Written by one Dallas Holm; sung by Dylan (with Clydie King) mainly during his late 1980 tour. Mp3 sample from Seattle, 11/30/1980, here for a little while.

Don’t Bob and Clydie have a unique and great sound together? It reminds me that he once mentioned in an interview (Biograph? Or around that time.) that there are some great recordings in the vault of him and Clydie doing gospel songs together, but it wasn’t something he thought the dastardly old record company would ever want to release.

Well, Bob, I think, given your spectacular late-career resurgence, you have the clout to make the boys at Sony accede to your will. At the very least, recordings like that could be made available as purchasable downloads. Get on that, please.

The “go ahead” taunt that starts the verses to Rise Again brings to mind a song that Dylan wrote for Shot of Love, the album that would have been in the works around this time; that song being Property of Jesus: “Go ahead and talk about him because he makes you doubt …” It doesn’t seem a stretch to think he had this song in his ears when he wrote that one, though the songs are otherwise quite different.

Go ahead, drive the nails in my hands;
Laugh at me where you stand;
Go ahead, and say it isn’t me;
The day will come when you will see

‘Cause I’ll…

Rise again; Ain’t no pow’r on earth
Can tie me down; Yes, I’ll rise again
Death can’t keep me buried in the ground

Go ahead, and mock my name;
My love for you is still the same;
Go ahead and bury me;
But very soon I will be free

‘Cause I’ll…

Rise again; Ain’t no pow’r on earth
Can tie me down; Yes, I’ll rise again
Death can’t keep me buried in the ground

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