"Don't Go Mistaking Paradise"
Jesus and Rock Music as illustrated by the songs of Bob Dylan
by Peter Arzt, Salzburg

English Abstract:

In many songs of the American songwriter and musician Bob Dylan
Jesus Christ plays an important part, and this is not only true since
Dylan´s conversation to Christianity in 1978. The variant phases of his
work produced different approaches to and applications of the figure of
Jesus. In his early protest songs Jesus functions as a means to an end
(e.g. "Masters of War", "With God on Our Side"), later on Jesus is
represented by other figures in a metaphorical way (e.g. "The Ballad of
Frankie Lee and Judas Priest"), and, finally, his message is proclaimed and
visualized by the Christian Bob Dylan (not only on the Christian albums
like "Slow Train Coming" but also e.g. "Death Is Not the End" or "God
Knows", a song which Dylan also performed at the Woodstock Revival in 1994)

- The full article is written in German. Access it here.

This site managed by:

Bill Parr
EDLIS Christianity and Dylan Agency
bill@billparr.org
My home page: http://web.utk.edu/~wparr
Slow Train Coming page: http://web.utk.edu/~wparr/SlowTrain.html