While I often listen to music for entertainment, I prefer music that helps me think about the human condition, especially in the light of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. For this, Bob Dylan’s honky-tonk gospel is my main playlist. Furthermore, although Dylan’s early music is great, summarized in say the 1961-1985 survey Biograph, this honky-tonk gospel really only comes to the fore with his 1997 album Time Out of Mind, with its wonderful Passion sequence.
Lots of recordings of concerts are available via https://dimeadozen.org and are particularly interesting in their variety. When I’m in my Jeep, I generally listen to one of his commercial albums, for example:
- Bootleg #5, Rolling Thunder Revue
- Biograph
- The Music Which Inspired Girl from the North Country
- Toronto & Earls Court (Disk 6 & 8, Bootleg #13)
- Oh Mercy
- Bootleg #8, Tell-Tale Signs
- Time Out of Mind
- Modern Times
Currently, I’m expecting not rain but a forthcoming album of new Dylan songs.
Well, the last thing I remember before I stripped and knelled
Was that trainload of fools bogged down in a magnetic field
A gypsy with a broken flag and a flashing ring
Said, “Son, this ain’t a dream no more, it’s the real thing”Señor, Señor, you know their hearts is as hard as leather
Well, give me a minute, let me get it together
I just gotta pick myself up off the floor
I’m ready when you are, Señor