Which makes perfect sense and side steps the matter of religiosity neatly. Maybe Dylan was a Christian. Maybe he is Jewish. But neither matters because whichever God (and they are presumably different) once existed, or exists, and Dylan seems to believe He exists, He is gone. And Dylan knows that too. And we are all better for that. A little sad, maybe, until we come to our senses, and remember just how dreadful the whole God-thing was to begin with: racism, sexism, paternalism, superstition, sentimentality, hypocrisy, enslavement, self defeat, and stupidity.

And if Dylan continues his own private beliefs - and after all, those sorts of beliefs are best kept private so as to not annoy the neighbors or scare off the well read - then that is good and proper. Some things are best kept in the home - like a love for fruitcake or old episodes of Hee-Haw.

But what if Dylan never wrote of a "world abandoned by God"? And what if he denied religion as a system but embraced the words of the Bible -- ALL of them? And what if his conclusions had nothing to do with an emptiness of a world abandoned by God but the vanity of a world that has abandoned God? And his songs were pitched not by the hubris of despair but of a battle that will seal a book and end in a lake of fire?
__

This essay -- or essays, really, were written by two: John D. Williams and Ronnie Keohane. They were written separately, without consultation with each other. Or much consultation, to be strictly accurate. Ronnie is from the East Coast -- transplanted to the West Coast. John occupies the area just north of the Gulf of Mexico.
__

Roundly denounced by critics as one of Dylan's worst efforts and with barely a following even among his hard core fans, Under The Red Sky exists as a sort of Hard Times in Dylan's oeuvre. Like the Dicken's novel, it continues to exert a certain controversy of quality, its detractors more appalled by its character than its content. To its detractors, it seems enough to say "Wiggle, Wiggle???" or "Handy Dandy???" for the point to be made that the sings are (presumably) sloppy, simplistic, and probably scribbled. Oddly, almost no one denounces the sound of the album, although demerits have been issued for "sloppy recording". Perhaps with the usual gerry-mandering of critical faculties that is reserved for Dylan by reviewers who have no idea of what he is up to or how he is getting there, sound is not enough for a Dylan album. Because a Dylan record needs lyrics that are...what? A voice of a generation. Or to reveal the very thoughts we would conceal. Or something like that.

Dylan's own fans are puzzled by the album because it incorporates nursery rhymes as a motif and that frightens them that their hero may have gone truly bonkers just like the critics (above) that they despise have themselves been suggesting for years.

In San Francisco, California on November 12, 1980, not long after his infamous "Gospel Tour" where he played nothing but songs from his Bible entrenched albums, Dylan issued a lengthy monologue from the stage:

"This is a 12 string guitar; first time I heard a 12 string guitar was played by Leadbelly, don't know if you've heard of him? Anyway, he was a prisoner in, I guess it was Texas State Prison, and I forgot what his real name was but people just used to call him Leadbelly.

(from the audience: "HUDDIE LEADBETTER")

He was recorded by a man named Alan Lomax, don't know if you've heard of him? He's done a lot of great things for music. Anyway he got Leadbelly out and brought him up to New York. And he made a lot of records there. At first he was just doing prison songs and stuff like that. Same man that recorded him also recorded Muddy Waters before Muddy Waters became ...  (inaudible). Anyway Leadbelly did most of those kind of songs.

He'd been out of prison for some time when he decided to do children's songs and people said oh, why did Leadbelly change? Some people like the old songs some people like the new ones. Some people liked both songs. But he didn't change, he was the same man!

Anyway this is a song called ...it's a song I wrote a while back. I'm gonna try and do it as good as I can. there's somebody important here tonight who wants to hear it, so we'll give it our best ...."

And he and the band launch into Caribbean Wind...neither a prison or children's song. But one stylistically more similar to sings written before his embracing of Christ even as the song did not ignore those events. In 1980, Dylan speaks of Leadbelly almost as a metaphor for himself.

"But he didn't change, he was the same man!"

In 1990, released as Under The Red Sky, Dylan tries his own hand at "children's songs". But these songs on Under The Red Sky are the most mordant of nursery rhymes! They can remind us at times, if we are willing to listen, that sometimes children play around corpses. Isn't it Ring Around the Rosie that was begun during the Black Plague?

As in that nursery rhyme, so too in Under The Red Sky. All fall down!

-- JDW

-- JDW

In Genesis 3:14-15, we read:

And the Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, cursed are you more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly shall you go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life; and I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise you on the head and you shall bruise him on the heel"

In Revelation 20:10, we read:

And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone...

And Bob Dylan told us all in 1979, that "God don't make promises that He don't keep."  In the first book of scripture (Genesis/Bereshit) God tells us of a conflict between the seed of a woman and the seed of the serpent that is to come. In the final book of scripture, Revelation, we learn of the final judgment upon the serpent.

Similarly, I believe Dylan parallels scripture with the opening song on his 1990 Under The Red Sky album, Wiggle Wiggle and closes the album with Cat's In The Well, that ends with the Servant/Messiah at the door ready to return to bring righteousness and judgment to the earth.

There are many schools of thought as to what Satan is. However, the school of theology that Dylan embraced sees Satan as a real being.  He is not just a metaphor for evil.  In Isaiah, we learn that he was cast down to the earth and in Genesis, we learn of his part in the Fall of man and the curse that was put on him by God.

During a lecture entitled, "Bob Dylan's Gospel Review", Dr. Gregg Hagg, after analyzing several lyrics, said of Dylan, "He again doesn't hesitate to mention Satan, it seems like that is his (Dylan's) understanding of evil in the world".

Just a sampling of Dylan's songs that deal with Satan show a very full picture of this foe:

In Gotta Serve Somebody, we understand that there is not a life nor position in this world that is not affected by Satan.  By default, those who have not decided to serve the Lord, are giving favor to His enemy -- the devil.

In Precious Angel, Dylan refers to him as "the enemy" which is the translation of the Hebrew word HaSatan.  Building on the theme in Gotta Serve Somebody, Dylan sings, "Ya either got faith or ya got unbelief and there ain't no neutral ground, the enemy is subtle, how be it we are so deceived.."

In Man Gave Names To All The Animals, Dylan captures in the songs last verse both the curse and the final judgment when he sings, "He saw an animal as smooth as glass, Slithering its way through the glass.  Saw him disappear by a tree near a lake.." And we are left to fill in the last ominous line.

In Slow Train Coming Dylan calls people who believe that they can manipulate Satan, fools.  Scripturally, we are told only to resist Satan.

In Trouble In Mind, Dylan portrays Satan as the tempter.

In Ain't No Man Righteous, No Not One, Dylan warns us that Satan undermines and deceives even those whose intentions are good.

In Saved, Dylan tells us that he was blinded by the devil.

In Pressing On, Dylan brings us back to the fall of man in the Garden of Eden when he sings, "Adam given the devil reign"  This was also reiterated during Dylan's gospel rap at the Warfield theater in 1979, when he said, "You know Satan's called the god of this world..."

In Saving Grace, Dylan reiterates Satan's ability to blind us even with a shining light.  This is backed by scripture which warns us in Corinthians: ...for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

In Dead Man, Dead Man, Satan has the dead man by the heel, which is pretty descriptive of how a snake would latch on to someone trying to kill them.

In Man of Peace, Dylan describes the seed of Satan and is about his rise to power.  This is the anti-christ who will bring a false peace to the world only to catapult it into the worldwide conflict known as the great tribulation.  Throughout this song, the many disguises and methods of seduction and delusion are explored by Dylan.

Of course, throughout Dylan's writings he discusses Satan's effect on man and mankind, but the preceding paragraphs are examples where Dylan is clearly speaking of a distinct individual.

In Wiggle Wiggle, Dylan is clearly taunting someone.  It seems that with all the power, time and ability, that this one who Dylan describes as a big fat snake, he can not inflict fatal harm on Dylan.  Assured of this, and the inevitability of the utter defeat of God's adversary, Dylan lets the insults fly....

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a gypsy queen
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle all dressed in green
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle 'til the moon is blue
Wiggle 'til the moon sees you

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle in your boots and shoes
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle you got nothing to lose
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a swarm of bees
Wiggle on your hands and knees

Wiggle to the front, Wiggle to the rear
Wiggle 'til you're right out of here
Wiggle 'til it opens, Wiggle 'til it shuts
Wiggle 'til it bites, wiggle 'til it cuts

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a bowl of soup
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a rolling hoop
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a ton of lead
Wiggle you can raise the dead

Wiggle 'til you're high, wiggle 'til you're higher
Wiggle 'til you vomit fire
Wiggle 'til it whispers, wiggle 'til it hums
Wiggle 'til it answers, wiggle 'til it comes

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like satin and silk
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a pail of milk
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, rattle and shake
Wiggle like a big fat snake

Satan is going to have successes (even raising the dead: Revelation 13:3) and Satanic activity will increase as this age comes to an end. He and his forces, the fallen angels will be everywhere (as a swarm of bees) trying to pull off a victory before their fate is sealed. However, that fate has been sealed.  When Lucifer tried to exalt (wiggle 'til you're high...'til you're higher) himself over the Most High God, he was cast down to the earth.

From the book, Messianic Christology by Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum, we find:

Messianic prophecy begins as early as the third chapter in the book of Genesis. It is no surprise that the very first messianic prophecy should occur within the context of the Fall.  If sin had not entered the world, there would never have been a need for a redeeming Messiah.  After the Fall, God curses the serpent who caused the Fall, and declares enmity between the serpent and womanhood.  This enmity is to extend to the Seed of the Woman and the seed of the serpent....

The fact that Moses traced this genealogy through the woman tells us that there will be something very different about the Messiah, something that necessitates tracing his ancestry through His mother, not His father.  Moses gives no explanation here, and none will be given for several centuries until the time of the Prophet Isaiah - when he will prophesy that Messiah is to be born of a virgin and have no human father.

Genesis 3:15 states that Messiah will crush the head of the serpent, that is, Satan (Revelation 12:9, 15; 20:2).  In the process Satan will manage to wound the heel of Messiah, but will be unable to prevent his own destruction.  The bruising of Messiah's heel took place at the crucifixion - painful but in the eternal sense, not fatal.  The crushing of the serpent's head began with Jesus' death and resurrection, a point made in Hebrews 2:14-18.  Romans 16:20 sees the crushing of Satan's head as still future, and so his final destruction will not come until he is thrown into the lake of fire.

-- RK

Mother Goose and the Brothers Grim here consort like inhabitants of Desolation Row, but not in their pseudonymous identities but by their myths that they have created. There are really few Dylan songs as cryptic and yet as clear as this. One would have to look for towards the Basement Tapes to find something as utterly nonsensical that managed to tell the story of something you already knew so well.

Far from the silks and satins of Wiggle Wiggle there is nothing really of worth in this world and these children live in exile - in an alley under the red sky. The color choice is rich - any meaning will suffice - whether sunrise, sunset, smog filtered, nuclear holocaust, arid desert, or simply "that hot, iron glow as you raise the shade" that ends Foot of Pride, we are in a wasteland, but drawn in the crayon lines of a child. The gentle  syncopation of jazz is accompanied by a hobo accordion that seems to carry a twist of memory, rueful, as if what will happen has happened, a sad memory, mixed with nostalgia and a bittersweet love.

Of course there was an old man who lived in the moon -- it almost does no good to try to describe the lines that Dylan's voice describes so well -- we all know the man in the moon with his frozen beatific smile -- and of course in the balmy days of summer he visited. And in the heat of a most succulent time dreams are created and promises made. These are the only things of worth in this arid land. And the wedding promised to the girl will be blessed, in a manner that even a child can understand, that Cinderella would most certainly understand, a "diamond as big as a shoe".

In lines then so prettily drawn, in a voice almost crooning as soft as the changing winds described, low and then high, the fate of the boy and girl is sealed, in such a ghastly manner. They are baked and to be consumed. It is a child's logic, mysterious but wise, and it signifies transformation, and hints at a line in a later song, when Dylan offers to eat off the head of one to reveal his lover, and who he really is.

