1979 · Behind the Songs
The born-again blues that won a Grammy.
“Gotta Serve Somebody” was the sound of Bob Dylan getting religion — literally. The opening track of 1979’s Slow Train Coming, it laid out his new born-again Christian faith over a slow gospel-blues groove: everybody, from the ambassador to the boxer, is going to have to serve somebody.
Dylan recorded the album at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Alabama with producer Jerry Wexler, backed by gospel singers and Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler on guitar. Knopfler’s fluid lines wind through the track, giving Dylan’s preaching delivery a bed of pure feel.
Released as a single, it reached number 24 in America, and at the 1980 Grammys it won Dylan the award for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Male. The gospel period divided his audience — some fans walked out of the shows — but the song’s warning has outlasted the controversy: it may be the devil, or it may be the Lord, but you’re gonna have to serve somebody.
What to listen for: Knopfler’s guitar, singing between Dylan’s lines; the gospel backing vocals; and Dylan’s voice, utterly certain for once — no masks, no irony.