Bono’s favourite Bob Dylan song: “One of the great Psalms of David”
Bob Dylan‘s impact on songwriters remains seismic and vital today. Even those not musically aligned with Dylan can take elements of his artistry and implement them into their own craft, whether this be his maverick mindset, ability to build a mysterious persona or masterful storytelling.
For most in the world of music, Dylan exists on a pedestal, and they happily worship at his feet as if he’s God. One of his biggest fans is U2 frontman Bono, who has been infatuated with Dylan, both as an artist and person, for as long as he can remember. The singer-songwriter’s body of work has lived with Paul Hewson since adolescence and soundtracked pivotal events throughout his life, which he’ll never get tired of hearing.
The first time he met Dylan was an experience he’ll never forget, even if not necessarily for the right reasons. In 1984, the singer had the pleasure of interviewing Dylan for the Irish music publication Hot Press before his huge show at Slane Castle in Dublin. Dylan then invited him on stage later that evening to perform ‘Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat’. It should have been a moment to cherish. However, the U2 singer’s mind went blank, and he could not remember a single lyric from the track. Thankfully, Bono can now see the funny side of that embarrassing night. Additionally, even though it didn’t go how he’d played out in his head, he still can boast of performing with Dylan, which puts him in an illustrious club.
In 2020, Bono shared an open letter addressed to Dylan, where he discussed his love for the wordsmith and wrote, “It could be BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND… like I was in Slane Castle, making it up as I went along. You let me sing beside you. You reminisced about Liam Clancy and Tommy Makem in the West Village, encouraging me ‘you’ve not just got to make your own song up, you got to make yourself up too’.”
In typical Bono style, he continued, “In the scriptures, the apostle John has his view on BLOWIN’ IN THE WIND….. John 3:8 ‘The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit’.”
While ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’ is a Dylan track that Bono adores greatly, it’s not his favourite. Instead, that honour belongs to ‘Every Grain Of Sand’. Similarly to ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’, it’s the biblical references that touch him profoundly. Bono briefly mentioned the track in his open letter before revealing that Steve Jobs wanted it played at his funeral and paying homage to the Apple founder.
On another occasion, Bono was more coherent and concise in his analysis. He told Rolling Stone, “It’s like one of the great Psalms of David. Dylan stops wailing against the world, turns on himself and is brought to his knees.”
Biblical references have been a staple throughout Dylan’s career, such as on ‘Every Grain Of Sand’. The track is the pinnacle of Dylan’s born-again Christian period, and he claims to have let his faith write the song on his behalf, later revealing, “That was an inspired song that came to me. I felt like I was just putting down words that were coming from somewhere else, and I just stuck it out.”
While that period of Dylan’s career remains divisive, ‘Every Grain Of Sand’ confirmed that he still had the Midas touch. The arc of redemption he demonstrates on ‘Every Grain Of Sand’ takes the listener on a breathtaking journey. At this stage of his career, many had begun to believe that Dylan was yesterday’s news, yet with this song, he demonstrated he was anything but done. Over the next 40 years, Dylan has continued to reinvent himself relentlessly and shapeshift, proving everyone who had ever dared to write him off.
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