Bob Dylan has referred to the reality of the devil on more than a few occasions, in song and otherwise (even on his radio show).

In the interview accompanying his 1985 box set, Biograph, he said:

What’s changed? When did Abraham break his father’s idols? I think it was last Tuesday. God is still the judge and the devil still rules the world so what’s different?

It’s not very appealing to think that the world is ruled by the devil, but maybe a truly unfiltered look around the place makes the notion more plausible.

A lot of Christians attending services this morning would have heard this from Luke, Chapter 4:

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan, and was led by the Spirit for forty days in the wilderness, tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing in those days; and when they were ended, he was hungry.
The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”
And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’”
And the devil took him up, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time,
and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory; for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will.
If you, then, will worship me, it shall all be yours.”
And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”
And he took him to Jerusalem, and set him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here;
for it is written, ‘He will give his angels charge of you, to guard you,’
and ‘On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”
And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’”
And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time.

So, a dilemma is illustrated here, for the mortal man. Living in a world that the devil struts through commandingly, he is asked to serve only God. It’s tough to keep straight, but without a doubt you gotta serve somebody.

There is a YouTube clip at this link (or play below) of Dylan doing a hard and searing version of that very song in November of 1990.

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