Strange Spiritual Journey

bstacy · **Joined:** Sun June 22nd, 2008, 13:57 GMT **Posts:** 88

Several years ago, music journalist Scott Marshall wrote a four-part overview series on the strange spiritual journey of Bob Dylan.

It was mentioned in another ER topic, but apparently the web links were broken.
I've located part of it. Still looking for Part IV (the 1990s).

Bob Dylan's Unshakeable Monotheism -- Part I: The 1960s
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MuktoChinta/message/9269

Bob Dylan's Unshakeable Monotheism -- Part II: The 1970s
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MuktoChinta/message/9286

Bob Dylan's Unshakeable Monotheism -- Part III: The 1980s
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MuktoChinta/message/9311

Bob Dylan's Unshakeable Monotheism -- Part IV: The 1990s
**[Does anyone have a working web link to this part?]**

There may also have been a Part V, but I'm not sure if that was ever up on he web.

Marshall's "The Spiritual Journey of BD" book was published in 2002 so I assume it covers through
the 90s and that his "A Spiritual Life" (Nov 2012 release) covers since then.

schnittstelle · **Joined:** Fri April 27th, 2007, 16:00 GMT **Posts:** 438

Thank you very much!

sanjuro

Amazing find, many thanks for this.

It should be noted that Scott Marshall has a book coming out in November of this year entitled Bob Dylan: A Spiritual Life.

Brian Hamilton-Smith · **Joined:** Tue March 31st, 2009, 07:59 GMT **Posts:** 1238

I've never trusted Bob as a 'spiritual'-type fellow. He seems to me the cake-and-eat-it type: he wants all the pleasures an earthly life of wealth and fame can get him, and he wants eternal salvation too. God bless him.

Probably that's his big problem. He's ringin' them bells so loud 'cause he's most likely on the last firetruck TO Hell. And he's scared.

bstacy · **Joined:** Sun June 22nd, 2008, 13:57 GMT **Posts:** 88

Bob keeps ringin' them bells loud, but ...
Careful, he's not too good a driver.
His FIRETRUCK might just run YOU over :-)

Ain't Talkin'

Brian Hamilton-Smith wrote:

I've never trusted Bob as a 'spiritual'-type fellow. He seems to me the cake-and-eat-it type: he wants all the pleasures an earthly life of wealth and fame can get him, and he wants eternal salvation too. God bless him.

Probably that's his big problem. He's ringin' them bells so loud 'cause he's most likely on the last firetruck TO Hell. And he's scared.

I doubt he's got anything to be scared about, except that he's too hung up on the wimmens. He seems to measure his spiritual path through the eyes of women, to an unbalanced degree.

But many of his best 'spiritual' songs, IMO, features women at the center, whatever you want to say about it.

Brian Hamilton-Smith · **Joined:** Tue March 31st, 2009, 07:59 GMT **Posts:** 1238

bstacy wrote:

Bob keeps ringin' them bells loud, but ...
Careful, he's not too good a driver.
His FIRETRUCK might just run YOU over :-)

oh dear

Brian Hamilton-Smith · **Joined:** Tue March 31st, 2009, 07:59 GMT **Posts:** 1238

Ain't Talkin' wrote:

Brian Hamilton-Smith wrote:

I've never trusted Bob as a 'spiritual'-type fellow. He seems to me the cake-and-eat-it type: he wants all the pleasures an earthly life of wealth and fame can get him, and he wants eternal salvation too. God bless him.

Probably that's his big problem. He's ringin' them bells so loud 'cause he's most likely on the last firetruck TO Hell. And he's scared.

I doubt he's got anything to be scared about, except that he's too hung up on the wimmens. He seems to measure his spiritual path through the eyes of women, to an unbalanced degree.

Nah. He's just a horny little rock star. That ain't it.

