At about two minutes it is one of the shortest songs on the album.
The words
A messenger who twists every report is told to bring only good news if he must speak at all.
This is a dark parable about a messenger who cannot carry a message straight. Told in the voice of an ancient scripture, the song describes a man who exaggerates and distorts everything he reports, until the people he serves finally rebuke him and tell him that if he must speak, he should bring only good tidings. It is terse and ominous, with no chorus and no wasted line, and it ends abruptly. A tight, insistent bass line drives it from start to finish.
Lyrics on bobdylan.com ↗Listen and watch
The words
A messenger who twists every report is told to bring only good news if he must speak at all.
This is a dark parable about a messenger who cannot carry a message straight. Told in the voice of an ancient scripture, the song describes a man who exaggerates and distorts everything he reports, until the people he serves finally rebuke him and tell him that if he must speak, he should bring only good tidings. It is terse and ominous, with no chorus and no wasted line, and it ends abruptly. A tight, insistent bass line drives it from start to finish.
Lyrics on bobdylan.com ↗Connections
On the map
In threads
The same year · 1967
- All Along the WatchtowerJohn Wesley Harding
- I’ll Be Your Baby TonightJohn Wesley Harding
- Dear LandlordJohn Wesley Harding
- I Pity the Poor ImmigrantJohn Wesley Harding
- John Wesley HardingJohn Wesley Harding
- I Dreamed I Saw St. AugustineJohn Wesley Harding
- The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas PriestJohn Wesley Harding
- I Am a Lonesome HoboJohn Wesley Harding
Read onWikipedia ↗MusicBrainz ↗