Line #30 Music/SlowTrainComing


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/e99100bd84b13c3120b6a4b561cb1fb9.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''There's a slow, slow train comin' up around the bend.'']]
3
4	''Slow Train Coming'' is the nineteenth studio album by Music/BobDylan, released in 1979. At the time it was his first album after becoming an born-again Christian and this is reflected on this and many other albums he released in TheEighties. Musically he shifted more towards ChristianRock and GospelMusic and his lyrics dealt more with his faith in God. While Dylan did reach a new audience among religious people, it did alienate a lot of his older fans, especially considering Dylan wrote far more critical songs about religion earlier in his career, notably "With God On Our Side" from ''Music/TheTimesTheyAreAChangin''.
5
6	Commercially the album did well. "Gotta Serve Somebody" was his first huge hit in three years and won him his first UsefulNotes/GrammyAward ("Best Rock Vocal"). [[CriticalDissonance Critical reactions were more mixed]], though with the passing of time and especially regarding Dylan's entire career it's nowadays VindicatedByHistory as one of his better albums (or at the least superior to his other two Christian albums).
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8	----
9	!! Tracklist:
10
11	[[AC: Side One]]
12
13	# "Gotta Serve Somebody" (5:24)
14	# "Precious Angel" (6:31)
15	# "I Believe In You" (5:09)
16	# "Slow Train" (5:58)
17
18	[[AC: Side Two]]
19
20	# "Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking" (5:28)
21	# "Do Right To Me Baby (Do Unto Others)" (3:53)
22	# "When You Gonna Wake Up?" (5:29)
23	# "Man Gave Names To All The Animals" (4:27)
24	# "When He Returns" (4:32)
25
26	----
27	!! Gotta Trope Somebody:
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29	* AdamAndEvePlot and AnimalMotifs: "Man Gave Names To All The Animals", based on Adam naming all the animals in the Garden of Eden. It's rather childlike in nature and has often been called one of Dylan's worst songs in terms of lyrics.
30	* ApocalypseHow: Well, a good solid helping of the ''Literature/BookOfRevelation'', at least as seen by certain evangelical circles.
31	* AuthorAvatar: The general message of this album is pretty much summed up in "When You Gonna Wake Up?"
32	--> ''There's a man up on a cross and He's been crucified for you''
33	--> ''Believe in His power that's about all you got to do.''
34	* AsTheGoodBookSays: Many tracks deal with Christian themes. But some are directly based on biblical quotes, such as "Precious Angel", "Do Right To Me Baby (Do Unto Others)" and "Man Gave Names To All The Animals".
35	* ChristianRock: The whole album, but neatly summed up in a couplet from "Precious Angel".
36	--> ''You were telling him about Buddha, you were telling him about Mohammed in the same breath''
37	--> ''You never mentioned one time the Man who came and died a criminal's death.''
38	* CrapsackWorld: "Slow Train":
39	--> ''All that foreign oil controlling American soil''
40	--> ''Look around you, it’s just bound to make you embarrassed''
41	--> ''Sheiks walkin’ around like kings''
42	--> ''Wearing fancy jewels and nose rings''
43	--> ''Deciding America’s future from Amsterdam and to Paris''
44	* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The cover was designed by Catherine Kanner.
45	* TheEndIsNigh: All over the place. Dylan even had end times sermons between the songs during concerts.
46	* ExtremeDoormat: "Do Right To Me Baby"
47	--> ''Don't wanna be used by nobody for a doormat''
48	* GodIsLoveSongs: All the songs are about God in one way or another. In "Precious Angel" Dylan asks God to "shine his light on him", while "I Believe In You" is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. In "When You Gonna Wake Up" Dylan tells everybody to wake up and convert to God. In "Do Right To Me, Baby" however Dylan states: "Don't put my faith in nobody, not even a scientist."
49	* GospelMusic: This album marked Dylan's shift towards gospel.
50	* HeroicResolve: Dylan applies it to himself in several songs.
