“Gotta Serve Somebody”
On Saturdays our companions are musicians.
Bob Dylan was on a grueling world tour in 1978, performing 114 shows in Japan, Australia, North America and all over Europe. He was traveling with an 8-piece band and three back-up singers. A lot to manage. All told, he sang to two million people.
In the middle of that brutal junket—just on the heels of his 1977 divorce—Dylan played a concert in San Diego. Near the end of the show, a fan threw a small silver crucifix onto the stage. A jaded veteran, Dylan was used to fans throwing things on stage, but when he saw the cross, he picked it up and put it in his pocket.
Two days later, in a hotel room in Tucson, Dylan took the cross out of his pocket and had “a literal visitation from Jesus Christ.” Dylan told the UK’s Independent, “Jesus put his hand on me. It was a physical thing. I felt it. I felt it all over me. I felt my whole body tremble. The glory of the Lord knocked me down and picked me up.”
That marked Bob Dylan’s conversion to Christianity. He was mocked by many in the media, and some of his fans wanted the “old Dylan” back. But he kept the faith. A year later, in 1979, he wrote the song, “Gotta Serve Somebody.” “It may be the devil,” it goes, “it may be the Lord, but you gotta serve somebody.” Dylan knew what the writer David Foster Wallace knew: “There’s no such thing as not worshiping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what we worship.”
Now it’s 1980 and Dylan is nominated for a Grammy. He comes to the Shrine Auditorium in L.A. with his band. He’s all dressed up in a tux—you get the sense it’s a joke. And the star-studded audience, all glittering and gorgeous, stands to greet him. Then he starts singing, “You Gotta Serve Somebody,” and if you look at his eyes, it’s a piercing stare. “You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls,” he sings in the first verse—“But you have to serve somebody.” It’s like somebody invited John the Baptist to a grand gala.
Watch this unusual performance, which I hope is a riveting, gospel conclusion to our week of “Prayer & Surrender.” (Complete lyrics below)
“You Gotta Serve Somebody”
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 have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You have to serve somebody,
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you have to serve somebody.
You might be a rock ‘n’ roll addict prancing on the stage,
You might have drugs in your pocket, women in a cage,
You may be a business man or some high degree thief,
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief
You may be a construction worker working on a home,
You may be living in a mansion or you may be live in a dome,
You might own guns and you might even own tanks,
You might be somebody’s landlord, may be even own banks
You may be a preacher with your spiritual pride,
You may be working as a dishwasher, you may be in your prime,
You may be workin’ in a barbershop, you may know how to cut hair,
You may be somebody’s mistress, may be somebody’s heir
You may like to drink whiskey, might like to blow smoke,
You may have money-power or you may be broke,
You may think you’re living, you may think you’re dead,
Maybe sleeping on the floor, or sleeping in a feather bed.
COMPANIONS ON THE WAY
Introduction
Stories of Turning
Week One
Stories of Wild Places
Week Two
Stories of Dogged Faith
Week Three
Stories of Mercy & Forgiveness
Week Four
Stories of Simplicity & Joy
Week Five
Stories of Prayer & Surrender
Week Six
Stories of Transforming Love
“Inviting John the Baptist to a grand gala!” Exactly right.
Like a skunk to a garden party!
Great way to end the week, David! Genre bending performances were rare back in the day, and Dylan then gospel blues musician would have been wonderful shock…
I had no idea he could play this kind of music–I’m not a Dylan fan, I only know the classic stuff most everybody knows–him with an acoustic guitar and a harmonica around his neck, a folk singer. So this blues/gospel thing really grabbed me by the soul.
Who knew Dylan found faith here in Tucson. The crucifix in San Diego. The savior in Tucson.
Thanks, David. What a way to end the week.
Yes, as a Tusconian you’d pick up on that. It is an amazing story. I knew at some point he had a conversion, but I didn’t know the story.
I knew of Dylan’s conversion, but not the details. Recently, I’ve been drawn to conversion stories. What are personal reasons for disbelief? There are many factors. What draws people who have been adamant about why they can’t/won’t believe in God or Jesus to change their minds (besides the H.S)? I’m also paying attention to the evolution of those shifts in their beliefs. Thank you for sharing this conversion story and music!
I’ve been thinking the same thing, or almost. Thinking about the person who threw the little silver crucifix on stage—and do they have the faintest notion of what they had set in motion.