Rock & Roll And The BibleSýnishorn

 Bob Dylan Pioneers Concept of Bible Themed Rock Lyrics 

In a time when rock and roll music was mostly about anti-establishment rebellion, iconic singer-songwriter, Bob Dylan became one of the first voices to inject overtly biblical references into his lyrics.

Even though it wasn’t popular to add Bible references in rock songs, Dylan bucked the mainstream trends and in 1967 released John Wesley Harding, a collection of songs that he described as “the first biblical rock album.”

Author Bert Cartwright cited more than 60 biblical allusions throughout the album including as many as 15 on the folk classic “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest.”

Historians and critics also speculated that the song “The Wicked Messenger” took its title from Proverbs 13:17 while making allegorical reference to a story about Eli, a Hebrew high priest and judge, found in 1 Samuel 1–4.

“All Along The Watchtower” provided another example of Dylan’s intriguing relationship with the Bible and hinted towards portions of Isaiah 21:

All along the watchtower, princes kept the view (v. 8)
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too
Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl (v. 9)

In a 1969 interview, Dylan’s mother, Mary Zimmerman, confirmed that the album’s overt and subtle allusions were rooted in the singer-songwriter’s growing appreciation for the ancient text and continued into future projects as well:

“In his house in Woodstock today, there's a huge Bible open on a stand in the middle of his study,” she said. “Of all the books that crowd his house, overflow from his house, that Bible gets the most attention. He's continuously getting up and going over to refer to something.”

This was certainly the case with Dylan’s so-called “Christian trilogy” as his three-album span from 1979 to 1981 has commonly been referred. On Slow Train Coming (1979), for example is the Grammy Award winning song “Gotta Serve Somebody,” which thematically stems from Matthew 6:24:

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody
It may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody

Then, on the album Saved (1980), Dylan dives even deeper into biblically inspired language on the title track:

By his word I have been healed (Psalm 107:20)

By his hand I’ve been delivered (Deuteronomy 5:15, 7:19)

By his spirit I’ve been sealed (Ephesians 1:13-14)

I’ve been saved

By the blood of the lamb (Revelation 12:11)

Dylan continued his foray into the Bible on the album Shot of Love (1981) and in particular the song “Every Grain of Sand,” which references Cain, one of the Torah’s most notorious antagonists, and an iconic New Testament passage:

Then onward in my journey I come to understand
That every hair is numbered (Matthew 10:29), like every grain of sand.
 

I am hanging in the balance of the reality of man
Like every sparrow falling (Matthew 10:30), like every grain of sand.

“There’s mystery, magic, truth, and the Bible in great folk music,” Dylan opined in a 1963 interview. “I can’t hope to touch that. But I’m going to try.”