51	-->''Though the Earth may shake me\
52	And my friends forsake me\
53	Even that won't make me go back\
54	Don't, don't let me change my heart''
55	* IHaveManyNames: "Gotta Serve Somebody"
56	--> ''You may call me Terry, you may call me Jimmy''
57	--> ''You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy''
58	--> ''You may call me R.J., you may call me Ray''
59	--> ''You may call me anything but no matter what you say''
60	--> ''You're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed''
61	* LonelyPianoPiece: "When He Returns", which ends the album.
62	* LyricalDissonance: InvokedTrope. Dylan wanted to sell some pretty controversial religious and political ideas using catchy songs and smooth production. Much of the controversy around the album is a result of how well it worked.
63	* MadeASlave: "Precious Angel"
64	--> ''We are covered in blood, girl, you know both our forefathers were slaves''
65	--> ''Let us hope they've found mercy in their bone-filled graves''
66	* MyCountryTisOfTheeThatISting: "Slow Train"
67	--> ''Man's ego is inflated, his laws are outdated, they don't apply no more''
68	--> ''You can't rely no more to be standing around waiting''
69	--> ''In the home of the brave, [[UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson Jefferson]] turning over in his grave.''
70	* NewSoundAlbum: Dylan had converted to Christianity at time of recording and as a result all songs are about his new found faith in God.
71	* {{Reggae}}: "Man Gave Names To All The Animals" is reggae inspired.
72	* RecordProducer: Dylan enlisted Jerry Wexler (longtime Creator/AtlanticRecords executive) and Barry Beckett (prolific keyboardist who was part of the influential {{Soul}}[=/=]{{Rock}} musical crew based in Muscle Shoals, Alabama) to produce.
73	* QuestioningTitle: "When You Gonna Wake Up?"
74	* SexDrugsAndRockAndRoll: "Gotta Serve Somebody"
75	--> ''You might be a rock ’n’ roll addict prancing on the stage''
76	--> ''Money and drugs at your command, women in a cage''
77	* ShapedLikeItself: "He unleashed His power at an unknown hour that no one knew"
78	* ShoutOut:
79	** "When You Gonna Wake Up?"
80	--> ''Creator/KarlMarx has got ya by the throat, UsefulNotes/HenryKissinger got you tied up in knots.''
81	** "You may call me R.J., you may call me Ray" in "Gotta Serve Somebody" is a nod to comedian Bill Saluga and his Raymond J. Johnson Jr. character, who was ubiquitous on American TV variety shows in TheSeventies.
82	* SingerNameDrop: "Gotta Serve Somebody", in which he even acknowledges his birth surname Zimmerman.
83	--> ''You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy''
84	* SomewhereSong: "Gonna Change My Ways"
85	--> ''There's a kingdom called Heaven''
86	--> ''A place where there is no pain of birth''
87	--> ''Well the Lord created it, mister''
88	--> ''About the same time he made the Earth''
89	* SpecialGuest: Mark Knopfler of Music/DireStraits plays guitar on this album, with original Dire Straits drummer Pick Withers also helping out. As a result, several of the songs almost sound InTheStyleOf the band.
90	* AStormIsComing: "Slow Train" describes situations that will mark a turn for the worse.
91	* SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion: Each verse of "Man Gave Names To All The Animals" describes an animal, ending on a rhyme on its name. Until the final verse:
92	-->''He saw an animal as smooth as glass\
93	Slithering its way through the grass\
94	Saw him disappear [[Literature/BookOfGenesis in a tree by a lake]] —''\
95	[End of song]
96	* TitleTrack: "Slow Train"
97	--> ''Sometimes I feel so low-down and disgusted''
98	--> ''Can't help but wonder what's happening to my companions''
99	--> ''Are they lost or are they found, have they counted the cost it'll take to bring down?''
100	--> ''All their earthly principles they're gonna have to abandon?''
101	--> ''There's a slow, slow train coming up around the bend.''
102	* TwelveBarBlues: "Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking" is a pretty straight example.
103	* TrainSong: "Slow Train", where the train is to be understood as a metaphor for the coming biblical apocalypse and Jesus' return.
104	* WhamLine: "When You Gonna Wake Up?"
105	--> ''You got some big dreams baby, but in order to dream you gotta still be asleep''

Context Music / SlowTrainComing