Chords for Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan

[Bb] _ _ _ _ [Eb] There was a little mention in Rolling [Bb] Stone of a rumor [Gm] that Bob [Eb] Dylan, the rumor was that he'd been [Bb] converted
or baptized by Pat Boone or something dramatic [Eb] like that. _ _
[Bb] _ _ _ _ _ _ [F] _ _
_ [Eb] _ _ _ [Bb] _ The [Gm] first two [Eb] albums of Bob Dylan's so-called [Bb] Christian era, Slow Train Coming and [Eb] Saved,
[F] _ _ [Eb] the songs on these albums have aged very well.
[Bb] Let's look at these songs as what [Eb] the songs are,
not what Dylan's [Bb] performance of them, not [Gm] what [Eb] they meant for his own personal [Bb] life or whatever
he was going through, for however this fits into his [F] biography, but [B] as gospel songs.
[Bm] The music sounds like back [B] home in one of those sanctified churches where I come from. _ _
_ _ [E] _ [B] _ _ [E] [B] Where everybody would get up and they would be beating the tamarine and the old ladies and the young people clapping
and people [Em] falling out [B] and feeling God's spirit.
[Gb] _ _ _ _ _ _ [E] _
It is [Gbm] fascinating that 20-some [D] years [E] after [Gbm] Dylan made these gospel [D] albums,
[E] taking those [Gbm] songs and actually [D] handing them over to [Gbm] gospel singers [A] with more pure gospel [G] interpretation.
You may be living in another _
_ [E] _ life, [A] you will have to search your mind, _ make up in your [Em] mind to [D] search the [A] Lord right now.
[G] I believe in you, [D] even through the [A] tears and the laughter, _ _ _ [G] I believe in you, [D] even though we [A] be apart.
It's the core and essence of what [C] gospel, the [D] good news, the [Am] good news of Jesus Christ [A] is all about.
_ [E] And Dylan's poetic [Am] treatment of it saying, I'm hanging on.
It's [C] not pretty, it's intense, it's real life.
There's only one [G] road that [Am] leads [C] to [F] Calvary.
_ [Bb] _
_ [F] _ It [Fm] gets discouraging at times, but I know [Bb] I'm gonna [C] make it. _
In the Garden, I have [Em] used In the Garden, the lyrics of that song, to [Gb] minister to my choir.
_ _ [Abm] _ _ [G] We _ _
[Cm] _ know it's a [A] matter of record that when Bob [Eb] first went out and toured [D] behind these records and started playing [A] Christian music at his [Dm] concerts,
[A] he was scorned and abused.
[E] It was a terrible, [Cm] terrible thing.
_ _ _ [Bb] _ _
_ [Ab] _ _ [Cm] _ _ _ _ _
_ [Bb] _ _ [Gb] _ [Ab] _ [Cm] _ [Ebm] I think [Bb] it's possible to listen to a song like When He [F] Returns and see [Eb] this as a very powerful work of art.
[Cm] _ _ _
_ [Eb] _ _ [Ab] _ _ _ [Eb] _ [Gm] _
[Cm] _ _ _ _ [Bb] _ _ _ [Eb] _
_ _ [F] _ _ [Cm] Solid rock and sage, I mean, [D] oh, you know, [Am] that type of message never [A] gets old. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ [Am] _ _ [A] _ _ _
_ I don't think any of those kind of songs will ever die, no matter who wrote them.
They're [Dm] like blowing in the wind.
They go other places, other people record them, but they never [Cm] die.
_ _ [Bb] _ [Cm] _ _
[Bb] _ _ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ [F] _
[Eb] _ [F] _ _ [Bb] I prayed, man.
I've been praying for the last week.
I sat in my [Db] car in my garage 15 minutes before I got here.
[Bbm] I [Eb] prayed again.
I [Ab] said, Lord, [Db] illuminate the room, [Fm] illuminate the room.
[Ab] _ _ _ _ [Db] _ _ _
[Ab] _ [Eb] _ _ [Fm] _ _ [Ab] How can you hate yourself for the [Db] weakness [Bb] you can?
[Ab] _ _ _
_ [F] _ [Em] _ You may be a state trooper.
You may be a young turd.
You may be the head [G] of some big TV network.
You may be rich or poor.
[D] You [G] may be blind or lame.
You may be living in another world.
_ _ [E] _ _ [A]
You will have to serve somebody.
Serve somebody.
Make a big [Em] amount, you'll serve a long time. _ _ _ _