And so here all is revealed, the simple truth. In this Jack and Jill pastoral we know the way, we know where we are, but we are linked instead to a blind horse that will never lead us to use the key to the kingdom, but perhaps down many other alleys in these blind alleys of emptiness.

The bird sings, the bird flies, like the wind goes high and low, that the lines parallel. They are the passage or time, of seasons, of signs, of change, of transformation, and the man in moon must go, and with him all life. The river goes dry. And we know that in this arid land nothing remains.

It is a song that as children we grasp immediately. As adults we seek a blind horse to explain it. We reject the key to the Kingdom. But IT is finished.

-- JDW

There was an old man and he lived in the moon
One summer's day he came passing by
There was an old man and he lived in the moon
And one day he came passing by
Some day, little girl, everything for you is gonna be new
Some day, little girl, you'll have a diamond as big as your shoe
Let the wind blow low, let the wind blow high
One day the little boy and the little girl were both baked in a pie
Let the wind blow low, let the wind blow high
One day the little boy and the little girl were both baked in a pie

There are many schools of thought on the subjects of pre-destination, free will and election. All of these deal with the fact that some people will leave this world without having accepted God's grace. Therefore, they will not stand in the judgment.  They will be lost and will not enter heaven. I turn to a story that was relayed by Jesus to give us all a glimpse of what, as Dylan sings in Silvio, "only dead men know."

From the sixteenth chapter of Luke, we read about Abraham, a beggar named Lazarus and a rich man:

Now there was a certain rich man, and he habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, daily living in splendor every day. And a certain poor man named Lazarus was laid at his gates, covered with sores, and longing to be fed with the crumbs which were falling from the rich man's table; besides, even the dogs were coming and licking his sores. Now it came about that the poor man died and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom; and the rich man also died and was buried.

And in Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far away, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said, "Father Abraham have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue; for I am in agony in this flame."

But Abraham said, "Child, remember that during your life you received your good things and likewise, Lazarus bad things; but now he is being comforted here, and you are in agony. And besides all this, between us and you is a great chasm fixed, in order that those who wish to come over from here to you may not be able and that none may cross over from there to us.

And he said, "Then I beg you, Father, that you send him to my father's house for I have five brothers, that he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment."

But Abraham said, "They have Moses and the Prophets, let them hear them."

But he said, "No, Father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!"

But he said to him, "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead."

In the song, Under The Red Sky, Dylan introduces three characters: the little boy, the little girl and the man from the moon. The little boy and little girl live in a less than desirable world.  But during this existence, the little girl is given promises. She will one day see all things made new.  Awaiting her is the Messianic Kingdom, the New Jerusalem and the Eternal Order. For the boy, it seems nothing was delivered or promised. Just as Lazarus and the rich man went through a metamorphosis in death, so too, the little girl and boy are both baked in a pie. Similarly, in the story that Jesus told; the beggar who is to receive rewards is personalized along with Abraham. The rich man is never named. So, in song Dylan brings the concept that there is no future for the boy by not mentioning him again. Jesus illustrates the lostness of the rich man by de-personalizing him.

The story that Jesus relays is not a parable. It is a scene that Jesus has actually witnessed. Parables do not have real people in them. In the song, Jokerman, Dylan sings that Jokerman (Jesus Christ) look into the fiery furnace, to see the rich man without any name.

It is evident that this teaching was not lost on Dylan in 1982 when he wrote Jokerman or eight years later when he wrote Under The Red Sky.  Dylan not only believes this story to have occurred but he dwells on the fact that the rich man was nameless, a fact that is lost on many who read the story.

The identity of the man from the moon, I believe refers to the Spirit of God. It is the Spirit of God that will indwell any individual that receives God's grace. Dylan has referred to the Spirit of God as wind in the song, You Changed My Life, when he lightheartedly sings, "You came in like the wind, like Errol Flynn".  It is the Spirit of God that acts behind the scene to bring people to God or closer to Him. It is this Spirit that Dylan sings of in the song Saved, "by His Spirit, I've been sealed". This occurs when a person is reconciled to God, by trusting in the redemptive work of Jesus the Messiah, accomplished through His death and subsequent resurrection.  After His resurrection and ascension to the Father, it is the Holy Spirit that has remained behind to carry on the ministry to bring God's creatures into an eternal relationship with Him.

This is the key to the kingdom and this is the town
This is the blind horse that leads you around

However, just like the little boy and little girl, we all exist in this alley, this town, what Dylan has referred to as a dump in Sweetheart Like You.  I have explained in the previous paragraph what is the key to the kingdom. How did Abraham find his way to Paradise?  Simple. The Bible tells us in the fifteenth chapter of Genesis of Abraham:

Then he believed in the Lord; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.

It has always been by faith that man is reconciled to God.  It is just the content of that faith that has changed over the ages. However, there is much in this world that blinds us.  And like having a blind horse, it will not help us find the correct path to salvation.

Let the bird sing, let the bird fly
One day the man in the moon went home and the river went dry
Let the bird sing, let the bird fly
The man in the moon went home and the river went dry.

What happens when God's Spirit goes home. Jesus lamented over this to the women in Jerusalem that were weeping for Him as He carried the wood for His execution, much like His ancestor, Isaac, so long ago.

In the twenty-third chapter of Luke, we read:

"Daughters of Jerusalem, stop weeping for Me, but weep for yourselves and your children. For behold the days are coming when they will say 'Blessed are the barren, and the wombs that never bore, and the breasts that never nursed. Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us' and to the hills, 'Cover us.'  For if we do these things in the green tree, what will happen in the dry?"

Jesus was warning of the Tribulation that is to come and it is also Dylan's theme that runs through the Under The Red Sky album. Again, similar images are sung as when we first heard of the Jokerman song on Infidels.

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune, Birds fly high by the light of the moon.

On the Jokerman video, we see the nightingales flying across a dark sky and occasionally we will see one fly to the light of the moon. Jokerman has entered the nightingale's world and become familiar to them in hopes of leading them to salvation.

Both Dylan and Christ warn us that there is a time coming when things will become dry. Jesus was telling the daughters of Jerusalem that if this type of evil can exist when God Himself is physically on this Earth, how much worse will it be when the Spirit of God is withdrawn (partially) from the Earth during the Tribulation.

"What will happen in the dry"?

On a personal note, Bob Dylan lets us know that he is counting on God's promises to him.  In 1997, Dylan wrote "Even if the flesh falls off my face, I know someone will be there to care".  He fully expects to be baked in a pie, to be with Father Abraham and Lazarus, receiving all the comforts allotted by a gracious God.

-- RK

Under The Red Sky has a brilliant structure. The songs almost seem to allude to each other. There are segments like movements, points of comparisons and contrast, long series of songs that directly connect.

That this structure eludes most listeners to the point of rejecting this album is almost unbelievable, as the next song attests. So let's catch up. Without resorting to the corniest of phrases such that this or that "represents" or symbolizes" something, or anything pretentiously mechanical, consider those first two songs -- as two views of the world, man's place in it and who is in charge. Wiggle Wiggle presents an orgiastic world ruled by a big fat snake. Under The Red Sky presents a haggard world of a complicated simplicity ruled by the man in the moon. These are small songs with big pictures.

Dylan now sharpens his focus and zooms in and with "Unbelievable" he blows up America (and the world) and exposes poverty in the excess. Dylan's "fishing song", Wiggle Wiggle, now stars the fish - and YOU - fancy free, efficacious in your freedom, that you are giving away for luxury, celebrity, hedonism, and a whirlwind of movement. Whereas the young Dylan described birds chained to the skyway, as if destiny is its own confinement, Dylan now redefines that paradox less as destiny than a design. In a brilliant image, the wide range of movement from north to south, as if the whole world is yours, mimics freedom but you are actually hooked!

"Said it was a land of milk and honey now they say it's a land of money  - who'd ever thought they'd ever make that stick?" quotes of course the description of Canaan, the Promised Land, but also America's ideal as the New World, the new promised land. A land where all is provided but never in this way!

No longer a land of the people, Unbelievable lays out a land of envy and self -glorification where all that matters are the lies. The man in the moon is not seen but every moon - ass - is so sanctified. Who are the wise and the foolish? None! Every head is dignified! What seems like egalitarianism is part of the lie. No one is contributing to the conversation - only trying to live up to it - however unreliable and false the dream. Professional understanders now release us from any real participation. The American People are now Nielsen ratings - and one makes one stand by watching television (hinting at a later song).

"You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you" was the warning given by the hipster Dylan. But the warning has gone long unheeded and grown cold. Now all opinion is created someplace else and you are free to choose whatever opinion you make your deity. But even a blind man surrounded by wiles will suffer.

"It's unbelievable the day will finally come" is not today. It is not the day described in the song, the day which glorifies itself even as it kicks a carcass of an older American Dream. It is a day to come. To this world, so enamored with itself, it is unbelievable that this world could end, just like putting scissors to a string.

And where do YOU fit in this? Are YOU so impervious to need? How can there be need in this land of plenty? And what if YOUR conclusions have nothing to do with the pre-set notions that seem to cover every angle except the morals of despair?

It's unbelievable it goes down this way.

-- JDW

Sometimes I feel so low down and disgusted. Can't help but wonder what's happening to my companions.  Are they lost or are they found, have they counted the cost it'll take to bring down all their earthly principles they're gonna have to abandon.  There's a slow, slow train coming up around the bend.

Dylan is troubled by the apathy of his friends/family/fans towards anything of spiritual and eternal value. Also in 1979, Dylan speaks of the same mind-set when he sings:

My so-called friends have fallen under a spell. They look me squarely in the eye and say, All is well.

Throughout the 1990 song Unbelievable, Dylan is reacting to how far man has come since the Fall.  On Infidels, Dylan dealt with man and his ruling this world godlessly in License To Kill, but in this song Dylan centers on each individual's attitude toward just what it is that God requires.

It's unbelievable, it's strange but true
It's inconceivable, it could happen to you
You go north and you go south
Just like bait in a fish's mouth
You must be livin' in the shadow of some kind of evil star
It's unbelievable, it could get this far

Man has become so removed from what it is that God wants for him that Dylan portrays his existence as being just a gulp away from death.  Indeed, the Apostle Peter warns us that Satan stalks like a lion seeking to devour us. Dylan points out that, like the bait, we seem to be getting around okay, but we are oblivious to the danger from a predator. Because, as we live in this world, Dylan tells everyone, "you either have faith or you got unbelief, there is no neutral ground" and once that is established you will know whether it is the devil or the Lord that you serve.  In 1997, speaking of this dump Dylan remarks that "the light in this place is so bad" and until righteousness returns, it is like living in the shadow of an evil star.

It's undeniable what they would have you to think
It's indescribable, it can drive you to drink
They said it was the land of milk and honey
Now they say it's the land of money
Who ever thought they could ever make that stick
It's unbelievable, you can get this rich this quick

God wants his children to prosper but not in the realm that many are pursuing.  The Promised Land was said to be the Land of Milk & Honey.  It was where God wanted to establish and nourish the Israelites.  In a present day application, God still wants his creation to seek what He wants for us.  But we are satisfied if we are prospering in the land of money and do not seek what God's will and provisions are for us.  This teaching of seeking material wealth has even corrupted many a church teaching.  In the 1983 song Foot Of Pride, Dylan points his finger at those "who make all this money from sin, build big universities to study in, sing Amazing Grace all the way to the Swiss Banks".

Every head is so dignified, every moon is so sanctified
Every urge is so satisfied as long as you're with me
All the silver, all the gold
All the sweethearts that you can hold
That don't come back with stories untold, are hanging on a tree
It's unbelievable, like a lead balloon
It's so impossible to even learn that tune

Again, from the 1979 Slow Train Coming:

...but the enemy I see wears the cloak of decency, all non-believers and men stealers talkin' in the name of religion and later in the same song sings, "they talk about a life of brotherly love, show me someone who knows how to live it."

Many "watchman" have turned the people from faith in God and blinded them with the restrictions, rituals, traditions and works that are of little if any value to the Creator.  In the first chapter of the Book of Isaiah:

"To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?" says the Lord. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle.  I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats."

