May 2011 sees the 70th birthday of Bob Dylan. To celebrate, we're taking you on a journey through the lesser celebrated avenues of his back catalogue. A journey down Highway 61 that won't stop off at 'Blowin' In The Wind', 'All Along The Watchtower' or 'Knockin' On Heaven's Door' but will call by...
The Groom’s Still Waiting At The Altar (1981)
Notable for two things; firstly that even on one of Bob’s most under-praised records (‘Shot Of Love’) there can be hiding something truly great and secondly, this song was probably the full stop on the Christianity phase. Not just because here was Bob rocking with an abandon and slight aggression that general assumption dictated the religious concerns had erased. Also there’s the apocalyptic imagery of the lyrics, the groom waiting in church for the rising of a new religious age; he’s stated his case but nothing’s happening so he’s about to turn a new page on life rather than stand forever waiting. Don’t forget though, even in 2000 he observed that “if the Bible is right the world will explode” so clearly the biblical concerns still played on his mind years later. Of course you could also take this song literally and conclude that underneath it all Bob just wanted to find another wife.
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