Precious Angel
| "Precious Angel" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Muscle Shoals Sound Studios | ||||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 6:31 | |||
| Label | Columbia Records | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan | |||
| Producer(s) | Jerry Wexler Barry Beckett | |||
| Bob Dylan singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Precious Angel" is a song written by Bob Dylan that first appeared on his 1979 album Slow Train Coming. It was also released as a single in the Netherlands. "Precious Angel'" is a religious love song, released during his "born-again Christian" period.[3] Music critic Michael Gray considers it one of the standout tracks on Slow Train Coming.[4]
It has been included on a number of Bob Dylan compilation albums, including
Composition
Authors Oliver Keys and John Nogowski particularly praise the guitar playing of Mark Knopfler on the song.[3][7]
Themes
At a concert in Seattle on January 14, 1980, Dylan claimed that the song is addressed to the woman who brought him to Christianity.[3] This is consistent with the lyrics, particularly in the final verse where Dylan refers to his delivering angel as the torch that led him to the greater light of Jesus.[8] The chorus might be addressed to either the precious angel or to Jesus:[8][9][10]
- Shine your light, shine your light on me
- Ya know I couldn't make it by myself
- I'm a little too blind to see
The lyrics contain many
A line from the song continues the theme of the previous song on Slow Train Coming, "Gotta Serve Somebody", stating that "You either got faith or you got unbelief and there ain't no neutral ground".[9] In an echo of earlier songs such as "Positively 4th Street", Dylan later addresses his "so-called friends" who have "fallen under a spell" while thinking "all is well", their cluelessness further echoing Mr. Jones from 1965's "Ballad of a Thin Man."[3][9] Dylan asks:[3][10]
- Can they imagine the darkness that will fall from on high
- When men will beg God to kill them and they won’t be able to die?
The notion of a fate worse than death has yet another biblical source, this time
Identity of the woman
There has been much speculation over the exact identity of the precious angel the song is about.
References
- ^ "Every Bob Dylan studio album, reviewed by the Current staff". The Current. December 31, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ^ Greene, Andy (May 11, 2011). "The Evolution of Bob Dylan". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 7, 2021.
- ^ ISBN 0823079740.
- ISBN 0-8264-5150-0.
- Allmusic. Retrieved 2013-07-13.
- Allmusic. Retrieved 2013-07-13.
- ^ ISBN 9780786435180.
- ^ ISBN 9781556528446.
- ^ ISBN 9781416559153.
- ^ a b Dylan, B. "Precious Angel". bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2013-07-13.
- ISBN 0711935556.