"Your new moons and your appointed feasts, My soul hates. They are a trouble to Me, I am weary of them"

Like a balloon made of lead or a tune that can never be heard, man also will fail at the very reason for his existence.  Without the faith and a right heart and attitude, all the new moons, feast and sacrifices were an abomination to God.  The phrase "hanging on a tree" is a euphemism for someone being under a curse.  And as long as man is satisfied with what is before his eyes, he will remain in this cursed state.

Kill that beast and feed that swine
Scale that wall and smoke that vine
Feed that horse and saddle up the drum
It's unbelievable the day would finally come

Throughout this album, the lyrics are pointing to an apocalyptic event, often referred to as the Day of the Lord.  Leading up to that day, man will wage war with man, rule this world as he sees fit, feed his own vices, but that Day, both terrible and swift will come like a slow train up around the bend.

Once there was a man who had no eyes
Every lady in the land told him lies
He stood beneath the silver skies
And his heart began to bleed
Every brain is civilized
Every nerve is analyzed
Everything is criticized when you are in need

In the gospel of Luke, it is recorded of Jesus that He said, "A blind man can not guide a blind man, can he?  Will they not both fall into a pit?"

In the previous verse, Dylan dwells on what happens when a man reaches out because he realizes he is in need.  His plea is answered by a woman who tells him lies. Because just like those to whom God spoke to in the passage from Isaiah, they are relying on their own ability to solve problems or to excuse them. Professing to be wise and uncovering the great knowledge that exists in man, these blind guides keep those who embrace their teachings under a curse. The man is left to bleed seemingly out of the reach of the long arm of the Lord.

It's unbelievable, it's fancy free
So interchangeable, so delightful to see
Turn your back, wash your hands
There's always someone who understands
It doesn't matter no more what you got to say
It's unbelievable it would go down this way

These teachings tickle man's fancies.  Dylan said it in the 1982 song, License To Kill, Man "worships at an altar of a stagnant pool and when he sees his reflection he is fulfilled".  Man wants to be his own god and accountable to no other, especially a God of moral absolutes.  Because of His righteousness, the Day of the Lord must surely come. And there ain't no going back when the Foot of Pride comes down.

Man will have rejected the very salvation that he needed. Neither the writings of Moses, the prophets, the words and witness of Jesus Christ nor the fulfillment of end time prophecies will open the eyes, ears and hearts of those who choose to turn their backs, wash their hands and provide an alternative way to be successful in this life.

Dylan tried to wake this generation up in 1979, asking us "Do you ever wonder just what God requires?" and now he looks out knowing that time is getting shorter.  He is weighed down with this knowledge, something about which he once said, "I didn't ask to know these things."  But these things are what speak truth to Dylan and for all who will seek it for themselves.

-- RK

It must be stated here how well Dylan sings throughout this album. It is another reason why lukewarm appreciation to these songs is so curious. Dylan shows full command of every emotion and there is never a breath that is not expressive.

The song is one of the most tender that Dylan has ever sung - sometimes mordant - never cruel - its harsh reality is only that of the oncoming days - life under the red sky - our life - where true words may be spoken and broken.

The oriental opening almost has a smell and the senses are charged with shadows and thick colors and a tension between the sexes. There is a history to these two - chains that may or may not be unbound. Like the passages of time, the wind blowing and the birds flying in Under The Red Sky, so the ways of nature here "will test every nerve".

Love is not easy here nor simple. But that is not the problem. This is not the decadent world of self gratification of Wiggle Wiggle or Unbelievable but it is erotic -- a sensation that can only be known through feeling rather than numbness - of a rising curve - and with meaning so deep that it can only be described as mystery.

And why should this sacrifice bring gain while the appearance having of everything make a blind man bleed?

-- JDW

Not one more night, not one more kiss,
Not this time baby, no more of this,
Takes too much skill, takes too much will,
It's revealing.

You came, you saw, just like the law
You married young, just like your ma,
You tried and tried, you made me slide
You left me reelin' with this feelin'.

On the rising curve
Where the ways of nature will test every nerve,
You won't get anything you don't deserve
Where we were born in time.

You pressed me once, you pressed me twice,
You hang the flame, you'll pay the price,
Oh babe, that fire
Is still smokin'.
You were snow, you were rain
You were striped, you were plain,
Oh babe, truer words
Have not been spoken or broken.

In the hills of mystery,
In the foggy web of destiny,
You can have what's left of me,
Where we were born in time.

The enemy here is so absurd to be dismissed and yet so pernicious that none of us escape its grasp. The totality of its power is so great - its influence so ingrained as to almost take over the private life - to contest it almost useless - that it is fitting that Dylan places the words of the truth into the mouth of an idiot.

As Dylan used a roadhouse stomp for Wiggle Wiggle here Dylan uses a talking blues for all the purposes of a talking blues - to simply engage the world as one wanders -- picking up any incidents found -- usually funny - and through describing whatever is found - truth is found.

In TV Talkin' Song, the back yard is Hyde Park, in an area of public discourse that for years has been the province of street corner cranks and anyone with an ax to grind. And the particular lunatic that Dylan here captures is one with a wild-eyed view of our century's greatest wonder - television - our beloved medium of mass communication. There is something for everybody somewhere on television. If the entertainment does not suit you there is more - and the 24 hour news where even wars are conducted make it indispensable.

We have all now grown up with television and no longer have to fear it as a means to demean the arts - as the intellectuals did when I was growing up. Television now guides us in all things from social mores to hairstyles. The actors have become our avatars and our lives are lived in proxy by the characters in the box. I know in my life that the greatest testament to satisfaction in one's work life or home life is that one or we would make great subject matter for a TV show or situation comedy.

"Did you see that commercial" is an icebreaker in conversation and even in those advertisements that do not draw comment, every moment if life has been captured and aligned with a product. We are touched and identify with a man's private moments with his infant child - not only by the stylish motif of a "nurturing man" that allows us to know that this man is one of us -- today's man -- but his hopes and fears for the future of his child's life are our own and we may be drawn to purchase insurance -- perhaps a little less grateful than the man in the commercial -- but secure anyway in the opportunity.

A group of nuns fleeing the rain to the comfort of shelter will remind us that life is precious and in need of being photographed. A gang-war between bullfrogs and lizards will make at smile at the absurdity of life and point us to the simple pleasures of beer. Ecstatic music and a shimmering light on a car in the middle of a forest will remaid us of our spiritual quest and that sometimes salvation may be found in a vehicle. But the quiet blasphemies of many a product sold at the gate of Saint Peter is less the enemy than the by-product of world that has abandoned God. More common, unable to adequately list, because this is not a phone book or encyclopedia, is that every moment of life has been enacted to sell us something. Or we are "educated" in dramas "torn from today's headlines". The news dictates our social concerns and issues of daily living while the dramas make the issues more "real". But who says these are the issues of our lives but the news? Even Justice is meted out in nation wide trials where outcomes may be shifted according to newscaster fears - in turn, your fears - because the newscasters have told you so.

Who are you? Intelligence today is your grasp of current events, business data, and your knowledge of the more luxurious products being sold. Who you are is what you wear and you will want the brand names to be seen to allow you to express yourself.  Who you are is what stars you listen to. Who you are is what shows you watch. Who you are is what commentator you listen to. Who you are is what books and records you order. Who you are is what you buy! Who you are is who you choose to be in the land of plenty stuff. The TV is your buffet of earthly delights and there is a choice for everyone.

But to not choose from these is to make you a nut or worse. To question technology now is to be called a "Luddite" even if most of the users of the word only distinguished it yesterday from a once popular cough drop. To question the unstoppable is to waste your breath or to "whine". These phrases, loaded with contempt, are disseminated, as every point of view -- every one permitted that is -- becomes a capsule description - like a pellet of poison flooding the waters.

Even Dylan's character in the song - his mind begins to wander as he listens to the crank go on too long -- this is simply too much for his attention span and when the news cameras jump over Dylan's character, they are as much a part of the action as the crank himself. Everything has been turned into an image of a perception, and manipulated, until the mirror reflection no longer holds truth, and if this life were a song, it would be impossible to realign the tune.

On a personal note, I used to go to a downtown clinic where I worked and I would sit in the waiting room to see people who I knew would be there so I could speak to them. Even if the people I was waiting on were not there, those who were would usually be having some sort of conversation. Most of them were interesting because the people in question lived hard lives so their stories were often funny in a rather gruesome way. Near the end of the time I was working there, a TV was placed in the room, bolted up high so none of them could reach it to change the channel. It was often on whatever the receptionist wanted to see.

I remember sitting there trying to have a conversation with one of the people I was there to see. But the noise and grabbing "life" of the TV had an attraction that neither of us could resist. It was not that the program was interesting. It was likely a soap opera featuring characters neither one of knew. But sometimes we would shift our attention to the pregnant moments before the commercial to view an actress reacting overlong to some information given to her by the actor. And then the loud blaring of a cheerful commercial.

Sometimes, right after the TV was installed, there would be some complaints about what program was on. The clerk would smile stiffly and say that there was nothing she could do but that was not really true. Over time, the conversations stopped in that room. Not just on that day. Every day. When the folks would get up to leave the room, to smoke a cigarette, then conversation would happen.

But in the room itself. The conversations stopped.

No doubt that was part of the reason for installing the TV. The clerks could get on with their work without being disturbed. And they could enjoy a background noise that was tolerable to them.

Perhaps the persons in the waiting room were entertained as well. But I believe mesmerized would be the better description. And a little sense of community - for among these people they could experience only but a little sense of community - was lost.

And just this morning, on TV, a pharmaceutical company warmly reminded me how their products make it possible for me to love.

-- JDW

There was someone on the platform talking to the folks
About the TV god and all the pain that it invokes
"It's too bright a light," he said, "for anybody's eyes,
If you never seen one, it's a blessing in disguise."
I moved in closer, got up on my toes,
Two men in front of me were coming to blows
The man was saying something about children when they're young
Being sacrificed to it while lullabies are being sung.

"The news of the day is on all the time
All the latest gossip, all the latest rhyme,
Your mind is your temple, keep it beautiful and free,
Don't let an egg get laid in it by something you can't see."

"Pray for peace!", he said, you could feel it in the crowd.
My thoughts began to wander. His voice was ringing loud,
"It will destroy your family, your happy home is gone,
No one can protect you from it, once you turn it on."

"It will lead you into some strange pursuits,
Lead you to the land of forbidden fruits
It will scramble up your head and drag your brains about,
Sometimes you got to do like Elvis did and shoot the damn thing out!"

"It's all been designed to make you lose your mind,
And when you go back to find it, there's nothing there to find."
"Every time you look at it, your situation's worse,
If you feel it grabbing out for you, send for the nurse."

The crowd began to riot and they grabbed hold of the man
There was pushing, there was shoving and everybody ran.
The TV crew was there to film it, they jumped right over me,
Later on, that evening, I watched it on TV.

The next set holds two songs, returning to reflect the previous sets. In a sense, Wiggle Wiggle begat Unbelievable which shall begot 10,000 Men. Under The Red Shy begat Born In Time, which shall begot 2X2. And TV Talkin' Blues further embellishes the world of Wiggle Wiggle and Unbelievable. The last three songs on the album will be more than an answer to TV Talkin Blues. But now, in these next songs, we do not zoom in but pull back to the eternal.

Under the red sky, life is this moment is as illusory as it seems otherwise, so solid. What seems like freedom may in fact be a hook. And what seems right thinking and decent may be in fact a kind of damnation. So we must wake up from our illusions to see what is really going on - and in a wonderful "glitch" beginning 10,000 Men, even the machine wakes up, as a perverse inversion of Christ's entrance into Brussels, where even the rocks and trees could start to sing.

Professional musicians have pointed out this beginning of 10,000 Men as yet another example of Dylan's sloppy recording and indifference to studio techniques. The song opens with the audible groan of the tape being switched on. Some may have even go so far as to suggest that this is proof of Dylan's lackluster interest in the album although that would be an example of extraordinary blindness given the stellar performances of the band and Dylan himself along with the intricate interplay of the songs. But if you listen to something long enough, you're bound to believe that it is true.

