Credit: Far Out / Alamy

Watch Prince cover Bob Dylan song ‘All Along the Watchtower’

Sat 23 September 2023 15:00, UK

Bob Dylan‘s classic track, ‘All Along the Watchtower’, has attracted a fair few guitar gods towards it over the years. In fact, Dylan even said himself that Jimi Hendrix just about claimed it as his own, stating: “Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it’s a tribute to him in some kind of way.”

Its chords simply call for shredding, so it’s perhaps no surprise that Prince decided to have a go at the track. The little virtuoso is one of the greatest musicians of all time. Hell, he nearly played 30 separate instruments on his debut album, which he recorded when he was only a teenager. So, there is no doubt that he could handle the track.

However, what most likely attracted him to tune was not the chance to riff away on its bluesy structure, but given his religious mindset, Prince also likely admired the biblical overture of the track. The little rocker was a devout Jehovah’s Witness, even going door-to-door to preach and, no doubt, leave a few people stunned in the neighbourhoods where he would do so. And as it happens, the sect’s publication is titled The Watchtower.

While Dylan’s track isn’t linked to religion, the nods to the bible are apparent. Riders approaching from afar invoke an image akin to Game of Thrones, where a kingdom is soon to be beset with more bad news from nowhere. There is no relief from this bombardment, the joker proclaims, and in the modern world where we are greeted with ten grim news stories a day, that sentiment suddenly seems very prescient. The joker seems to plead: How do you rise above this dower malaise?

Well, the thief has a profound answer. He has been privy to this approaching darkness for a long time, it would seem—long enough to invoke the biblical notion of the hour getting late and the sense of salvation that comes with that. Don’t get excitable and caught up in this dark storm, he seems to say; you only lose your way down that route; you’ve got to move on through it. Then, you will also be ready to accept Godspeed and good tidings.

This belief comes from a thief, no less. Why did Dylan choose to put such wise words in an unreliable mouth? Once more, this is also plucked straight from the Bible and the ‘good thief’ who was crucified next to Jesus. Therefore, it stands to reason that perhaps the parties chatting in ‘All Along the Watchtower’ are the pair crucified alongside Christ on the hill of Golgotha. In Catholicism, this was not a moment of despair but one of salvation—the two riders brought good news.

Thus, Prince chose to share this message during his 2008 Superbowl show before transitioning into Foo Fighter’s ‘Best of You’.