Bob Dylan's Finger of Judgement

Posted by Al Barger on September 28, 2005

Like any great artist, Bob Dylan has a lot of different strains of effect. He has written some beautiful displays of religious faith and awe, such as "I Believe in You" and "Every Grain of Sand." He wrote a lot of great comedy in the early days, such as "Rainy Day Woman #12 & 35" and my beloved "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream." He did some of his best work with emotionally complex broken romances that defined the modern singer-songwriter idea, starting with "Tangled Up in Blue" and "Just Like a Woman."

Perhaps his most striking characteristic approach is what I call Bob Dylan's Finger of Judgment. It's a Jewish thing, wherein Bob goes on like an Old Testament prophet wagging his finger in someone's face and rendering moral chastisement and sentences of doom.

Mileage varies on this kind of approach. I tend to have a somewhat limited taste for such things. Even if you're right, shut up with the implicit proclamations of superiority.

However, with all his musical skills and burning inspiration, it's hard to argue against, say, the rebuke of "Like a Rolling Stone." There's a delightful, undeniable joy in getting to give such a beautiful rebuke. "How does it FEEEEL?" This particular rebuke among others gets perhaps slightly mitigated by the fact that it's apparently at least partly directed back at himself, with his made up story that leaves him with "no direction home."

That's part of the more personal type of rebuke, which would include interesting but clearly lesser works such as the total settling of accounts with an old girlfriend and her whole crew in the "Ballad in Plain D." Van Morrison had fond nostalgia for his brown eyed girl. Dylan got more mileage with his bronze skinned ex as an object of rebuke. He spent over eight minutes of Another Side of Bob Dylan in earnest quiet rebuke of her whole family "each one of them suffering from the failure of their days. With strings of guilt they tried hard to guide us." Also, her sister was a "parasite." Eight solid minutes with minimal tune breaking down this whole crew. Whew!

But when he got a good tune and some beat going, the malicious venom dripping from his fangs was an infectious narcotic. There's a bracing virulence to the extended "Idiot Wind." Sometimes you can really get off on explaining how "You're an idiot, babe. It's a wonder that you still know how to breath."

In theory, I'm less interested in the way too easy songs ripped from the headlines idea, where he hunted down specific cases of (supposed) racial injustice. Still, I'll buy the easy sentiments of "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll." This just has one of his most compelling, memorable and moving melodies ever. On the other hand, he runs this shtick into the wall at 100 mph with "Hurricane." Besides being a defense of a colored person who happened to in fact be a dangerous thug as originally billed, this song just doesn't have the tune. Yet he decides that it's so important to give minutaie of his murder case that he manages to stretch that mediocre tune out for most of half an hour. Eeek!

He built up his best heads of sanctimonious steam, though, with the political broadsides. He made his name with "Blowin' in the Wind." This is a gently stated folk song. He emphasizes more the sense of his side's sweet superiority rather than the judgment aspect. But it's the opposition to the evil status quo oppressors that defines that intoxicating feeling of superiority.

Much better for my money, though, is the pure, straight on righteous judgment of "Masters of War." Those basic acoustic guitar chords are simply stated, but beautifully strident in themselves before you even get to the words or the tune of it. He gets a particularly good lyrical payoff watching his enemies put into the ground, and making good and sure they're not coming back. "And I'll stand o'er your grave till I'm sure that you're dead."

That may be his very best political judgmental song, but the full rock and roll attack on the entire family down on "Maggie's Farm" would make a good choice as well. Personally, I much prefer the 1981 late model rock assault on critics of the "Neighborhood Bully." Besides that I approve wholeheartedly of the specific message, the attack on the hypocrisy and ill will of the enemies of Israel ie nearly the entire frickin' world, it's a satisfyingly challenging sentiment. This album is also the best career work for guitarist Mark Knopfler.

Tom Lehrer classically skewered the whole "Folk Song Army" whose representative sang, "We all hate poverty, war and injustice- unlike the rest of you squares." "Blowin' in the Wind" is easy like that, but the staunch defense of that "Neighborhood Bully" is something of a conscious slap in the face to many of Bob's core audience.

The real challenge to his peeps in what some would term perhaps "reactionary" or counter revolutionary sentiments gives an extra punch to some of the latter day judgments like "Union Sundown" from that same Infidels record. "It's sundown on the unions. Sure was a good idea till greed got in the way."

Besides being one of his more bracing pieces of rock and roll release, there's a certain special glee in the affront of explaining that Satan comes as a "Man of Peace." Damn, that was a hot album. Plus, "Man of Peace" is an interesting flip side to the sentiments of "Masters of War." "Man of Peace" is a particularly satisfying stick with which to clobber peace pukes in the post 9/11 era, as they all naturally worship Dylan.

There's nothing quite as satisfying in the moral rebuke range, however, as the assurance of the righteous religious faithful. "Every Grain of Sand" was perhaps a better song, as brother Blogcritic Steven Hart argues. But I'll elevate the appeal of his comments on "Gotta Serve Somebody," which was the actual hit single of his evangelical days, and a great rebuke against all them damned rock and roll heathens where "the singer is eyeballing you through a slot in the church door, and odds are you haven’t got the right password." That's right buddy: I'm getting into heaven, but you're probably not. So there.

Besides that intoxicating feeling of superiority, this Slow Train Coming album with "Gotta Serve Somebody" packs a strong sense of moral urgency that makes it compelling. "When you gonna wake up, and strengthen the things that remain?" That's good stuff, especially with some of them groovy horns.

So there it is, the most satisfying expressions of self-righteousness in pop music history. And here's my 77+ minute custom mix CD of the Dylan moral experience:

BOB DYLAN'S FINGER OF JUDGEMENT

Blowin' in the Wind
Neighborhood Bully
Masters of War
Man of Peace
The Times They Are a' Changin'
When You Gonna Wake Up
Dear Landlord
Ballad of a Thin Man
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
Positively 4th Street
Maggie's Farm
It Ain't Me, Babe
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Idiot Wind
Like a Rolling Stone
Gotta Serve Somebody

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Bob Dylan

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