DYLAN, BOB. (b. 1941). Influential American singer songwriter and Nobel Prize winner. AMs. Unsigned. 1p.. Small 8vo. New York (?), N.d. (Circa early 1980’s). One page of lyrical musings with Biblical references written in ballpoint pen on a page from a New York City Ritz Carlton Hotel telephone message pad.

“I’ve seen more than I wanted to see

You are not so real to be iron and steel – You’re the raw deal –

You are anxious glad [?] to classify me
And entangle me, the year to identify me easily
slap onto me a cause which you can identify –
to get me under category and thumb but
but it can’t be done – I belong to A
New Age – not having to we who seek the
truth but been born knowing it – It is
mine an inheritance – You are eager quick to ------
slide me into the religion of metaphores [sic.] – but
from a previous time –
You are quick to let me know that
chicken stealing hawk shot by a farmers rifle
like a silly dove without a heart

Those who deal treacherously with the Lord beget strange children
You teach us lies and give us the rusty punk bread –
of rotteness [sic.], You give us drugs-
but our religion is of the heart, our”

Born Robert Zimmerman, the son of Jewish immigrants who fled the Russian pogroms and settled in Minnesota, Dylan’s interest in music began in high school. After becoming involved in the Minneapolis folk music scene of the 1960s, Dylan traveled to New York City to meet his hero, Woody Guthrie. Beginning in February 1961, and after adopting the name Bob Dylan (an homage to poet Dylan Thomas), Dylan performed with an acoustic guitar and harmonica around New York’s Greenwich Village. He landed a record deal with Columbia Records and in March 1962 he released his debut album of folk and gospel standards as well as two original compositions. It was the start of a prolific recording career that included his anti-establishment anthems “Blowin’ in the Wind,” and “The Times They Are a-Changin.” Subsequent albums included the songs “A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall,” “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Mr. Tambourine Man,” and “All Along the Watchtower.”

In 1978, Dylan converted to Evangelical Christianity, releasing three gospel albums and refusing to perform his earlier, secular works. The albums and the proselytizing were poorly received by both fans and the media. Interestingly, Dylan continued to participate in Jewish religious life. On the apparent contradiction, Dylan stated, “Here’s the thing with me and the religious thing. This is the flat-out truth: I find the religiosity and philosophy in the music. I don’t find it anywhere else. Songs like ‘Let Me Rest on a Peaceful Mountain’ or ‘I Saw the Light’ – that’s my religion. I don’t adhere to rabbis, preachers, evangelists, all of that. I’ve learned more from the songs than I’ve learned from any of this kind of entity,” (“Dylan Revisited,” Newsweek).

Dylan’s lyrics reference the Old Testament Book of Hosea 7:11, “Ephraim also is like a silly dove without heart: they call to Egypt, they go to Assyria” and Hosea 5:7 which refers to strange children: “They have dealt treacherously against the LORD: for they have begotten strange children: now shall a month devour them with their portions.” Dylan’s writing draws extensively on Biblical material and religious imagery, which can be found in his songs “God Knows,” “Nettie Moore” and “Things Have Changed.”

According to New School University professor Anne Margaret Daniel, who has written extensively about Dylan and spent time researching in his archives at the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, our manuscript page likely dates to the early 1980s when Dylan was working on his album Infidels. Infidels, released in October 1983, draws inspiration from Biblical themes and includes the song “Neighborhood Bully,” about Israel’s right to exist.

In excellent condition accompanied by a PSA/DNA Letter of Authenticity dated March 13, 2024.

Unlike recent sales of Dylan manuscripts, this is not a fair copy of a song, but are unknown and unpublished lyrics that offer a fascinating insight into Dylan’s creative process.