While the "glitch" itself may have indeed been accidental, it could have been easily fixed - and is really more reminiscent of Dylan's unconventional approach to sound. While filming Renaldo and Clara, one recalls, certain scenes were retained because Dylan perceived in them a sound, thought by the technicians to be a flaw. Dylan corrected them - "it is a heartbeat".

So too with this - the machine - the dragon - as anyone familiar with Dylan's view of studio technology will recognize as an idea - wakes up. And under the red sky the machine begins to collect his army.

In 10,000 Men we return to the society encountered already in Wiggle Wiggle and Unbelievable. But while the world of Wiggle Wiggle might be described as evil and the world of Unbelievable described as wrong, here we have 10,000 Men "doing nothing that your mama wouldn't disapprove".

The momentum of the song begins with the mechanical sounds of work and hammering in the guileful guitars, and the anonymous men gather from a hill. Dear reader, if you do not hear or see these things, these men are YOU!

While Dylan's description in Shot Of Love of "stadiums of the damned" garnered his listeners contempt rather than the apprehension of Dylan's epiphany of horror, Dylan here offers no loaded words to be misconstrued by the misguided. But the horror remains is that the damnable deed will not be done by the evil - but by the good.

Their march is the one the drum is saddled up for in Unbelievable. Their minds have been so mis-managed now that all they do is in the service for society - a society so gone wrong that reality appears as the delusion of a mad man in Hyde Park.

They too are victims. They have done no wrong but to be wrong and to serve wrong.  And to reject right, the Light of the World. And in the evening, they will be coming for you. Even as YOU are among them.

Like the thriller - The Spy Who Came In From The Cold - a novel of evil masquerading in banality - so to in their stylish hard working prosperous sameness do the servants of this world come in from the cold -- functioning as double agents - spies - disguised even to themselves -- wolves among sheep.

Who is who? Who are YOU? Have you already been baked? Transformed into something that you do not even know? Consumption will tell. Let us eat off your head to really see your lover.

The phrase would be understood by Dante who used it to describe a father and son who betrayed each other and formed the cruel murders of each of them. In Hell, they ate each other heads to reveal the vileness beneath their appearances of love.

There are 10,000 women all dressed in white. Who knows what will happen to them? They appear motionless. They are not with the men but appear in waiting.

They are not the mates to the 10,000 men. The 10,000 men have seven wives as the woman that Jesus met at the well had seven husbands. And like the blind man in Unbelievable who hears nothing but women's lies, the 10,000 hearts of the men are also bleeding, they are so lean and frail.

Are they beyond God? No! Certainly not the women, that is, those listening, for like the boy baked in the pie with no blessing, the men here are not Men, but mankind, a world of people who may either have faith or unbelief - with no middle ground.

The woman at the well repented and knew God's grace! And in 2X2, the next song, we will understand that even among believers they too struggle in this mis-managed world under the red sky.

But the 10,000 women in this song almost seem helpless. Frozen in windows like the temptations in Frankie Lee and Judas Priest, these women though are virgin brides. But even then they can do nothing but sweep the spilled milk. They can not clean up this mess.

Dylan finally speaks to one. In lines once crushed by a critic offended by Dylan's patronizing mack on a waitress, the singing here is not of smugness, but terror. Is she one of the women or the wives? Dylan does not know but that she is good. But goodness may not be enough in the struggle ahead and if she does not know now, it is not Dylan who can tell her.

-- JDW

In the last verse of Neighborhood Bully, Dylan sings "Standing on a hill, Running out the clock, Time Standing Still". There are simultaneous timetables and prophetic courses being fulfilled.

Dylan brings us to the place in the prophetic timetable where the first re-gathering of the Jews has taken place to the land that God gave them, there is one clock about to come to a stop with  "the fullness" of the Gentiles and another clock set to start ticking. This new clock will begin with the signing of an agreement between the nation of Israel and a world leader who will lull the Jews into a false sense of security, only to turn on them. The Bible gives an exact length of time for this to happen. From the signing of the treaty to the betrayal will be three and one half years. The clock will tick for another three and a half years in which the world will be thrown into a conflict like never before.

However, the need for a peace treaty is because as Dylan stated, that a country "was gonna come down and attack the Middle East".

Ten thousand men on a hill
Ten thousand men on a hill
Some of them goin' down
Some of 'em gonna get killed

Ten thousand men dressed in Oxford blue
Ten thousand men dressed in Oxford blue
Drumming in the morning
In the evening they'll be coming for you.

Ten thousand men on the move
Ten thousand men on the move
None of them doin' nothin' that your mama wouldn't disapprove.
Ten thousand men digging for silver and gold
Ten thousand men digging for silver and gold
All clean shaven, all coming in from the cold.

There are two distinct groups of people in this song and each group has its own "lover". The first group we hear about is described as 10,000 men whose garments are blue. They are readying themselves to battle and plunder. "Clean shaven" could be an adjective to refer to Gentile (non-Jewish) forces. Their dark clothes denote that they have not put on white robes of righteousness.

On April 20, 1980 Dylan spoke in one of his gospel raps of an invading army from "the furthermost north" an area that indeed would wear well the description of having its armies coming in from the cold.

Hey! Who could your lover be?
Hey! Who could your lover be?
Let me eat off his head so you can really see!

What is the identity of their lover? Could Dylan be reminding us of the scene in a movie about the anti-christ, in which his identity is exposed by the mark  666 that is found under his scalp.  (for the record, whereas, this image is a popular one, scripture does not tell us that the anti-christ himself will bear such a mark).

Ten thousand women all dressed in white
Ten thousand women all dressed in white
Standin' at my window wishing me goodnight.

Here is the second group of people in the song. Dylan describes them as female, dressed in white garments and in close proximity to their lover. When one interprets scripture literally and is familiar with ancient Jewish customs, a picture develops surrounding a wedding feast. We find that the bridegroom will travel to the bride's house and if he finds her chaste and waiting for him, he brings her to his family's home to wait for the ceremony. At some point, before the start of the seven year tribulation, Christ will bring His bride to His home (heaven) to wait for the feast.  She will be wearing the white robes of salvation. The wedding has not yet taken place, so the bride is portrayed as being outside the groom's window.

Ten thousand men looking so lean and frail
Ten thousand men looking so lean and frail
Each one of 'em got seven wives
Each one of 'em just got out of jail.

Back on earth, the tribulation is starting. The prophet Isaiah described that one aspect that would denote this time is that:

For seven women will take hold of one man in that day, saying. "We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothes, only let us be called by your name; take away our reproach. -- Isaiah 4:1

This is explained by Dr. Charles Ryrie as, "Wars will slaughter so many men that in that day, women will be willing to be self supporting if only they can be married and escape the reproach of being childless" (or being alone).  It also appears that the men, who would be in demand at this time, will be so in spite of themselves.

Ten thousand women sweeping my room
Ten thousand women all sweepin' my room
Spilling my buttermilk, sweeping it up with a broom.

Ooh, baby, thank you for my tea!
Baby, thank you for my tea!
It's so sweet of you to be so nice to me.

The last two verses take us back to Heaven. Completely different from the turmoil and desperation that has been described on the earth. Here we find the bride trying to find ways to serve and take care of her lover. Her mind is on that clock. The one that is ticking toward the Marriage Feast of the Lamb that is described in Revelation chapter 19:7. And in just four verses later in Revelation 19:11 we find the description of the Second Coming of Christ to wage war against those who are persecuting Israel and are in the armies of Satan and the anti-christ:

And I saw heaven opened; and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True; and in righteousness He judges and wages war.

It is Messiah, Who wages the battle of Armageddon.  Unlike the anti-christ's followers who will be slaughtered, the Bride of Christ is kept from the apocalyptic scene on earth.  This is because God has stated that in the Day of the Lord the bride would not suffer His wrath in the Book of 1 Thessolonians.

This is why Dylan is probably also singing about the bride in his song, Sweetheart Like You. (see Infidels essay). In that song, the bride has not yet been gathered by the bridegroom. She is still on the earth which Dylan refers to as a dump. He anticipates the time when she will be out of here, in fact she will be in the Father's house; a mansion with fireproof floors and taking care of Someone who would never do her wrong.

Someone -- who may just thank her for bringing Him that cup of tea, before that time When He Returns.

-- RK

Although Dylan has said that he does not, cannot in fact, pay close attention to every line he writes, and explore whatever meaning that they have, because to do so would place him in an endless quandary and force him to second guess himself, he is not unlike many artists in this. His creative process moreover does not appear to be based on any exact science but rather on a heightened intuition grounded in a tremendous intellect. He is a musician after all, an artist, not a philosopher or theologian and hardly a scientist.

Sometimes this places, as so many other things do as well, a barrier between Dylan and his listening audience. The more intellectual of his audience will become disappointed in Dylan's often anti-intellectual stances. The less intellectual will suppose that Dylan sort of grabs anything to make a rhyme and, I suppose if we accepted that, he has simply been very lucky over 40 or so years. These are opinions of admirers, mind you, not the press or the general pop population. Those comprise a different set of expectations, if anything at all.

Dylan operates from instinct - what seems correct - and music is played through passion - what sounds correct - and he risks both all the time through key and tempo changes and rewriting - sometimes on the spot -- under the presumption that each new "version" will be correct - so it should not be too much of a surprise - and I hope the language here will not imply he is having to pass anybody's test - that he IS correct. At least, as far as being true to himself and his intentions.

As I am writing this essay -- co-writing it really -- and you reading it - someone among you must, reasonably, call a halt here (or anywhere) to consider - did Dylan REALLY mean everything laid on him in this article, essay, analysis or whatever you want to call it - I mean - this is some DE-tailed stuff!

My answer, as much as I can give it, would have to be Yes and No. The co-writings done in this essay are almost done blindly. Which is to say, there has been very little influence of the authors over each other as to what the other has written. While that is not strictly true - which is to say that I scanned the articles briefly about six or eight months ago, I find it unlikely that Ronnie's ideas much influenced mine - which I began to form when Under The Sky was released, as did Ronnie, long before we ever met.

As I am writing, I am cutting and pasting our articles - and then reading them together. I am frankly a little bit surprised at how they mesh. Although there really should not be much reason to be. We do not agree on every detail. I tend to think Ronnie's details have a little more weight than mine. Because she actually quotes scripture while I tend to allude to it.

Dylan has stated, he would never write anything scripturally false. There is a lot of room in that statement. But not enough to say that anything goes.

Under The Red Sky, in the phrase of one "Rock Encyclopedia" I looked in, was described, truthfully, as "universally panned" and a review of the reviews will show the reasons for that. The album is considered -- at least -- as incomprehensible (Heylin refers to 10,000 Men as a series of non-sequiturs). Moreover, it has been maligned as sheer stupidity ("Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle  like a bowl of soup"!, howls Patrick Humphries, and that pretty much sums it up).

It may be that nobody knew what Dylan knew when he did Under The Red Sky, including the musicians or producer, Don Was, even if the album works as effectively through their hands as Dylan's.

So why would WE, that is Ronnie and me, know something about this album that others do not see. In a way it is simple. Its there. Its obvious. If you don't have a cornflakes view of God or the Bible it is clear. If all you know is the lack of knowledge -- Biblical knowledge -- the lack of knowledge that most find sufficient, it will always be foreign. Unknowable.

It may be for this reason that Dylan essentially stopped writing after Under The Red Sky. "Universally" panned - Under The Red Sky -- it is the story of the Universe. To continue this way for Bob Dylan might have been a ticket to Hyde Park. For many listeners in 1990, he was already halfway there. While Dylan has never shirked from a challenge or strayed for his belief, to write for a world that does not have a clue as to what's being written, well, only Jesus could go on against those odds.  And that's already been done.

-- JDW

By what means then does salvation communicate?

