Below is a video clip of Dylan performing one of the songs he wrote during his gospel period but didn’t record and release: Ain’t Gonna Go To Hell For Anybody, courtesy of the generous “rankflv” user on YouTube. It’s from a gig in Toronto in 1980. It’s preceded by some very funny remarks directed to Ronnie Hawkins in the audience, and relevant to the film “Renaldo and Clara.”

Did Dylan refrain from recording this one because it was a little too much? (I mean, if Greil Marcus et al thought that Slow Train Coming was too heavy-handed, what would they think of this?) Or — more likely — did it fail to meet Dylan’s own internal standards in some way? It’s not available in the official book of lyrics: Does that indicate Dylan hasn’t considered it up to snuff? Or is it just one of those things — something that just got away, a question of timing and chance?

I don’t know. But it sure is a rambunctious tune.

I ain’t gonna go to hell for anybody
Ain’t gonna go to hell for anybody
Ain’t gonna go to hell for anybody
Not today, not tonight, not tomorrow, no never, no way!

I can deceive people as well as anybody
I know all the angles, know how to make the jangles
I can twist the truth as well as anybody
Find ’em an’ blind ’em, wine ’em an’ dine ’em
But it don’t suit my purpose, it ain’t my goal
To gain the whole world and give up my soul

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