There is a touch of the delusional about our Bob. He's often wearing a Crown of Thorns. Can't help thinking he thinks he deserves a place in Heaven 'cause he thinks he thinks he has a touch of God in him. It's been the downfall of many a man. And Bob - notwithstanding what his advisers and fans may assure him - is just a man.

raging_glory

Thank you so much, bstacy! Please post part 4 if you find it and I will also be searcuihng

Paul Williams foreshadowed what the Slow Train era would thrust upon Dylan
fans for years to come: "One thing that is striking about Bob Dylan's
conversion is the way that it has brought up the subject of religion,
born-again Christianity, the place of God in our lives," wrote Williams.
"Dylan has a power -- not merely the superficial power that comes from being
a symbol of an era, but a power inherent in the living strength of his art
... and it moves people collectively as well as individually; ultimately it
affects the public consciousness, what people share and talk about. It may
not entirely offset the hypnotic drivel of the daily newspapers, but it
serves as a vital balancing force, a voice from the heart to cut through the
mindlessness of daily chatter."

Ain't Talkin'

Brian Hamilton-Smith wrote:

[
There is a touch of the delusional about our Bob. He's often wearing a Crown of Thorns. Can't help thinking he thinks he deserves a place in Heaven 'cause he thinks he thinks he has a touch of God in him. It's been the downfall of many a man. And Bob - notwithstanding what his advisers and fans may assure him - is just a man.

I inclined to think Bob is still lost, but more'n happy to share that loss with his fans.

bstacy · **Joined:** Sun June 22nd, 2008, 13:57 GMT **Posts:** 88

@raging_glory - thanks for the Paul Williams quote. How true!

Yes, let's all be on the lookout for that Part IV.

Giada · **Joined:** Wed May 11th, 2011, 06:31 GMT **Posts:** 4670

Ain't Talkin' wrote:

I doubt he's got anything to be scared about, except that he's too hung up on the wimmens. He seems to measure his spiritual path through the eyes of women, to an unbalanced degree.

That seems to be more Leonard Cohen's thing than Dylan's.

henrypussycat

Ain't Talkin' wrote:

Brian Hamilton-Smith wrote:

I've never trusted Bob as a 'spiritual'-type fellow. He seems to me the cake-and-eat-it type: he wants all the pleasures an earthly life of wealth and fame can get him, and he wants eternal salvation too. God bless him.

Probably that's his big problem. He's ringin' them bells so loud 'cause he's most likely on the last firetruck TO Hell. And he's scared.

I doubt he's got anything to be scared about, except that he's too hung up on the wimmens. He seems to measure his spiritual path through the eyes of women, to an unbalanced degree.

But many of his best 'spiritual' songs, IMO, features women at the center, whatever you want to say about it.

that's the lot of heteros, the grace is dispensed by ladies until it's taken away, ode to Mutability!

Or, in other words, I never asked for your crutch.

Brian has some puritan in him but I've no personal experience to confirm a love of celibacy so I tend to distrust those who boast about it.

Brian Hamilton-Smith · **Joined:** Tue March 31st, 2009, 07:59 GMT **Posts:** 1238

Who is this puritan who is in me??? This filthy innuendo must stop. I have a date with Bob in hetero-Hell. I'm trying my best to man up. Don't blow it for me, old sport. (Oh no...did I type that?)

henrypussycat

Brian Hamilton-Smith wrote:

Who is this puritan who is in me??? This filthy innuendo must stop. I have a date with Bob in hetero-Hell. I'm trying my best to man up. Don't blow it for me, old sport. (Oh no...did I type that?)

sorry, my mistake; I wasn't calling you a puritan, only an admirer of celibates, which must mean you believe them, ha ha

theunwavedhand · **Joined:** Mon June 15th, 2009, 03:35 GMT **Posts:** 721

Well you know, the expression of spiritual values in poems by talking 'bout wimmin goes wa-a-ay back, at least to the late Middle Ages, when the Church started using Mary for advertising purposes.

bstacy · **Joined:** Sun June 22nd, 2008, 13:57 GMT **Posts:** 88

.... Still looking for Part IV (the 1990s).

Scott Marshall's four-part overview series on the strange spiritual journey of Bob Dylan.

Bob Dylan's Unshakeable Monotheism -- Part IV: The 1990s
**[Does anyone have a working web link to this part?]**

Expecting Rain

Strange Spiritual Journey

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