The best known of Bob Dylan’s Christian albums was the previous album Slow Train Coming, which produced the hit song “Gotta Serve Somebody”, the topical song “Slow Train” (also relatively rare by this point in Dylan’s career) and the charming children’s song “Man Gave Names to All the Animals” – this one ends abruptly before naming the snake (and Dylan later verified that he meant the one in the Garden of Eden).  But several of the songs didn’t pull any punches or seek shelter in allegory, notably “Precious Angel”, “When You Gonna Wake Up” and “When He Returns”. 

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One of the verses in another song on the album, “Precious Angel” seems to echo the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well; it lays it out in no uncertain terms:   

     Sister, lemme tell you about a vision I saw

     You were drawing water for your husband, you were suffering under the law

     You were telling him about Buddha, you were telling him about Mohammed

          in the same breath

     You never mentioned one time the Man who came and died a criminal’s death  

(August 2014)