Living in the End Times: the Prophetic Language of Bob Dylan

摘要: To say that religion–and the quest for cosmic revelation–is an integral part of rock ‘n’roll may seem to some to be widely missing the point. To millions of devoted fans, rock doesn’t simply deal with religion. Rock is religion… For rock’s true believers, church is a concert hall, a leather jacket the vestment… Nihilist or optimist, epicurean or anarchist, demonic or divine; more often than not… rock ‘n’roll’s prophets are the champions of causes lost and won long ago and many times before… rock is music that embodies, celebrates, and mourns conditions of the human spirit–conditions familiar to saints and sinners throughout history. 1When Bob Dylan converted to Christianity in the late 1970’s the sense of a new condition2 resonated in the subsequent three albums he produced, 3 causing irritation to some of fans who resented his overtly evangelistic and eschatological lyrics and, in particular, the demarcation he drew between those who would be saved and those who would not. 4 Dylan’s lyrics had, however, even more than a decade before his conversion, always reflected an eschatological consciousness which was expressed through more oblique allusions to the bible. 5 While a number of studies examine evidence for biblical