |
| It Ain't Me, Babe | Bob Dylan | The Essential Bob Dylan | |
| Just Like a Woman | Bob Dylan | The Essential Bob Dylan | |
| All Along the Watchtower | Bob Dylan | The Essential Bob Dylan | |
| Rainy Day Women #12 & 35 | Bob Dylan | The Essential Bob Dylan | |
| Lay, Lady, Lay | Bob Dylan | The Essential Bob Dylan | |
| Forever Young | Bob Dylan | The Essential Bob Dylan | |
| Blowin' In the Wind | Bob Dylan | Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits | |
| Farewell, Angelina | Bob Dylan | The Bootleg Series, Vols. 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991 | |
| When the Ship Comes In | Bob Dylan | The Times They Are A-Changin' | |
| Queen Jane Approximately | Bob Dylan | Highway 61 Revisited | |
| Highway 61 Revisited | Bob Dylan | Highway 61 Revisited | |
| With God On Our Side | Bob Dylan | The Times They Are A-Changin' |
More about Bob Dylan
- Bob Dylan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Bob Dylan From Wikipedia,
Birth name: Robert Allen Zimmerman
Also known as Elston Gunn[1] Blind Boy Grunt, Lucky Wilbury/Boo Wilbury, Elmer Johnson, Sergei Petrov, Jack Frost, Jack Fate, Willow Scarlet, Robert Milkwood Thomas.
Born May 24, 1941 (1941-05-24) (age 67)
Duluth, Minnesota, U.S.
Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter, author, poet, screenwriter, disc jockey
Instrument(s) Vocals, guitar, harmonica, keyboards, piano, bass - Bob Dylan
- Bob Dylan is the uncontested poet laureate of the rock and roll era and the pre-eminent singer/songwriter of modern times.
- Bob Dylan: Dylan's Journey
- Darren Hirst examines the spiritual journey of 20th century music icon BOB DYLAN.
Conclusion: Bob Dylan: an instrument of God?
Social protest, esoteric meanings and his conversion to Christianity
Another reason I'm making this page about Bob Dylan is to point out something most people, Christian and otherwise, are unaware of, namely the influence of God upon his writing--that he was an instrument of God.
One reviewer mentions "echoes of the book of Isaiah in 'All Along the Watchtower,' a song that seemed eerily similar to Mark 13:35." My favorite Bob Dylan song, "Hard Rain's gonna fall" seems to pre-figure "Slow Train Comin'" from his Christian era. One person in Martin Scorscse's documentary (above) went so far as to say that when Dylan was writing, you could see the Holy Spirit in him.
For more on Bob Dylan's "pre-Christian era" Christian references see my (blue)black box below.
In 1978, Dylan did openly embrace Christianity, having found Christ through the Vineyard Christian Fellowship Church. Late that year, he starting writing songs with a Christian message, although many of these also spoke of social wrongs, but as seen from a Christian perspective both of the present and the future. "Slow Train Coming'" is a good example. He made 4 Christian albums, but "Slow Train Coming" was the best known and he included several songs that were right to the point, like "Y' Gotta Serve Somebody" and "When He Returns." (See 3rd link in the link list below "Bob Dylan: Dylan's Journey" as well as the the Amazon Spotlight: "Inside BOB DYLAN'S JESUS YEARS..")
Bob Dylan's Christian Albums
The Gospel According to Dylan
You can even get Bob Dylan's Christian songs from iTunes
| Track | Artist | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Slow Train | Bob Dylan | Slow Train Coming | |
| Gotta Serve Somebody | Bob Dylan | Slow Train Coming | |
| I Believe In You | Bob Dylan | Slow Train Coming | |
| Man Gave Names to All the Animals | Bob Dylan | Slow Train Coming | |
| Precious Angel | Bob Dylan | Slow Train Coming | |
| When He Returns | Bob Dylan | Slow Train Coming | |
| Gonna Change My Way of Thinking | Bob Dylan | Slow Train Coming | |
| When You Gonna Wake Up | Bob Dylan | Slow Train Coming | |
| Do Right to Me Baby (Do Unto Others) | Bob Dylan | Slow Train Coming |
Amazon Spotlight: Bob Dylan's Jesus Years
Inside Bob Dylan's Jesus Years: Busy Being Born... Again!
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In his first-ever interview, Dylan's Bible class teacher, Pastor Bill Dwyer, details Bob Dylan's embrace of Jesus Christ and Christianity. Director/Producer Joel Gilbert weaves the story of Bob Dylan's Jesus Years through revealing insider interviews. Included are rare photos and exclusive live concert footage from 1978-1981, while Bob Dylan himself explains the impact of Jesus on his life and art in a recently unearthed interview from 1981. FOR A REVIEW of this film from Christianiy Today, Go Here
Release Date: 10/28/2008
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Bob Dylan, unknowing instrument of God?
There are songs written before his Christian era that seem to speak metaphorically of the return of Christ and the coming judgement of God.. For examples, see the 5 best songs section below. (See also the spotlight 'Prophecy in the Christina era" below.) Thus, I conclude, that even before he knew God, God was using Dylan as an instrument, and his conversion and Christian era were the climax of his career to which everything prior in his life was pointing.
Explore this deeper. Read this CT article
- Bob Dylan: Still Blowin' in the Wind
- Christianity Today reviews Dylan's work before the singer's conversion to Christianity, which work, according to the article, "reflected his religious upbringing."
