Tangled Up in the Bible: Bob Dylan and Scripture

by Michael J. Gilmour

Bob Dylan has had a profound influence on the shape of modern pop music (folk, rock, blues) and as a modern literary figure. He has also attracted enormous attention from both professional and amateur "interpreters".

In this book Gilmour offers a thorough study of Dylan's reading of scriptures. He explores the ways in which Dylan transforms biblical images and concepts when he incorporates them into his literary world; it is an attempt to listen to the echoes of scripture in his published works. Gilmour closely reads Dylan's poems and songs and provides commentaries on several themes found in Dylan's work: the Sermon on the Mount and Jesus; apocalypse, justice and judgement; oppressive religion and religious irony. Through these readings, Gilmour calls attention to the various ways Dylan uses scripture both in an explicit and an implicit manner.

Genres: Music

160 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2004

Reviews

[Matt Redmond]

Worry it if only for the discussion of Love and Theft being inspired by the Exodus story.

[Joey Hyatt]

This book is a bit tangled up.

[Steve]

Bob uses the Bible quite a bit in his lyrics.