Every Song By Bob Dylan Is About The Lamb Of God

by Larry Fyffe

From the Holy Bible:

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him
And saith, "Behold the Lamb of God
Which taketh away the sin of the world"
(John 1:29)

Somehow getting crucified saves everybody.

But more importantly, the New Testament verse explains how Dylanologist David Weir knows that every song (well many of them anyway) written by Bob Dylan refers to the Lamb of God – even if the songwriter does not come right and say so in the lyrics.

It’s Weir’s task to find the hidden Passover meal so his readers can eat it up.

All fine and good if the lyrics of the song analyzed by Weir were not twisted and turned to such an extent that they become Weir’s own words instead of those of the songwriter – the songwriter who’s seldom accused of being unequivocal.

Take Weir’s analysis of Dylan’s “Crossing The Rubicon”, a song that might be interpreted as an angry fellow on the trail of a woman abuser.

We are informed instead that the guy is really a rapist, symbolically the raper of Jesus Himself for Christ’s sake, and the sinner is hoping for forgiveness because he feels guilty about the dastardly deed he’s done!

The sinner imagines that the Lamb of God shape-shifts to Mona, ie, the Holy Ghost, who tells  him not to worry about the rape … it’s okay:

“He wants it to be the case that he’s forgiven, and he imagines his victim forgiving him. By way of the song’s river, blood, and flowery imagery, we’re able to identify his victim with Christ, and as such she represents the route to his redemption – the forgiveness he imagines her bestowing on him.”

(David Weir: Crossing The Rubicon)

The Christian template is applied yet again to the song “My Own Version Of You” by Bob Dylan, based on Mary Shelley’s book in which the Dr. Frankenstein creation turns against his creator; it’s understandable why the monster does; he looks hideous, and consequently, he’s not loved.

Dylan turns the theme around: and presents a spooky, dark-humoured story in song; the narrator imagines himself saved by the creation of a perfect performer of music and song by combining the talents of a number of deceased actors, artists, and adventurers, like Caesar.

Weir claims that the unworthy every-man/narrator holds himself responsible for somebody’s death though it appears that no rape’s involved.

However since Christ gets no mention in the Dylan song, the sacrificial Lamb of God  must be hiding somewhere.

Weir’s solution is to transubstantiate the Frankenstein monster into Christ.

Presto, out of the blue, Dylanologist Weir concludes:

“Successful redemption will only be achieved by following the ways of Christ and Caesar”

(David Weir: My Own Version Of You)

Clever, but the the meat is a way overdone.

Meanwhile,  Zimmerman is off somewhere eating a nicely-roasted Passover lamb.