After the frenetic pairing of 10,000 Men and 2X2, there is a silence on the album. Only two seconds but it is a calming. Then enters a spare accompaniment to Dylan's voice, this time slow and authoritative. It is the song, God Knows.

The first thing God dismisses in the song is your vanity, "God knows you ain't pretty, God knows its true". And the next thing he gives is your real importance, "God knows there ain't anybody ever gonna take the place of you".

Not no TV commercial product so you can love car that brings you salvation star they say you look like an actor that ain't no doctor. Dig?

So if God exists, why doesn't he see my problems and the injustice of the world? "God knows it's a struggle, God knows it's a crime."

Bit if God exists, why doesn't he do something about it? "God knows there's gonna be no water but fire next time."

Well, if God exists, which God? What about your forefathers, Mr. Dylan? I do believe you are a Jew? Answer me that, Mr. Dylan! "God don't call it treason, God don't call it wrong. It was supposed to last a season but its been so strong for so long."

So what about pain and loneliness? Where is God then? "God knows its fragile, God sees everything."

Then why can't I see God?. "God knows its could snap apart right now just like putting scissors to a string".

So why do I feel He has abandoned us? "God knows its terrifying, God sees it all unfold."

Then why doesn't God listen to ME? "There's a million reasons the be crying, you've been so bold and so cold."

Around the time that Under The Red Sky was released Bette Midler had a single released called From A Distance. These two songs are thematically similar. But with important differences. Both suggest answers to spiritual questions. And Midler had a hit while Dylan was "universally panned".

Midler's God knows that - upclose - everything looks a little grimy. But - from a distance - where God sits - there is a whole lot more harmony than what it looks like from below. Which is sort of cheering, and God knows, we could all use a little cheer.

Dylan's God is right at your elbow. And while he may not offer cheer, what He KNOWS, what God Knows, is that "you CAN make it from here to there if you have to walk a million miles by candlelight" This God is different than Midler's. This God requires something of YOU.

"God knows that there's a river, God knows how to make it flow." And when he DOES leave, there will be NO life outside of God, as in Under The Red Sky, when the man in the moon went home and the river went dry.

The fade at the end is intentional and serves to dramatize the line. We, with the singer, begin our walk of a million miles by candlelight. The fade here is a bookend to the dynamo growl that begins 10,000 Men.

-- JDW

But in 1979, though Dylan continued writing songs that were apocalyptic in nature, they no longer carried the sense of futility. There was a plan being played out. Not a plan like we have seen depicted with the mythical Greek Gods and their pawns in a game on Earth. But the plan of a God intent on redeeming this world from an adversary and as Dylan depicts them, those who love evil.
Though what is to come will turn the world for a time into a true desolation row, it is the beginning of the restoration of righteousness to the earth.  In the song God Knows, I believe that Dylan is continuing on in the Under The Red Sky album and focusing on the time leading up to and the Tribulation itself.  He keeps re-affirming that God is aware of what is besieging His creation and that He is never caught unaware. Each line carries the words: God Knows. God knows the tribulation and God knows how it can be escaped.

With all the certainty he can muster, Dylan is taking us back to his gospel raps, when he held the prophetic scriptures up for all to hear. In such songs as: When He Returns, Slow Train Coming, Man Of Peace, Neighborhood Bully, I & I, Dead Man Dead Man, When The Night Comes Falling From The Sky, Angelina., Cat's In The Well, 10,000 Men -- Dylan anticipates an apocalypse.  But he also knows there is mercy.

God knows you ain't pretty *
God knows it's true
God knows ain't anybody ever gonna take the place of you

In the first verse, Dylan tells us that God has not rejected us because we are sinful or rebellious. The Bible says, while we were yet sinners He died for us. Scripture also affirms that it is God's wish that no man perish but all come to saving faith.

God knows it's a struggle
God knows it's a crime
God knows there is gonna be no more water, but fire next time.

In the book of Genesis, God instructed Noah and his family how to build an ark and escape the wrath to come. That wrath was in the form of water. This was the second time in history that the earth was covered in water.  When the waters receded God made a covenant with Noah and gave as a sign the rainbow to symbolize that He would never destroy the earth by water again.

However, the spiritual conflict will escalate until the wrath of God will fall again on the earth. This time, Dylan believing in the scriptures, warns us that it is to be by fire.

God don't call it treason
God don't call it wrong
It was suppose to last a season but it's been so strong for so long

There has been allowed by God a certain amount of time that this spiritual conflict will continue. There is also, a set date that it will conclude. However, for those suffering on the earth, they might use the words of the minor prophet Habakkuk and cry, "How long O Lord?"  Just as in Habbakuk's day, it will appear that evil is winning, but God will intervene when the time has come.

God knows it's fragile
God knows everything
God knows it could snap apart right now like taking scissors to a string

We are told that God knows the number of the hairs in our head. Listen to Dylan's lyrics in Every Grain of Sand to understand how closely God watches over us. Dylan knows that the Master has a plan as he is hanging in the balance of the reality of Man.

God knows it's terrifying
God sees it all unfold
There's a million reasons for you to be crying
You've been so bold and so cold.

As the conflicts rise all around us, we realize that our lives have been lived like those who Dylan describes in License To Kill.  "Man thinks, cause he rules the earth, he can do with it as he please, and if things don't change soon, he will  and later in the song; Man worships at an altar of a stagnant pool, and when he sees his reflection, he is fulfilled."

Dylan has assessed that man is ruling this world without acknowledging its Creator or its Savior or His wisdom. As man cries for help, he is terrified because he knows that he has up to now, rejected the One that he needs most. But, Dylan now tells us, that we need not fear, if we turn to Him.

God knows that when you see it
God knows you got to weep
God knows the secrets of your heart
He'll tell them to you when you are asleep

In the scripture, there is a prophetic scene that will take place at the end of the tribulation.  It is the scene when the nation of Israel that is alive in that day, will recognize that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the promised Messiah.  At this realization, they will weep because "When He Returns" they will recognize Him as one whom they have pierced and the prophet Zechariah says they will weep for Him as one weeps for their child.  This same experience takes place on a individual level.  Each individual that comes to faith, turns from a position of unbelief to a position of belief. This happens through the working of God's Spirit. No man can come to faith unless God has drawn him to Himself.

The unseen workings of God may be expressed by Dylan as occurring in our sleep.

God knows there's a river
God knows how to make it flow
God knows you ain't gonna be taking anything with you when you go

However, God has made a way unto life even amidst the tribulation.  He has provided it all -- The shoes in I & I, and those that the daughters need in Cat's In The Well, will put you on the path of salvation and the white garments of the women in 10,000 Men.

This is not clothing prepared on earth. They are supplied divinely by God. As in the Garden of Eden, it is God who provides the clothes or coverings that are needed to cover our sins. Remember, Abraham said at the offering of Isaac, that it would be God who will provide the ram for the offering. Dylan sang in 1979, "You've done it all and there is nothing more that anyone can pretend to do."

God knows there's a purpose
God knows there's a chance
God knows you can rise above the darkest hour of any circumstance

The year after this song came out, Dylan appeared at the Grammy awards to receive a lifetime achievement award and in his speech, he just wanted everyone to know that no matter how defiled an individual may become, God will always believe in his ability to mend his own ways.

In mending his ways, he can overcome any circumstance and any dark hour. Again, Dylan affirms that there is an exit, maybe one that you can't see with your eyes. And in the last verse, he tells us where that exit will lead.

God knows there is a heaven
God knows it's out of sight
God knows we can get all the way from here to there
even if we got to walk a million miles by candle light.

In scripture, God led the Israelites out of bondage by leading them as a pillar of light through the wilderness into the Promised Land. Jesus of Nazareth proclaimed that He is the Light of the World and also is the Way, the Truth and the Life. It is that light, which may appear dim in the days of tribulation that are to come, but which will safely bring people to the City of Gold that Dylan sang of in 1980.

God knows I love you *

In live performances, Dylan has replaced the opening line, "God knows you ain't pretty" with "God knows I love you".  I find this intriguing.  Dylan has often been portrayed as a man who cares nothing for his fans.  Didn't he just leave the protest movement blowin' in the wind?  Didn't he pull the plug on the folk scene by going electric?  Didn't he shun the psychedelic/Aquarius/free love movement to "regress" with Nashville Skyline and John Wesley Harding? That has been looked upon as a sellout by Dylan. And of course, there are those offensive gospel concerts.

Certainly, all that shows that all Dylan cares about is whatever he is into at the moment and he just force-feeds it to his fans, dragging them along for the ride.  Because, it could not possibly be that Dylan might actually care for his fans and their security, in spite of themselves.

Or could it?  What other performer laid so much on the line to put out the gospel message?  Has there ever been a public figure that had so much to lose by becoming evangelistic than Dylan? To all those who saw Dylan himself as messianic, he told them, It Ain't Me, Babe. To the "Church", they were not comfortable with this thirty-eight-year-old Jewish man with the mantel of a druggy mystic from the world of rock music and protest. To his Jewish brethren, they could accept anything from their modern day prophet but not Jesus.

And he did not just give an album and return to his comfortable home. He endured ridicule, being portrayed as being emotionally devastated in need of a crutch, or pandering to the Gospel Belt (how ludicrous). His record sales plummeted and concert attendance. One man told me that in 1980, twenty dollar Dylan tickets were being scalped for ten dollars. Even the music industry pronounced him dead.

To many of Dylan's fans who were accepting of his message on the Slow Train album, they never made the effort to support him and are grossly unaware of the body of Dylan's faith based writings and interviews.

So why did he do this, and endure ridicule even in this day for the message he gave so boldly....?

God knows I love you....

-- RK

"In the world you will have trouble, but be of good cheer! I have overcome the world." Jesus explains to his followers as they eat a final meal. And the most common attribute of the "good news" - that is, the Gospels -- and all of the New Testament is this JOY.  Jesus describes himself as "living water" and those that drink of this water will have joy!

Now joy is something that makes you laugh in a way that knows. Not a smirk to something false or cynical. But a revelation that frees you. It is spring that flows. C.S.Lewis, author of The Screwtape Letters and noted Christian apologist titled the story of his conversion, Surprised By Joy.

So be prepared to laugh. Here is the joke that tells the truth.

Q: If the 10,000 women in the song 10,000 Men are virgin brides, who are they waiting for?

A: "He's got an all girl orchestra and when he says "Strike up the band!", they HIT IT!"

The song, of course, is Handy Dandy.

I know you do not believe me in what I write. That's all right. I know why. First of all is that name, Handy Dandy. Hardly the reverential sort that one might expect if one has learned to see Jesus as the doe-eyed anorexic in Western Art through the Ages. In fact, Handy Dandy has proved so absurd a name that many use it alone as a reason to write off Under The Red Sky.

But let's leave the portentousness to the critics and let Dylan have his fun. After all, he had previously described Christ as Jokerman so let us enjoy the joke. Unlike a practical joke, played at the expense of someone else, however, this joke is one of joy.

The next reason to object to this Handy Dandy as Christ is his occupation as a bandleader - of an all girl orchestra at that, a novelty act even in the days of serious bandleaders. The formula of Christ as Ricky Ricardo, or even close, must be admitted to strain credulity.

But there is more. Drinking brandy with the boys? Fooling around with guns and a girl? All this sounds more like a shady character than the Son of God.

But all that said, there is a wisdom in this madness.

Let us attend to the album structure first. We have seen it more or less carefully aligned with parallel songs and groupings. It is not required that Dylan have a scientific understanding of these groupings nor is it wise to suggest they are the play of mere coincidence. Dylan is intuitive but no fool and the themes of the album are fairly clear if one knows how to listen. Nor is the key to listening so obscure that the reviewer (me) is simply playing a subjective game with himself. Although I cannot say that when I first heard Under The Red Sky in 1990 that I immediately apprehended this song as anything other than a "precise portrait" as Heylin describes it. It did not matter who the song was "about" other than this bandleader.

But even then I knew the portent of having a "fortress on the mountain, with no doors, no windows, no thieves can get in". If Mr. Dandy were a rat, perhaps he would have the same bedroom window as Maggie's Pa - but Maggie's Pa was never "sugar and candy". This ain't the same guy.

