Darren Hirst examines the apocalyptic world of BOB DYLAN as expressed through his 'Together Through Life' album

Dylan has been preoccupied with images of border towns since the time of his conversion to Christianity in the late '70s. On his 1986 tour with Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, he used a particular song by Ry Cooder and John Hiatt each night. The opening verse neatly encapsulates the mystical significance that Dylan incorporates into these towns along that borderline: "There's a place, so I been told/Every street is paved with gold/And it's just across the borderline." (from "Across The Borderline" (Cooder/Dickinson/Hiatt)

It is an idea that he has incorporated time and time again into his own songwriting: "In your teardrops, I can see my own reflection/t was on the northern border of Texas where I crossed that line/ don't want to be a fool starving for affection/ don't want to drown in someone else's wine." (Bob Dylan, "The Night Comes Falling From The Sky", 1985, from 'Empire Burlesque')

Like the slow train which brings God's will to the world, it is an image he returns to again and again. In Dylan's world these border towns are inhabited by rich characters who have much to decide and stand at the edge of life and death: "If you ever go to Houston, boy, you better walk right. . ./Better know where you're going or stay where you are. . ./If you see her sister Lucy, say I'm sorry I'm not there/Tell her other sister Betsy to pray the sinner's prayer." (Bob Dylan, Selected lines from "If You Ever Go To Houston", 2009, from 'Together Through Life')

Dylan even seems to echo a line from Jesus in this song - albeit in reverse - "The same way I leave here, will be the way I came." In a recent interview, a writer asked Mr Dylan what the Sinner's Prayer was: "That's the one that begins with 'Father forgive me for I have sinned.' There are matters of eternity to be considered in the streets that Dylan walks.

Some of the songs on 'Together Through Life' though are less compelling or perhaps they are just slow-burners that will grow on the listener. The fifth track, "Forgetful Heart", is sombre and thoughtful but doesn't really seem to go anywhere. Next comes "Jolene" which could have been a Chuck Berry song and is playful and energetic but there are others who do a rock 'n' roll romp better than Bob. Like "Sally Sue Brown" on 'Down In The Groove', it evokes a certain era in musical history but is not as memorable as the songs it perhaps seeks to pay tribute to.

Recently, I heard someone compare the seventh track on this album, "This Dream Of You", to 'Slow Train Coming''s "I Believe In You" in terms of mood and conviction. It is true that if Dylan had written "I Believe In You" in the era since 'Time Out Of Mind', it could have sounded like this. "I look away but I keep seeing it/I don't want to believe/But I keep believin' it." (Bob Dylan, "This Dream Of You", 2009)

The song finds its author sitting in another of those border town cafes, calling out with the prophets, "How Long?" "How long can I stay/In this nowhere cafe 'fore night turns into day/I wonder why I'm so frightened of dawn/All I have and all I know/Is this dream of you which keeps me living on." (Bob Dylan, "This Dream Of You", 2009)

The song like so many others is redolent with the writer's New Testament reading. . . "There's a moment when all old things become new again. . .", "I'll run this race until my earthly death. . ."

If "Jolene" has echoes of "Sally Sue Brown" then we could compare "Shake Shake Mama" to "Wiggle, Wiggle" from 'Under The Red Sky'. The woman in both songs is a thing of beauty but also a temptation from the things that the writer is trying to concentrate on. . . and in that way becomes like a fiend. . . "Wiggle 'til you're high, wiggle 'til you're higher/Wiggle 'til you vomit fire. . . /Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, rattle and shake/Wiggle like a big fat snake." (Bob Dylan, Selected lines from "Wiggle, Wiggle", 1990, from 'Under The Red Sky')

"Shake, shake Mama, like a ship going out to sea/Shake, shake Mama, like a ship going out to sea/You took all my money and gave it to Richard Lee. . . /Some of you women you really know your stuff. . ./Some of you women you really know your stuff/But your clothes are all torn and your language is a little rough. . ." (Bob Dylan, Selected lines from "Shake Shake Mama", 2009, from 'Together Through Life')
(Historical footnote: It appears that Richard Lee was a gambler and a pimp.)

But Dylan has hopes for higher things and is not simply a misogynist, if he didn't love women so much then they wouldn't be such a problem to him!

"Shake, shake Mama, Raise your voice in praise!/Shake, shake Mama, Raise your voice in praise!/If you're going on home, better go the shortest way." (Bob Dylan, "Shake Shake Mama", 2009, from 'Together Through Life')

The woman in the penultimate song "I Feel A Change Comin' On" is of a different calibre too - at least she keeps better company. "I see my baby coming - she's walking with the village priest/I feel a change comin' on/And the last part of the day is already gone/We've got so much in common/We strive for the same old ends." (Bob Dylan, I Feel A Change Comin' On, 2009, from 'Together Through Life')

This song has a great hook-line (not exactly common place in a Dylan composition) but lacks a little something - some thing which you could accuse two or three songs here of suffering from.

The final song, "It's All Good", has Mr Dylan's razor wit at its sharpest. He lists some of the world's ills and wraps them in that most complacent of today's clichés "it's all good." It isn't all good - the world today is sick and dying but Bob uses irony to point this up for us. . . just in case we hadn't noticed. The album's story has now come to the opposite end of the spectrum from where it began.

At the beginning of the album (life's journey?) the narrator felt there was nothing beyond this world and that was okay because all he could need was here. By the end of the disc, the stench of prime evil is in his nostrils and he knows that if there is nothing beyond this world, we are in trouble indeed. "Well widows cry; the orphans plea/Everywhere you look there's more misery/Come along with me babe, I wish you would/You know what I'm sayin', it's all good/Cold blooded killers stomp into town/Cop car's blinkin', something bad goin' down/Buildings are crumblin', in the neighbourhood/But there's nothing to worry about, cause it's all good/It's all good."
(Bob Dylan, "It's All Good", 2009)

'Together Through Life' is, like most every Bob Dylan album, a thought-provoking set. It inhabits the same apocalyptic world that all his records for 30 years now have lived in. This time around there are some classic songs but also a few which don't really advance the theme of the disc. The album is fun, thoughtful and enigmatic by turns. It is an album of faith and deep worries. And you could do a lot worse than have it on your shelf.