From Eugene, Oregon in 2002, here’s a clip of Bob and the boys doing a Bill Monroe song (also performed by the Stanley Brothers), Voice From On High.

The phrase that constitutes the title of that song also appears in Bob Dylan’s Maybe Someday, from Knocked Out Loaded — a song that seems to some degree like a throwaway (on an album that appears to have more than its share), but one I at least have always found fun and irresistible.

Maybe someday you’ll hear a voice from on high
Sayin’ “For whose sake did you live, for whose sake did you die?”
Forgive me, baby, for what I didn’t do
For not breakin’ down no bedroom door to get at you.

That’s also one of the songs in his catalog that Bob has never sung live, at least as far as I and His Bobness Info know. It seems a good bet that it’s one of those which remain that way forever, along with, oh, All The Tired Horses and Three Angels.

…

Addendum: Richard comments:

That’s an absolutely chilling clip. It’s a great example of what Greil Marcus calls “that old, weird America,” and it sounds like Dylan and the boys are summoning the spirits from some dark holler where that old, spooky Christianity is practiced. Sometimes Dylan channels forces that are so … beyond.

...................
Share this!

Posts which might be related to this one based on a mysterious algorithm:

• If my love is real
• Voice from on High
• Preaching the gospel