These last three songs, God Knows, Handy Dandy, and Cat's In The Well will bring it all back home in Under The Red Sky. Up to the previous song, God Knows, Dylan has been content to reference God through metaphors, linking the idea of God with concepts even a child can understand. He makes the presence of God known explicitly in the previous song just so you know where he is coming from.  But all this has been for a purpose - to rearrange the story of the Bible in a way that tells YOU, the listener, the Truth without being bogged down by the straw-man versions of scripture that media critics claim expertise of even as they despise them.

Under The Red Sky is a cry in the wilderness, sent to audience with no clue, but like a message in a bottle, it will find those who need to hear it.

Musically, Handy Dandy, is a break out from the entire set of songs preceding it. We are suddenly at a party and the host of it a complex man who can -- at least -- be described as popular among his friends.

He is a man self assured and powerful but hardly distant and far from a fool. He is well traveled but not jaded. He has a special relationship with the moon - and the "hounding" he feels is not one of being harassed. To be hounded by the moon is the be in sway of it, mysteriously, and somewhat cautious. As Jesus said, "Why call me good, there is none good but the Father above" - he exists in deference to the moon. Needless to say, controversy surrounds him.

Like sugar and candy HD is a joy to be around. But he is no sucker. If every bone in his body were broken he would never admit it.

You say, "What are ya made of?'
He says, "Can ya repeat what you said?'
You'll say, "What are you afraid of?"
He'll say, "Nothing neither live nor dead."

These lines function on several, actually sort of amazing, levels. They echo the exchanges between Jesus and the Sanhedrin and Jesus and Pilate, both events occurring in the heat of the Passion:

When day broke there was a meeting of the elders of the people, attended by the chief priests and scribes. He was brought before their council and they said to him, "If you are the Christ, tell us". "If I tell you", he replied, "you will not believe me and if I question you , you will not answer."  -- Luke 22:66 - 67

...[Pilate] said to Jesus, "Where do you come from?" But Jesus made no answer. Pilate then said to him, "Are you refusing to speak to me?"  Surely you know I have power to release you and I have power to crucify you?" "You would have no power over me" replied Jesus, "if it had not been given to you from above..."   - John 19:9 -11

But just so, the lines are also lifted from the 1967 movie, Charlie Bubbles, starring Albert Finney! In the movie, the somewhat profligate character, Bubbles, is returning home. He is a writer, famous, and the exchange he has is between he and a swarm of reporters.

Albert Finney? Jesus Christ? Huh?

By 1967, Finney had made his presence known in film by his Oscar nominated performance in Tom Jones, a picaresque tale of a lusty youth, based on the one of the earliest incarnations of the novel.

Finney was, and is, a brooding actor of coarse sensuality. Now corpulent, he plays men of distinction, often passionate, sometimes confused, but generally with a will of iron.

Finney would hardly be the choice of Hollywood casting of the Savior - that is would more likely be reserved for an actor who seemed ethereal - whose presence as a man would be a matter of course (a male actor can be nothing else) but whose extreme spirituality seemed wrapped in his features. This is indeed why Jesus has been created with the features we are accustomed to -- throughout history. It is to convey the mystery of God and Man in one.

In Handy Dandy, that kind of visual symbolism is dispensed with as unnecessary. Dylan's Jesus here is fleshly and fully human. Is he fully divine? Of course! In the metaphors of the song he has complete control. Everything is his. The stick -- or rod -- that guides his orchestra - of the 10,000 women, the Church, his pocket of cash that will never run out, his clear, crystal fountain - of living water - and his fortress - His Father's house with many mansions, as Jesus described Heaven.

He even has power over evil. To his people, nothing is denied, although all may not be good. "You want a gun, I'll get you one." he playfully toys with one of his girls. But his word too is written on her heart. "B...Boy, you're talkin' crazy!"

In this battle does Jesus sweat? While on Earth, yes. Here we are in Heaven. But Heaven is not far away or in the future even as God knows it is out of sight. The battle has been won even if to we born in time it seems as though all is lost.

He finishes his drink, he gets up from the table he says
"Okay boys, I'll see you tomorrow"

He will see them tomorrow and forever after as well.

The party life of Handy Dandy is not the first party we have encountered on Under The Red Sky. The album opens with the mad dance of Wiggle Wiggle. But while that party offers promises of wild abandon, it will never work. Far from sloppy writing, as critics have suggested, Dylan makes the point you will never be able to "wiggle like a ton of lead", although he uses the irony of common sense for that to register. You will only sink.

In the party of Handy Dandy, there is no anxious grasping. The big fat snake offers false promises. Handy Dandy offers freedom.

-- JDW
__

What description, then, can I find for the men of this generation? What are they like? They are like children shouting to one another while they sit in the marketplace: "We played pipes for you and you wouldn't dance; we sang dirges and you wouldn't cry." For John the Baptist comes, not eating bread, not drinking wine, and you say, "He is possessed!". The Son of Man comes, eating and drinking, and you say, "Look, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners". Yet Wisdom has been proved right by her children. -- Jesus to his contemporaries, Luke 7: 31 - 35

First, many have thought that Handy Dandy is a name for Dylan himself. Certainly, controversy surrounds him.  If every bone is his body was broken, would he admit it?

Whether it be the motorcycle accident in 1966 or the idiot wind that has swirled around him since 1962, he bears it in silence. His closest friends are kept from defending him from public wrongs because of Dylan's own desire to protect his privacy and not become a victim of celebrity status.  After these two references, I do not find other lines that point to Dylan.

I must admit that I have not been able to figure out why Dylan would call Jesus by the name Handy Dandy, as I could make an argument for the Jokerman title. That said, when I remove that stumbling block and concentrate on the other lines in the song, another view of eschatalogical events emerge.

In 2 X 2 I believe Dylan brings into focus events that are happening on earth. In 10,000 Men, he sings about events in heaven and simultaneous activities on earth. But in Handy Dandy, the venue is only heaven immediately preceding the Second Coming of Christ.

Handy Dandy, controversy surrounds him
Handy Dandy something in the moonlight still hounds him

Who He is -- is still very controversial. This is still the age of Jokerman, when each individual must give Him a value. Isn't the earth in the moonlight?  From heaven, as depicted in 10,000 Men, His focus is on the tribulation that is unfolding on the earth.

Handy Dandy, just like sugar and candy
Handy Dandy, if every bone in His body was broken
He would never admit it

They plucked out His beard and at His trial, He said not a word in His own defense.  He came to redeem the world. That was His objective.  It was not for any personal gain that He humbled Himself even unto death and that death was the criminal's cross.

He's got an all girl orchestra and when He says:
"Strike up the band" they hit it

In the Book of 1st Thessalonians, we read:

For the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God...

So, Jesus Christ will give the command that brings an orchestra to life.

Consistently, in Dylan's lyrics he casts the bride of Messiah as a "girl" -- as in girlfriend.  Here he does so, because when the trump is sounded, the "bride" is gathered to be with the groom who is waiting at the altar. This is the sweetheart in Sweetheart Like You, the 10,000 girls waiting outside His window in 10,000 Men.

You say, "What are ya made of?'
He says, "Can ya repeat what you said?'
You'll say, "What are you afraid of?"
He'll say, "Nothing neither live nor dead."

The bride is finally with the groom and she is taking stock. Is this the "shepherd who is asleep" or the fierce warrior that is to return to the earth to redeem not only spiritually but physically His people. He is not afraid of anything, neither live nor dead, because as Dylan told us twelve years earlier in When He Returns: Of every earthly plan that be known to man, He is unconcerned. He got plans of His own to set up His throne. When He returns.

Handy Dandy, He's got a stick in his hand
and a pocket full of money
He say's, "Darling, tell me the truth,
How much time I got?"
She says, "You got all the time in the world, honey"

Psalm 23 describes the Lord as the Good Shepherd with the rod in His hand for our protection. Could the money represent the redemptive price that He already paid on our behalf while we were yet sinners?

He's got that clear crystal fountain
He's got that soft silky skin
He's got that fortress on the mountain
With no doors, no windows, no thieves can break in

In the New Testament, Christ spoke of Himself as being living water and whoever drank of His water would never thirst again. When Jesus appeared to people on earth after His resurrection and before His ascension, He bore the deep wounds in His ankles, wrist and side, but not the grotesque scarring of the whippings, the plucked out beard and the crown of thorns. In this glorified state, only the scars that the Father didn't heal remain.

In 1997, Dylan sings personally of the "scars that the Son didn't heal."  In both, the physical appearance of a risen Savior and in the life of this Jewish man who was truly strapped to the Master, we see clear evidence that even the most painful experiences can be used to glorify God and exhort those who witness these scar-bearers.  In Sweetheart Like You, Dylan tells us of the mansion with the fireproof floors in the Father's house.  Here the mansion also is described as a place of refuge and sanctuary.  Truly, no one that the Father has given to the Son, will ever perish.

Handy Dandy, sitting with a girl name Nancy in a garden feelin' kinda lazy
He says, "Ya want a gun, I'll give you one."
She says, "Boy, ya talkin' crazy"

Handy Dandy, just like sugar and candy
Handy Dandy, pour him another brandy

Again, the setting is heaven and it is before the Second Coming. This is the waiting period. The bride is in Heaven, but the marriage feast has not yet taken place.  Dylan often uses the term "girl" to describe those who are the redeemed of the Messiah. At this time, they are waiting and passing time in a pastoral setting.  Handy Dandy teases the girl, offering to get her a weapon. But she knows that she will play no role in the fighting that is to be. It is the Messiah alone, who will return to Earth to wage war against the enemies of His people, Israel.

At the Last Supper, which was a Passover Seder, the last cup of wine that Christ drank was the third cup, called the wine of redemption. After drinking this, Christ said that He would not drink the fourth cup until He was reunited with His disciples in Heaven.

The cup He did drink symbolized the spiritual redemption that He provided the next day by allowing Himself to die a substitutionary death. That sacrifice was alluded to in Genesis 22:8, when Abraham told Isaac that God would provide for Himself the Lamb for the burnt offering."

Now the time is set to provide another deliverance. However, this will not be accomplished by the suffering Messiah, the son of Joseph, Jokerman. This Messiah will be the warrior, the Messiah Ben David. This redemption will be accomplished in might.

The transition from wine to brandy portrays what is to occur. It is the same Redeemer, but like the fruit of the vine at Passover 30 AD, they both have been hidden away, aged to a certain time by the Father and fortified in might and strength.

He finishes His drink, gets up from the table
 and says, “Okay boys, I’ll see you tomorrow”

 But why all of a sudden does Handy Dandy get up from the table to leave the presence of his friends and a girl named Nancy  in the garden?  What has occurred?  Does Dylan tell us why after two thousand years it is time now for the Messiah to return?  I believe so.

 Scripture tells us that Jesus told the Jewish leaders after they rejected His Messiahship that they would not see Him again, not until they acknowledged that He is the Messianic Person.  We are also told that a later Jewish generation will be again offered the chance to bring about the Messianic Kingdom.  So at sometime in the future, the “Papa” in Cat’s In The Well will look at the tribulation, their dire circumstamces and prophetic scripture fulfillments and he will understand what he must do.  He must lead his “daughters” into recognizing Jesus as teh Messiah.  The iniquity of their forefathers rejection has continued throughout the Jewish world.  So, “Papa” must confess that one iniquity and the “daughters” (Israel) must follow and call on the Messiah to redeem them.  This is spoken of in Leviticus 26:40-42 and in Jeremiah 3:11-18.  Once the Jewish people understand all that has transpired, they will weep for Him both in grief and also, in joy.  This is foretold by the prophet Zechariah in the 12th chapter, verse 10.  There is no possibility of any rejection here.  The Messiah has longed to gather His people and now the time has come.  So how does Dylan portray the activity that sees the entire nation of Israel being redeemed in a single day?  Simply, he sings....