Amazon Spotlight Personal Review
Bob Dylan - 1975-1981 Rolling Thunder and The Gospel Years
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For the hardcore Dylan fan looking to gain new insights into one of the strangest periods of his career, it answers a ton of questions.
Release Date: 04/04/2006
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BOOKS BY OR ABOUT BOB DYLAN
PROPHECY IN THE CHRISTIAN ERA:
A Study of Bob Dylan's Work from 1961 to 1967 Emphasizing His Use of Enigma to Teach Ethics & Comparing Him to Dante Alighieri & Other Poets (Paperback)
This excellent book will interest dylan fans especially. Heart-warming, sincere and inspired analysis of dylans mystical nature.Prophecy in the Christian Era: A Study of Bob Dylan's Work from 1961 to 1967 Emphasizing His Use of Enigma to Teach Ethics & Comparing Him to Dante Alighieri & Other Poets
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Her insights are incisive and succinct, and while her conclusions are not phenomenologically scientific in the Aristotelean sense, they are perfectly true hermeneutically in addressing the enigmas and parables embedded within the textuality of Dylan's verse.
Release Date: 12/31/1969
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The 5 best songs by Bob Dylan--NOT listed in best to least best order
From protest to judgement
These are my picks. You may or may not agree. Certainly the most popular Bob Dylan song ever was the first listed, but definitely his best song of all, as I see it, is the one I listed 3rd.1)"Blowin" in th' Wind."--I listed this one first because it is perhaps his most famous, made so by Peter Paul & Mary. It's protest pure and simple. If you want another war protest song, I'll throw "Masters of War" in for free. (not one of the five)
2)"Farewell Angelina"--one of his most esoteric songs, but speaking metaphorically of the end of the world as a warning.
3)A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" (This is actually my favorite: Great words of social protest and a great tune to go with it. And this one seems to me to refer metaphorically to the return of Christ (and the coming judgement of God), even though it's before Dylan's Christian era.
4)"Slow Train Commin"--This one is from his Christian era, but compare it with "Hard Rain's Gonna Fall--the same sort of social protest linked to a metaphor of the return of Christ." Your really should get this whole album. (1st on gospel music module).
5)"When the ship comes in." Another great song of social protest, but which also speaks metaphorically of the return of Christ (very clearly I think--I can't get away from it). And this one was also written before his Christian era, like "Hard Rain." "When He Returns" in the "Slow Train" album speaks pointedly of the return of Christ, but I feel these two (this one and Hard Rain" were precursors to lead up to that one, even unbeknown to Dylan.
Here they are, for your convienice, on iTunes
Sung for the most part by someone other than Bob
| Track | Artist | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blowin' In the Wind | Peter, Paul & Mary | The Very Best of Peter, Paul and Mary | |
| Farewell, Angelina | Joan Baez | Baez Sings Dylan | |
| When the Ship Comes In (Live) | Arlo Guthrie & Pete Seeger | More Together Again In Concert (Remastered) | |
| A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall | Pete Seeger | The Complete Carnegie Hall Concert, June 8, 1963 (Live) | |
| Slow Train (Live) | Bob Dylan & Grateful Dead | Dylan & the Dead (Live) |
MORE DVD'S BY OR ABOUT BOB DYLAN
Do You Agree?
Having read my thesis in the blue box above and the Christianity Today article which follows it and any of the other books listed between there and here, DO YOU AGREE with my thesis, that Bob Dylan, before his Christian era, was an unwitting instrument of God?
Multi-artist CD Tributes to Bob Dylan
Single artist tributes to Bob Dylan
Recent posts about Bob Dylan
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- While copying the massive amount of lyrics between these two numbers, I found the already enormous amount of respect for Bob Dylan grow 10 fold. I often wonder exactly where, how and why these lyrics, in the order that they've been laied out, ...
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- The 19-year old took to the talk show stage to once again give her take on the Bob Dylan classic, "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go." Other artists taking part on the CD include Adele, Ke$ha, Sting, Patti Smith, My Morning Jacket, ...
- Bob Dylan: Odds and Ends
- When I heard that, I thought, ?If Bob can do it, I can do it? ? It's twenty minutes long ? It's a whole album side! And it in no way gets dull or boring ? it becomes more and more hypnotic. The first album of Bob Dylan's I ever heard was Another ...
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Bob Dylan on eBay
Reader Feedback
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gypsyman27
Feb 9, 2012 @ 11:15 am | delete
- You had me when you said Bob Dylan, I am his fan forever. This is a very comprehensive lens, I enjoyed reviewing the page. See you around the galaxy...
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Duane_Jackson
May 29, 2011 @ 8:49 pm | delete
- Absolutely wonderful lens, Jim...very comprehensive and makes for good reading too! Long live, Bob Dylan!
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sallemange
Mar 26, 2011 @ 12:25 pm | delete
- a really informative and thought provoking lens. lensrolled.
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TheCureForYouthMinistry
Feb 15, 2011 @ 10:20 pm | delete
- I love me some Bob Dylan. I'd like to see a prediction on whether Bob will do another gospel album.
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LubosLabik
Jan 20, 2011 @ 2:05 pm | delete
- I like the most the sing Knocking On heavens Door. Have nice day :)
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