206.Rock Goes the Gospel - Bob Dylan "It's Alright, Ma"

Written in Woodstock in the summer of 1964, while his folk-scene compadres Joan Baez and Mimi and Richard Fariña were Dylan's houseguests, "It's Alright, Ma" is a transition from the politically minded lyrics that had briefly been Dylan's stock in trade to a broader vision of "life, and life only": Instead of pointing fingers at a particular flaw of culture, the song tears down the entire decrepit thing, declaring that all is vanity and hypocrisy and phony propaganda. On a purely technical level, "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" is dazzling, with an incredibly complicated rhyme scheme and a melody that barrels along on two notes until the flourish at the end of each verse. The lyrics incorporate nods to Arthur Koestler (author of Darkness at Noon), the Book of Ecclesiastes and even Dylan's beloved Elvis Presley (the title is just a hair shy of Presley's line "That's all right, now, Mama"). It's always been a tricky song for Dylan to sing — a snapshot of a particular moment in his artistic development, a jewel that he's lucky enough to own rather than a machine whose workings he understands from having built it. Talking about "It's Alright, Ma" in 1980, he described the difficulty of getting "in touch with the person you were when you wrote the songs ... but I can still sing it, and I'm glad I've written it."

Darkness at the break of noon
Shadows even the silver spoon
The handmade blade, the child's balloon
Eclipses both the sun and moon
To understand you know too soon
There is no sense in trying.

Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn
Suicide remarks are torn
From the fools gold mouthpiece
The hollow horn plays wasted words
Proved to warn
That he not busy being born
Is busy dying.

Temptation's page flies out the door
You follow, find yourself at war
Watch waterfalls of pity roar
You feel to moan but unlike before
You discover
That you'd just be
One more person crying.

So don't fear if you hear
A foreign sound to you ear
It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing.

As some warn victory, some downfall
Private reasons great or small
Can be seen in the eyes of those that call
To make all that should be killed to crawl
While others say don't hate nothing at all
Except hatred.

Disillusioned words like bullets bark
As human gods aim for their marks
Made everything from toy guns that sparks
To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark
It's easy to see without looking too far
That not much
Is really sacred.

While preachers preach of evil fates
Teachers teach that knowledge waits
Can lead to hundred-dollar plates
Goodness hides behind its gates
But even the President of the United States
Sometimes must have
To stand naked.

An' though the rules of the road have been lodged
It's only people's games that you got to dodge
And it's alright, Ma, I can make it.

Advertising signs that con you
Into thinking you're the one
That can do what's never been done
That can win what's never been won
Meantime life outside goes on
All around you.

You loose yourself, you reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
Alone you stand without nobody near
When a trembling distant voice, unclear
Startles your sleeping ears to hear
That somebody thinks
They really found you.

A question in your nerves is lit
Yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy
Insure you not to quit
To keep it in your mind and not forget
That it is not he or she or them or it
That you belong to.

Although the masters make the rules
For the wise men and the fools
I got nothing, Ma, to live up to.

For them that must obey authority
That they do not respect in any degree
Who despite their jobs, their destinies
Speak jealously of them that are free
Cultivate their flowers to be
Nothing more than something
They invest in.

While some on principles baptized
To strict party platforms ties
Social clubs in drag disguise
Outsiders they can freely criticize
Tell nothing except who to idolize
And then say God Bless him.

While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in.

But I mean no harm nor put fault
On anyone that lives in a vault
But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him.

Old lady judges, watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn't talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony.

While them that defend what they cannot see
With a killer's pride, security
It blows the minds most bitterly
For them that think death's honesty
Won't fall upon them naturally
Life sometimes
Must get lonely.

My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards
False gods, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside-down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Say okay, I have had enough
What else can you show me ?

And if my thought-dreams could been seen
They'd probably put my head in a guillotine
But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only.

"It's Alright Ma" is a song that is primarily about the vanity of everything. It's a song that plots "meaningless" as a concept. It's a song that almost suggests that life it's self is futile and of no value or purpose. The devotional passage this mornings is taken from Ecclesiasties chapter one. Reading the whole book would be better, (But I can't fit all the text here) as the whole book touches on the themes that are contained in the Dylan song. Below this mornings scripture is a brief guide and explanation to the whole book of Eccelsiasties, the Dylan song "It's alright Ma" picks up these ancient words and asks the questions again.

To understand the opening verses of this Old Testament book you have to understand the whole. So here is an attempt to link the themes of the Dylan song with the themes of Eccelsiasties. 

