Wisdom for the New Year from Bob Dylan

I was excited to see the movie “A Complete Unknown” as soon as it was showing nearby. I am in awe of Bob Dylan’s lyrics, even though I am not enamored of his sandpapery voice. The movie covers the years 1961-65, starting with his arrival in New York.

Bob Dylan was in a class by himself. He was an enigma, which made him his own kind of cool.

I remember listening to his lyrics and wondering what they meant as my eyes were opened to how our country and the world were changing. “The Times They are a-Changin​’” spoke that new reality into being.

Dylan’s prophetic voice spoke to me then as well as now as we enter a new year. He is a flawed genius, an imperfect person who is gifted and gritty and outspoken and shy. His 60+ year music career is still on a never-ending tour. Themes of protest​, antiracism, antiestablishment and cynicism are woven throughout his poetry. After all, who wins a Nobel Prize for Literature but foregoes the ceremony?

What could his artistic, creative and personal journey through many iterations of personality and musical styles say to us now? I looked to his spiritual journey for some insight.

Bob Dylan was Jewish and was raised in the Midwest in an immigrant family that practiced their Judaism. He underwent a surprising and brief period of conversion to evangelical Christianity from 1979-1981, after which he returned to his Jewish roots. Religious themes were present throughout his writing. There were those who called his voice “prophetic,” which was a label he eschewed. During this period, he released the album “Slow Train Comin’​.”

John Lennon, an equally gifted genius and peer, chided Dylan for vacillating among religious beliefs and traditions. Their styles were very different. It is possible that Lennon was a bit jealous of the more reclusive Dylan and of others’ admiration for him, including George Harrison. Why not glean whatever insight, help and guidance we can from various traditions without others putting us in one box or another?

As we begin a new year, I’d like to call your attention to the song from this album called, “You’ve Gotta​ Serve Somebody.” The song has seven verses of two couplets per verse, comparing various people with each other, stretching over a wide range of human experiences. The chorus is interspersed between each verse. I won’t ask you to read all seven verses here, but will provide you with a link to them.

Here is the chorus:

You’re gonna​ have to serve somebody, yes indeed

You’re gonna​ have to serve somebody.

Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you’re gonna​ have to serve somebody.

These lyrics remind me that no matter who we are or what we do, our actions display the underlying moral compass of our lives. What is it? Self or other? Disdain or compassion? Profit or provision? Exclusion or inclusion? Fear or love?

Here are some words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., to aid your reflection:

“Everybody can be great. Because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know the second law of thermodynamics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. And a soul generated by love.”