Got a basket of flowers and a bag of sorrows

 Finally, He is reconciled with His covenant people.  Think of any reunion between two parties that have been estranged and apart.  Dylan’s poetic picture of both flowers and sorrows are very appropriate images of what is taking place.  Israel has her King Messiah.  Now, HW must go out and slay the nations that would destroy the Jewish people.  Once this occurs, as He re-enters the land of Israel, the scene will be what is described in the 63rd chapter of Isaiah verses 1-6.  This prophetic vision of Isaiah would have occurred in thevicinity that Dylan choose for the cover photo of this album.  The mountain range is Mt Seir in modern day Jordan and is biblical Edom.  Beyond the mountains is the ancient city of Bozrah, known as Petra today.  This significance is shown in the Cat’s In The Well essay.

In Blessed Be The Name Of The Lord Forever, Dylan wrote that God has his own time clock, He will not share His glory, He will not be mocked. And in Neighborhood Bully, Dylan writes about the nation of Israel that it is standing on a hill, running out the clock, time standing still.  Well, all the time in the world is about 1000 years away from ending. The time is now for the Lord to return. Here He gets up from the table and says goodbye to the boys. Who are the boys? They are the heavenly hosts who have battled Satan since the Fall. These are the angels, seraphim and cherubim that did not fall with Satan. They must watch this battle again from a distance.  It is the Lord of Lords, the King of Kings that wages this campaign against the anti-christ and his armies. He is certain of His victory.

Again, like in the passage alluded earlier in Genesis 22, Abraham knew that he too would return with Isaac by the grace of God.  Why? Because God don't make promises that He don't keep.  And God promised Abraham that He would bless Abraham and the world through Isaac. And God promised Adam and Eve, that He would send the seed of a woman to crush the head of his adversary, the serpent, the big fat snake in Wiggle Wiggle.

And God promised King David, that his descendant, his Lord, the Holy One would not see corruption, but have that soft silky skin.

-- RK

When I first wrote this essay, I said that I could not figure out why Dylan would possibly call Jesus “Handy Dandy.”  One however, understands this Handy Dandy to be a rather confident, even a bit cocky, fun loving and very at ease with himself.  It makes me think of the Messianic Psalm number 2.  When all the nations rise up against the Lord, the psalmist prophecied:

He Who sits in the Heavens shall laugh

-- RK revised April 28, 2000
 

Dylan returns to the farm as he does so often when describing the state of the world. Of course he is working from his folk tradition brimming in truth and this farm is universal. It is the Universe. Wiggle Wiggle began this world under the red sky - it is beginning to end in Cats In The Well.

The song is a rush of images and even critics recognize something "apocalyptic" going on here. The world has been slaughtered and it is such a bloody disgrace. Satan is in charge of this world. Why doesn't God do something if he is real? He is. But what he is doing is not some corporate plan designed to make profits go higher and a DVD player for everyone. His plan is not to stop plane crashes and car wrecks or sexual abuse or disease. See:

There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. - Luke 13:1 - 5

Through Satan has come disaster. But if that is so what good is God? Is he as powerless to intervene as a cat in a well? And the cat in this song IS surrounded!

First - the cat in the song is not God or even Jesus. Maybe a bit of both. And here you must listen. TV Talkin' Song presented an evocative plan - apprehended by a madman - and by Dylan himself who has seen fit to put the words of truth from the mouth of an idiot. The plan is of world-wide control - in a manner so welcomed that only a madman could see it.

Who could defeat this enemy? Christ has done so in his crucifixion and now the preparation begins for his final victory -- the final end.

Now that is rich. If Handy Dandy has the appearance of a joke of a song - consider this howler. How effective does this crucifixion plan appear to any right thinking person? Bill Gates would never go for it.

Even Dylan had apprehended this majestic anomaly - before his actual belief -- when he sang on Idiot Wind:

There's a lone soldier on the cross,
smoke pourin' out of a boxcar door,
You didn't know it, you didn't think it could be done,
in the final end he won the wars
After losin' every battle.

That is not just any end. But the FINAL end.

So. The cat is Jesus? No. Not exactly. Though Jesus vies this final battle against the world of Satan's, in Cat's In The Well, we are just before the battle. God's plan is to crush the serpent and truly inaugurate the Kingdom that is His. But the plan itself has a substance.

If the songs, Wiggle Wiggle, Unbelievable, TV Talkin' Song, and 10,000 Men have a connection between them - facets of a world gone wrong - and leading to a war, then too do the songs, Under The Red Sky, Born In Time, and 2X2 also lead to a war but not only up to the final engagement.

And if the songs Wiggle Wiggle, Unbelievable, TV Talkin' Song, and 10,000 Men reveal a society both real and concealed, so now, in these last three songs on the album, God Knows, Handy Dandy, and Cat's In The Well does Dylan show the opposition: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The TV and the 10,000 Men - innocuous they may be on the surface - mis-managed perhaps but beneath their heads is a love of evil -- that allows this to go on -- have assured that the "barn is full of bull". But there is more -- for even if Papa seems destitute the table is oh so full. If this were Infidels, Dylan would observe that he smelled something cooking - that there is going to be a feast.

It is the marriage ceremony of the Lamb - of Christ and his Bride. Because the battle does not end in this song. It is to begin. The night is so long and there is much to happen

The song bristles with tension - the Vaughn brother's guitars leap in excitement - and the horses go "bumpity bump" - the action here is as rambunctious as the roadhouse in Wiggle Wiggle. But unlike the decadence that informed that song, here, in Cat's In The Well, for all its appearance of the cat in a tight spot, there is the energy of a terrible, swift sword.

Are YOU among the 10,000 Men or going 2X2?

And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood. - Revelation 6:12

-- JDW

Why Dylan chose to have his picture taken on that spot is very interesting because we all know that there are hundreds of more picturesque and recognizable places throughout Israel that would have been excellent cover shots?  One just has to look at the inside photo of Dylan on the Mount of Olives contained in the Infidels cd to see such an example.

So why would Dylan pose in an area that really does not in itself have great historical/biblical significance?  It could be that the place intriqued Dylan because of what is found on the other side of the mountain range. Remember. it is 1990.  The Intifada (Palestinian uprising) is at its height and Jordan still has never even signed a truce with Israel since the cessation of war in the sixties.  It was dangerous for even an American Jew to travel in Jordan or the disputed territories. 

Within that mountain range is the city of Petra also known as Bozrah.  I will use text from  Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum’s The Footsteps Of The Messiah  and also photos from his private collection.

The city of Petra was “re-discovered” by a westerner posing as a Muslim seeking to worship at the tomb of the Prophet Aaron in 1812.  He found a city carved out of rock with a narrow entrance that was easily defended.  Today, since Israel and Jordan have signed a peace treaty, it is Jordan’s biggest tourist attraction and a regular part of many Israeli’s vacation itineries.  As you read, you will see that it is very telling that what was once unknown and unreachable to Israeli Jews has now become familiar.

From Footsteps Of The Messiah:

In the wilderness of Sinai God miraculously provided food and water for Israel.  He will do so again in the tribulation when the Jews flee into the wilderness.  These miraculous provisions will cause them to reconsider their relationship with God...
Is it possible to locate the exact place where the Jews will be hiding?

Up to now, three clues have been provided. One clue was in Matthew 24:16:

Them that are in Judea flee into the mountains

According to this text, the place of flight and refuge is to be the mountains.

The second and third clues were given in Revelation 12:6 and 14:

And the woman(Israel) fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that there they may nourish her a thousand two hundred and threescore days.

And there were given to the woman the two wings of a great eagle, that   she might fly into the wilderness unto her place, wher she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

Not only must the place of refuge fulfill the requirement of being in the mountains, it must also fulfill the requirement of being in the wilderness. Thirdly, the place in the wilderness was prepared by God in advance and therefore indicates a very adequate place of refuge.

Although inconclusive, another passage which may have a bearing on the question of “where?” is found in Isaiah 33:13-16:

Hear, ye that are faroff, what I have done; and, ye that are near,    acknowledge my might.  The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling hath   seized the godless ones:  Who among us can dwell with the devouring   fire?  who among us can dwell with the everlasting burnings?  He that   walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of   oppressions, that shaketh his hands from taking a bribe, that stoppeth   his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from looking upon   evil; he shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the munitions of   rocks; his bread shall be given to him; his waters shall be sure.

Since  the context is dealing with end time events, this passage also points out a distinction between the apostates and the faithful remnant as far as their protection and preservation is concerned.  The means by which protection for the remnant will be accomplished is given in verse 16:

He shall dwell on high
His place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks
His bread shall be given him
His waters shall be pure

This brings the total to four clues:
1.  in the mountains
2.  in the wilderness
3.  a place prepared in advance
4.  very defensible

Another passage, Micah 2:12, pin-points the place exactly:

I will surely assemble, O Jacob, all of thee;  I will surely gather the    remnant of Israel;  I will put them together as the sheepof Bozrah, as a   flock in the midst of their pasture; they shall make great noise by reason   of the multitude of men.

The ancient city of Bozrah was located in the region of Mount Seir.  Mount Seir is a very rocky range of mountains, and its name means “the hairy mountains.”  This fulfills the requirement of the Matthew passage.  It is located in the wilderness section of ancient Edom and so fulfills the requirement of the Revelation passage.  The very nature of the chain of mountains of Mount Seir makes it quite defensible fulfilling the requirements of the Isaiah passage.

Mount Seir is located in the western side of ancient Edom, extending from southeast of the Dead Sea down to the city of Akaba.  It towers over the Arabah, part of the rift valley from the south shore of the Dead Sea to the Gulf of Eilat.  Today the area is southern Jordan. 

A real fascinating issue is the exact location of Bozrah in the mountain range of Mount Seir.  Two places have been suggested.  One is the present Arab village of Buseira, which seems to retain the name of Bozrah.  This is the main argument in favor of it.  Another suggestion is the city now known as Petra.

Petra is located in a basin within Mount Seir, and is totally surrounded by mountains and cliffs.  The only way in and out of the city is through a narrow passageway that extends for about a mile and can only be negotiated by foot or by horseback.

This makes the city easy to defend, and its surrounding high cliffs give added meaning and confirmation to Isaiah 33:16.  Only two or three abreast can enter through this passage at any one time giving this city an even greater defensibility.

The name “Bozrah” means sheepfold.  An ancient sheepfold had a narrow entrance so that the shepherd could count his sheep.  Once, inside the fold, the sheep had more room to move around. 

Petra is shaped like a giant sheepfold with its narrow passageway opening up to a spacious circle surrounded by cliffs.

But is there any other reason that this area is chosen besides its natural defensibility?  There is an indication of such in the context of Daniel 11: 40-45 which was discussed in Chapter XI.  It was noted then that this passage concerns the conquests of the Antichrist in the middle of the tribulation as he begins his world political takeover.  The key verse which bears upon the discussion here is in verse 41:

He shall enter also into the glorious land, and many countries shall be   overthrown; but these shall be delivered out of his hand: Edom, and   Moab, and the chieh children of Ammon.

The passages states that while the Antichrist will conquer the whole world, three nations will wscape his domination: Edom, Moab and Ammon.  All three of these ancient nations currently comprise the single modern state of Jordan.  The city of Bozrah in Mt Seir is located in the ancient Edom or Southern Jordan.  Since this area will escape the domination of the Antichrist, it is logical for the Jews to flee to this place.  Thus, God will provide a city of refuge outside the Antichrist’s domain for the fleeing remnant. 

It will be a very defensible city located in Mt Seir. Furthermore, as they flee and while they are living there, food and water will be miraculously provided.

There is more writings on this occurence contained in the essay on Neighborhood Bully that will detail what is expected to happen during the miraculous occupation of the city of Petra.

