Bishop Barron cites Dylan's "Tryin' to Get to Heaven"

In his book (with John Allen), To Light A Fire On The Earth, Bishop Robert Barron talks about passion for Bob Dylan, and cites this song specifically.

"Buddy Holly, Woody Guthrie, Elvis, and others influenced him, but it's Biblical take which drives his interest in sin, judgment, eternal life, and God. One of his later songs, 'I'm Trying to Get to Heaven Before they Close the Door,' has stayed with me. Often when I'm in prayer in my chapel I'll look up at the tabernacle and say, 'I'm just trying to get to Heaven before they close the door.' When it gets down to it, that's all I want. I'm just trying to get to Heaven before they close the door."

The lyrics are typical Dylan:

The air is getting hotter
There's a rumbling in the skies
I've been wading through the high muddy water
With the heat rising in my eyes
Every day your memory grows dimmer
It doesn't haunt me like it did before
I've been walking through the middle of nowhere
Trying to get to heaven before they close the door

 

When I was in Missouri
They would not let me be
I had to leave there in a hurry
I only saw what they let me see
You broke a heart that loved you
Now you can seal up the book and not write anymore
I've been walking that lonesome valley
Trying to get to heaven before they close the door

 

People on the platforms
Waiting for the trains
I can hear their hearts a-beatin'
Like pendulums swinging on chains
When you think that you lost everything
You find out you can always lose a little more
I'm just going down the road feeling bad
Trying to get to heaven before they close the door

 

I'm going down the river
Down to New Orleans
They tell me everything is gonna be all right
But I don't know what "all right" even means
I was riding in a buggy with Miss Mary-Jane
Miss Mary-Jane got a house in Baltimore
I been all around the world, boys
Now I'm trying to get to heaven before they close the door

 

Gonna sleep down in the parlor
And relive my dreams
I'll close my eyes and I wonder
If everything is as hollow as it seems
Some trains don't pull no gamblers
No midnight ramblers, like they did before
I been to Sugar Town, I shook the sugar down
Now I'm trying to get to heaven before they close the door.

 

I am a fan of Dylan as well - though I have to admit he's sometimes hard to listen to on his recent albums and songs (such as this one) because of his voice. I liked his distinctive voice in the 60s and 70s, but it's gotten harsher and rougher in the last two decades.

 

Ah, but his lyrics.

Pax et bonum