Slow Train Coming

Album: Slow Train Coming

Recorded: April-May 1979

Released: August 1979

Songs / length: 9 / 46:19

Performing in California in mid-November 1978, Dylan picked up a silver cross that an audience member had chucked on to the stage. This was followed by Dylan experiencing a vision of Christ in a hotel room in Arizona. Worn out and weary from touring, critical album reviews and marriage breakdown, Dylan was arguably in need of a new direction and purpose in his life, and this made him more receptive to this new religious calling. The lyrics on Slow Train Coming also reveal a desire for certainty; whereas the Bible had long been a source of inspiration in Dylan's songwriting (John Wesley Harding being the obvious example), any references were only ever there for literary or allegorical purposes. On this album, his songs are filled with the certainty of a true believer.

On opening track and single, Gotta Serve Somebody, Dylan is suggesting that we all have to pay obedience to some sort of master, so it may as well be God. On Precious Angel, which sounds a lot like his earlier composition If Not For You, Dylan says that our two options are either "belief or unbelief", and that there's no middle ground, giving him the air of an evangelist. He seems to be pleading to God to not let his faith waver on I Believe In You, and this expression of steadfast conviction reveals a tenderness, as though Dylan's new-found relationship with God is a replacement for the breakdown of his love affair with Sara.

As for the title track, it's hard to be sure what Dylan expects will arrive with this Slow Train that's coming round the bend. He expresses fears about his mortality, and about the growing power of oil-rich sheikhs, as if he's taking aim at corporate America and the growing inequality that has arisen from the pursuit of wealth. On Gonna Change My Way of Thinking, there's this same sense of urgency, especially in the lyric: "Jesus said be ready, for you know not the hour in which I come". However, this song is arguably one of the weakest on the record.

In fact, side 2 is less musically accomplished than side 1 generally, with songs like When You Gonna Wake Up lacking Dylan's normal polish. It's not clear who the lyrics are directed at – possibly a woman or more likely his country – but the message is clear; there's no salvation in politics (Marx and Henry Kissinger are directly cited), redemption only comes from God. I quite like Man Gave Names to All The Animals, which sees Dylan making a foray into the realm of children's songs with a Sunday school flavour. There's a lighter tone to this song generally, with Dylan coming across as less fundamentalist in outlook, and more humorous in spirit.

All in all, it's quite a focused record, and very lean and direct in parts, with a nice smooth sound, thanks in some degree to Dire Straits guitarist Mark Knopfler. Personally, I admire Dylan's openness on this record to document his conversion, even though he would have been aware how this new profession of his Christian faith might alienate some of his fanbase. That said, for all its strength of conviction and passionate singing, the songwriting is far below Dylan's peak, and only the title track and a few others would be worthy of saving from the fires of hell.

Album rating: C