In the album, Under The Red Sky one of its ominous apocalyptic sounding songs is: Cat’s In The Well.  Some of the lyrics are:

The cat’s in the well
And the wolf is looking down

The cat’s in the well
And the gentle lady is asleep
She ain’t hearing a thing
Silence is stickin’ her deep

The cat’s in the well
And grief is showing its face
The world’s been slaughtered
And it’s such a bloody disgrace

The cat’s in the well 
And pappa is reading the news
His hair’s falling out
And all of his daughters need shoes

The night is so long
And the table is oh, so full

The cat’s in the well 
And the servant is at the door
The drinks are ready
And the dogs are going to war

This entire song describes someone who is trapped in a circular location with a predator ready to devour it.  As long as the “lady” remains where she is, she herself will sleep through the times.  But the news from the outside will reach her and the reports of carnage and slaughter will be known to her.  She will reflect on why God has sustained her.  God, Himself is the Servant at the door waiting to be asked to return.

In the song, I & I (Infidels 1984) Dylan has declaritively stated the one of the “I’s” is the He that created Dylan.  That I is heard lamenting his own barefootedness, while He makes shoes for everyone, including a certain particular group of people: the Jews.  In this song, Dylan  portrays an authoritative figure, the Pappa as an informed individual under great stress as he surveys the needs of those dependant on him.  Could this be the Jewish leadership that is reading the prophecies and seeing their fulfillments.  They are poised to make a decision that will  “put shoes” on their feet and will place them on a path of physical and spiritual salvation.

This time period is known as Jacob’s Trouble or the Great Tribulation and the final battles are heating up.  The “cups” or drinks are the wrath of God against His enemies and those who come against the Jews that He has protected.  The “dogs” will gather themselves in the valley of Jezreel in Northern Israel.  (Also, referred to as the valley of Megidio/Armeggedon).  Meantime, in Heaven, the table is oh so full as the Marraige of the Lamb takes place  The antichrist’s armies will prepare to make a final assault against the Jewish people, but at some point Pappa will beckon the Servant and He shall return to save His own as the Messiah Ben David, the victorious Messiah, Son of David, the King of the Jews.

Let’s end this with the prayer that Dylan’s sings to close this album:

“Goodnight, my love,
May the Lord have mercy on us all”

-- RK

The above quote is taken from the sixteenth chapter of the Book of Matthew. It is Jesus Christ addressing the religious leaders in Israel who are requesting a "sign" from Him. These are the leaders who already have rejected the previous Messianic signs that Jesus gave -- as I have elaborated in the essay on Bob Dylan's song: In The Garden.

It appears that just as there are physical signs that one can use to foretell what the next day's weather may be, so are there signs that will define the ages. Whereas, it is difficult to interpret each of Dylan's songs on the Under the Red Sky CD as having direct prophetic significance, the album is steeped in an eschatalogical (end times) theme.

To compliment this theme, so that I may extract from the songs the lyrics that I believe are prophetically based or significant, I would like to inject a rather lengthy teaching on the signs of the last days. As always, I am using a teaching from that same school of theology that Dylan embraced and studied in 1979.  This teaching is often referred to as the Olivet Discourse.

Jesus is teaching his disciples as he sits on the Mount of Olives overlooking Jerusalem. It is this location that Dylan is placing a rock in the inside photo of the Infidels album.

(For more on this site and Jewish significance, please Infidels Revisited).

Taken from The Footsteps of the Messiah by Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum:

THE OLIVET DISCOURSE

The famous Olivet Discourse of our Messiah occurred between two significant events. Immediately preceding the Olivet Discourse, Christ spoke the final words of His public ministry (Mt. 23:1-39), which contain the denunciation of the leadership of Israel for their guilt in leading the nation to reject the Messiahship of Jesus/Yeshua.

With these words, the public ministry of Christ as a prophet came to an end, and for the remainder of His last few days on earth, He would deal exclusively with His disciples. Immediately after the Olivet Discourse came the preparation of the last Passover which was the first "Lord's Supper".

During the last Passover, in the famous Upper Room Discourse, there was a transition in Christ's ministry from prophet to priest.

Between these two significant events is the famous Olivet Discourse recorded by three of the Gospel writers: Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, and Luke 21:5-36.  The basic purpose of the Olivet Discourse is to answer the question: When and how will the Messiah's Kingdom come into being? Since Israel rejected the Kingdom offer of the Messiah, it was impossible to set up the Kingdom at that time. It would have to be set up at a later time.

However, in the light of his denunciation of the leadership of Israel in Matthew 23, and in light of His closing words in the verses of Matthew 23:37-39 revealing the fact that He will not return until Israel requests His return, when then will the Kingdom be set up?  The Olivet Discourse answers this question.

A. The Historical Setting

The historical setting is recorded in Matthew 24:1-2; Mark 13:1-2; and Luke 21:5-6.  The Matthew account reads:

And Jesus went out from the temple, and was going on His way; and His disciples came to Him to show Him the buildings of the temple. But He answered and said unto them, "See ye not all these things? Verily, I say unto you, there shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."

After His scathing denunciation of the Pharisees, and after announcing the coming destruction of the Temple, Jesus and His disciples moved out of the Temple area for good. On the way out, the disciples pointed out the magnificent buildings of the Jewish Temple.

Actually, at that time, the Temple buildings were not yet completed. The Temple compound was begun by Herod the Great in 20 BC, but it was not finished until AD 64, only six years before its destruction. The words of the Olivet Discourse were spoken in the year AD 30.  The building of the Temple compound had been going on for 50 years, and they would continue the building for another 34 years.

The stones which were so impressive to the disciples were indeed magnificent, and some are still visible in the walls of the Temple compound to this day. These "Herodian stones" are huge -- each measuring 10-12 feet in length and weighing several tons.

Nevertheless, the Messiah reiterated the fact that this Temple was doomed for destruction and the Temple itself would not have one stone left upon another that would not be thrown down.

Christ's prophecy was literally fulfilled in AD 70 when the Romans destroyed the city of Jerusalem. The Temple was set on fire, and because there was so much gold in the building, a great amount of it melted; the liquid gold seeped into the crevices between the stones of the Temple. When the ruins cooled down, the Romans systematically removed everything, stone by stone, in order to get the gold that had solidified inside the crevices.

However, this prophecy left the disciples perplexed.

B. The Three Questions

When they arrived at the Mount of Olives, the prophecy of Christ prompted four of His disciples to raise three questions. The questions are recorded in Matthew 24:3; Mark 13:3-4; and Luke 21:7. The Matthew account reads as follows:

And as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him privately, saying,  "Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the end of the world?'

The Luke account reads:

And they asked Him saying, "Teacher, when therefore shall these things be?  And what shall be the sign when these things are about come to pass?"

Altogether, three questions were asked which, at the same time, included requests for three signs.

The first question (Matthew) was : "Tell us, when shall these things be?". These things refer to the destruction of the Temple that He had prophesied in the previous two verses. The first question (Luke) was "when will the temple be destroyed, and what will be the sign that this is about to take place?"

The second question was, "What shall be the sign of Thy coming?"

The third question was, "What shall be the sign of the end of the world?" The Greek word translated would actually mean "age." Thus, they asked for a third sign, and that was, "What will be the sign that the end of this age has begun?"

And Jesus answered and said unto them, "Take heed that no man lead you astray. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am the Christ; and shall lead many astray.  And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled: for these things must need come to pass; but the end is not yet.

Rather than immediately answering all three questions, Jesus decided first to give some general characteristics of the Church Age, none of which mean that the end has begun. The first general characteristic of the Church Age would be the rise of false messiahs. Historically, Jesus was the first person who claimed to be the Messiah. After Him, many came claiming to be the Messiah and, indeed led many astray. Gentiles have also claimed the messianic title; the most recent example is Rev. Moon.

The second general characteristic would be local wars. Jesus stated that when they heard of wars and rumors of wars, these things also would not be signs of the end.  The existence of local wars here and there would in no way indicate that the end had begun.

Jesus next proceeded to answer the third question, which concerned the sign that the end of the age had truly begun.

For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and earthquakes in divers places. But all of these things are the beginning of travail.

According to all three Gospel writers, the sign of the end of the age is said to be when nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. This act will be coupled with famines and earthquakes in various places, then Jesus clearly stated that this would be the beginning of travail. The term travail means "birthpang."  It refers to the series of birthpangs that a woman undergoes before giving birth to a baby. The prophets pictured the last days as a series of birthpangs before the birth of the Messianic Age.

Jesus had already clearly stated that a few local wars between a few nations would not indicate that the end had begun. But then He said when there is nation against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, this will mean the end of the age has begun.

To understand what the idiom nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom means, it is necessary to return to the Jewish origin of these statements. This expression is a Hebrew idiom for a world war. Jesus' statement, here, is that when a world war occurs, rather than a local war, that world war would signal that the end of the age had begun. As stated , this is quite in keeping with the Jewish writings of this same period.  One Jewish source known as the Zohar Chadash states:

At that time wars shall be stirred up in the world. Nation shall be against nation and city against city; much distress shall be renewed against the enemies of the Israelites.

Another Jewish source known as the Bereshit Rabbah states: If you shall see the kingdoms rising against each other in turn, then give heed and note the footsteps of the Messiah.

The rabbis clearly taught that a worldwide conflict would signal the coming of the Messiah. Jesus corrected this idea slightly, for He said that when the world war occurs, while it does not signal the coming of the Messiah, it will signal the end of the age has begun.

World War I, of 1914-1918, was the fulfillment of this particular prophecy, for that was World War I.  As virtually all historians agree, World War II was merely a continuation of World War I.  Furthermore, both world wars had a decisive impact on Jewish history.  World War I gave impetus to the growth of the Zionist movement, and World War II led to the re-establishment of the Jewish state. Since World War 1, history has entered the last days of the Church Age.

...Jesus did go on to answer their first question concerning the sign of the coming destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple.  The answer is recorded only by Luke, in chapter 21:20-24:

But when you see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that her desolation is at hand.  Then let them that are in Judes flee unto the mountains; and let them that are in the midst of her depart out; and let not them that are in the country enter therein. For these are the days of vengeance, that all things that are written may be fulfilled.

Woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days for there will be great distress upon the land, and wrath unto this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led captive into all the nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled.

In answer to their first question, Christ gave them the sign that would mark the fact that Jerusalem was about to be destroyed. The sign was the surrounding of the city of Jerusalem by armies. The Hebrew Christians were told that, when they saw this sign, they were to leave Jerusalem and Judea and flea outside the Land.  This sign would mark the coming desolation of Jerusalem; and Jerusalem, from that point on, will be continually trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.

This prophecy was fulfilled in a striking way. In the year AD 66, the first Jewish revolt broke out against the Romans. When the revolt first began, the Roman general in the Land, Cestius Gallus, came with his armies from Caesarea and surrounded Jerusalem. The surrounding of the city marked the sign that Jesus had promised, and the Hebrew Christians knew that Jerusalem would soon be destroyed. Jesus had commanded the Hebrew Christians to desert the city when they saw this happening; however, it was impossible to do while the Romans were surrounding the city. Then Cestius Gallus noticed that his supply lines were not secure, and he did not have enough supplies to maintain an extended siege. So he lifted the siege of Jerusalem in order to go back to Caesarea. On the way, he was attacked by Jewish forces and killed. So, temporarily, the city no longer was surrounded by the armies, and every Hebrew Christian was able to leave Jerusalem. They crossed the Jordan River and set up a new Hebrew Christian community in the town of Pella in the Transjordan. There they waited for the prophecy of Jesus to be fulfilled.

In the year AD 68, a new Roman general by the name of Vespasian and his son, Titus, again besieged the city, and in the year AD 70, the city and the Temple were destroyed. Altogether, 1,000,000 Jews were killed in this final onslaught, but not one Hebrew Christian died because they obeyed the words of the Messiah. Since that time, Jerusalem has indeed been trodden down of the Gentiles and continues so to the present day. Jerusalem will not be free of the Gentile nations treading upon her until the Messiah returns.

Preceding taken from The Footsteps of the Messiah

Of course, the entire Bible is filled with signs given by the Jewish prophets, sages and kings. Many prophesied events occurred in the near future of the writers and other prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled. It is from these prophesies, that I believe Dylan has drawn on in the album Under The Red Sky to paint a collage of mankind's eschatology. The first clue that pointed me toward this understanding is the actual photo on the cover of the album.

And the rest is history.

-- RK