Solomon has it all. He’s a world-renowned wise man (which we see in Proverbs). He’s a world-renowned ladies’ man (more on that in Song of Solomon). He’s king over the twelve tribes of Israel—and several vassal states. But he can’t hold onto it forever. He’ll die someday, and who knows how his sons will handle the kingdom? Who knows what will happen to the people? Who knows what will happen to him? Solomon wrote, gathered, and assembled written words of wisdom throughout his reign. He was the Qohelet, or Preacher: the one who assembled wisdom and assembled the people (Eccl 12:9–10; 1 Ki 4:32). Solomon has ruled in justice and wisdom for years, but now he has to grapple with a new riddle:

What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun? (Eccl 1:3)

By “under the sun,” he means apart from God. God is in heaven, and man is on earth (Eccl 5:2). So if you deal solely with the visible, tangible, observed-cause-and-effect human experience, what are you left with? It’s a tough question. After all, the universe seems to be in a constant state of resetting itself. The sun rises, sets, and rises again. Rivers flow, but never empty. Information multiplies, but the mind is never satisfied. So in the never-ending cycles of life, what can man do? It sure looks meaningless. And the more Solomon learns about the world, the more depressing a world it becomes (Eccl 1:18). So Solomon explores this problem. The first portion of Ecclesiastes explore man’s situation on earth (Eccl 1:13). And the situation isn’t too great:

1. The smarter you get, the harder it is to cope with the world (Eccl 1:18).
2. Pleasure and riches do not satisfy (Eccl 2:10–11; Eccl 5:10;).
3. Wise men and fools die alike (Eccl 2:16).
4. You can’t take the results of your hard work with you when you die (Eccl 2:18–19; 5:13–17).
5. What you leave behind goes to a generation who didn’t earn it (Eccl 2:18–19).
6. And the results of your labour don’t really satisfy your desires, either (Eccl 2:10–11;5:10; 6:7).
7. People practice evil instead of justice (Eccl 3:16; 4:1; 5:8).
8. Even obedience to God doesn’t guarantee a long, happy life (Eccl 7:16).
9. And the wicked sometimes get away with it (Eccl 7:15; 8:14).

So then he turns to explain it. Why is the world this way? What can we do about it? What’s the point? He’s sure that there’s a just God (Eccl 8:12–13)—he’s seen him with his own eyes (1 Ki 3:5). But the world doesn’t always reflect God’s justice, so Solomon explains what man can do to enjoy life, even if God’s works are not apparent:

1. Eat, drink, and enjoy life, because you’re in the hand of God (Eccl 9:7–9).
2. Work hard, and use wisdom while you can (Eccl 9:10, 18).
3. Avoid acts of foolishness—especially when dealing with authority (Eccl 10:2, 5–6, 20).
4. Take chances, pursue opportunities, and enjoy life while you can (Eccl 11:4, 8–10).
5. As you live, remember who made you (Eccl 12:1).

And then Solomon sums everything up:

The conclusion: When all has been heard the conclusion is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. (Eccl 12:13–14)

The question: in a world of injustice and pain, what’s the point? The answer: fear God, even though you might not see Him make it right.

Theme verse of Ecclesiastes

I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. (Eccl 1:14)

Ecclesiastes’ role in the Bible

Ecclesiastes is the fourth book of poetry in the Bible (after Job, Psalms, and Proverbs). While Psalms is a collection of songs and Proverbs is a collection of principles, Ecclesiastes is one long-form poetic discourse: it poses one main question at the beginning and spends the next twelve chapters arriving at an answer. The book never mentions its author by name: the author is simply “the Preacher.” This isn’t a Sunday-morning-sermon–delivering preacher we’re familiar with today; rather, it’s “one who assembles.” The original Hebrew word for this role only shows up in Ecclesiastes, and probably refers to someone who assembles wisdom and teaches the people. So why is this book traditionally attributed to Solomon? The Preacher gives us a few clues:

1. He is a son of David (Ec 1:1).
2. He is a king (Ec 1:1).
3. He ruled all of Israel in Jerusalem (Ec 1:12).
4. He was a wise man of great renown (Ec 12:9–10).

There were only two kings from David’s line who ruled Israel from Jerusalem: Solomon and Rehoboam. And Rehoboam’s legacy really doesn’t fit the bill (check out the twelfth chapter of First Kings). That leaves Solomon the likely candidate, if the verses identifying the Preacher are to be taken literally. Ecclesiastes’ tone isn’t one you’d expect from the Bible. It’s melancholy and dismissive. You’ll find happier language in Lamentations (and I’m only halfway joking). That’s because Solomon’s exploring the world according to human experience alone. Without a God working behind the scenes to execute justice, Solomon sees life as pretty meaningless. But Ecclesiasties is encouraging nonetheless:

We see that it’s OK to recognize flaws in the world around us. The Bible doesn’t bind us to Pollyannaism—there are injustices and inconsistencies that we cannot control, and we don’t have to smile through it or pretend they don’t exist. We can hope in a good heavenly Judge. The apostle Paul agrees that all creation was subjected to futility (Ro 8:20), and is groaning in anticipation of the coming glory that Christ will bring (Ro 8:22). We join the rest of the universe in anticipation. We don’t live in the same world as Solomon’s. We have something Solomon didn’t experience: the continuous indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Solomon lived in a world where God worked behind the scenes and judged everyone eventually (Eccl 12:13–14), but God is at work in us every single day. The world may be a messed up place, but if Christ is in us, we always have hope (Col 1:27)

Quick outline of Ecclesiastes

The problem (Eccl 1:1–11)

Exploring the problem under the sun (Eccl 1:12–8:17)

Explaining life in the hand of God (Eccl 9–12:12)

The conclusion (Eccl 12:13–14)

Like in the Dylan song "It's Alright Ma" if we loook closely at Solomon's words in Eccelsiasties we may lead our selves to ask the same questions about the vanity of life and in asking questions we may find answers and in finding answers It's my prayer that we find hope for living.