A Dylan original that opens the second side of Infidels, set to a loping, bluesy groove carried by the Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare rhythm section.
The words
A warning that evil rarely announces itself and may arrive looking like a gentle, trustworthy peacemaker.
The song is a sermon in disguise, written soon after his gospel years: the devil, it argues, does not appear with horns but in the shape of a charming leader everyone wants to follow. Verse by verse it lists the many guises this figure can wear, and each one returns to the same unsettling refrain. The tone is dry and knowing rather than fiery. The band plays a long, swaying blues that keeps the warning sounding almost casual.
Lyrics on bobdylan.com ↗Listen and watch
The words
A warning that evil rarely announces itself and may arrive looking like a gentle, trustworthy peacemaker.
The song is a sermon in disguise, written soon after his gospel years: the devil, it argues, does not appear with horns but in the shape of a charming leader everyone wants to follow. Verse by verse it lists the many guises this figure can wear, and each one returns to the same unsettling refrain. The tone is dry and knowing rather than fiery. The band plays a long, swaying blues that keeps the warning sounding almost casual.
Lyrics on bobdylan.com ↗The same year · 1983
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