GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY

YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO SERVE SOMEBODY, YES INDEED YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO SERVE SOMEBODY, WELL, IT MAY BE THE DEVIL OR IT MAY BE THE LORD BUT YOU'RE GONNA HAVE TO SERVE SOMEBODY.
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NOT DARK YET - HOME PAGE
GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY


You may be an ambassador to England or France,

You may like to gamble, you might like to dance,

You may be the heavyweight champion of the world,

You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed

You're gonna have to serve somebody,

Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

You might be a rock 'n' roll addict prancing on the stage,

You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage,

You may be a business man or some high degree thief,

They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed

You're gonna have to serve somebody,

Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

You may be a state trooper, you might be a young Turk,

You may be the head of some big TV network,

You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame,

You may be living in another country under another name

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed

You're gonna have to serve somebody,

Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

You may be a construction worker working on a home,

You may be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome,

You might own guns and you might even own tanks,

You might be somebody's landlord, you might even own banks

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed

You're gonna have to serve somebody,

Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

You may be a preacher with your spiritual pride,

You may be a city councilman taking bribes on the side,

You may be workin' in a barbershop, you may know how to cut hair,

You may be somebody's mistress, may be somebody's heir

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed

You're gonna have to serve somebody,

Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

Might like to wear cotton, might like to wear silk,

Might like to drink whiskey, might like to drink milk,

You might like to eat caviar, you might like to eat bread,

You may be sleeping on the floor, sleeping in a king-sized bed

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed

You're gonna have to serve somebody,

Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

You may call me Terry, you may call me Timmy,

You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy,

You may call me R.J., you may call me Ray,

You may call me anything but no matter what you say

You're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed

You're gonna have to serve somebody.

Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord

But you're gonna have to serve somebody.

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PERFORMANCES SINCE 1998

BELFAST, NORTHERN IRELAND, JUNE 19, 1998

NEWCASTLE, ENGLAND, JUNE 20, 1998

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND, JUNE 20, 1998

SHEFFIELD, ENGLAND, JUNE 23, 1998

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, JUNE 24, 1998

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND, JUNE 25, 1998

ROSKILDE, DENMARK, JUNE 26, 1998

LONDON, ENGLAND, JUNE 27, 1998

MONTREUX, SWITZERLAND, JULY 3, 1998

ROME, ITALY, JULY 5, 1998

LUCCA, ITALY, JULY 6, 1998

TORINO, ITALY, JULY 9, 1998

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA, AUGUST 21, 1998

CONCORD, CALIFORNIA, SEPTEMBER 25, 1998

RENO, NEVADA, SEPTEMBER 27, 1998

EDMONTON, ALBERTA, CANADA, OCTOBER 16, 1998

SASKATOON, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA, OCTOBER 18, 1998

REGINA, SASKATCHEWAN, CANADA, OCTOBER 20, 1998

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA, CANADA, OCTOBER 21, 1998

DULUTH, MINNESOTA, OCTOBER 22, 1998

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, OCTOBER 23, 1998

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, OCTOBER 25, 1998

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, OCTOBER 26, 1998

AUBURN HILLS, MICHIGAN, OCTOBER 28, 1998

TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA, OCTOBER 29, 1998

KANATA, OTTAWA, ONTARIO, OCTOBER 30, 1998

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 1, 1998

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 2, 1998

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, NOVEMBER 3, 1998

COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND, NOVEMBER 5, 1998

ATLANTA, GEORGIA, NOVEMBER 7, 1998

FORT MYERS, FLORIDA, JANUARY 26, 1999

SUNRISE, FLORIDA, JANUARY 28, 1999

DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA, JANUARY 29, 1999

TAMPA, FLORIDA, JANUARY 30, 1999

TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA, FEBRUARY 1, 1999

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA, FEBRUARY 2, 1999

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA, FEBRUARY 3, 1999

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, FEBRUARY 5, 1999

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, FEBRUARY 6, 1999

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, FEBRUARY 7, 1999

DAYTON, OHIO, FEBRUARY 9, 1999

COLUMBUS, OHIO, FEBRUARY 10, 1999

CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS, FEBRUARY 12, 1999

NORMAL, ILLINOIS, FEBRUARY 13, 1999

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA, FEBRUARY 14, 1999

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, FEBRUARY 15, 1999

CLEVELAND, OHIO, FEBRUARY 17, 1999

BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA, FEBRUARY 18, 1999

BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 19, 1999

LAKE PLACID, NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 20, 1999

TROY, NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 22, 1999

AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS, FEBRUARY 24, 1999

PORTLAND, MAINE, FEBRUARY 25, 1999

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA, MARCH 2, 1999

SANTANDER, SPAIN, APRIL 13, 1999

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA, APRIL 3, 2000

HORSENS, DENMARK, MAY 21, 2000

BERLIN, GERMANY, MAY 23, 2000

MODENA, ITALY, MAY 27, 2000

RENO, NEVADA, JUNE 25, 2000

TORONTO, CANADA, JULY 18, 2000





This song is very special for me as I started listening to Bob Dylan in 1979 (I even believe "Slow Train Coming" is the best studio album in history).

Knowing that anything can happen when Bob is on stage (having witnessed "I BELIEVE IN YOU" both in 1994 and in 1995) my wife and I were hoping for overt statements about his faith as we went to three Dylan concerts in 1998.

Between songs we flashed a cloth sign reading "GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY" , which definitely was visible from the stage on May 30th and June 14th, as we were pretty much up front (wishful thinking, we thought, since he had not performed it since 1991).

When Bob started his concert with this song in Belfast a few days later, we could hardly believe it. He did use this challenging opener 55 times in the following months.

Since Bob began opening his concerts with the acoustic set, he has performed it only seven times, but he did open his concerts with equally challenging cover songs quite frequently.



In June 1996 we had a most interesting conversation with Winston Watson near the Old Opera House in Frankfurt. He told us that he also started listening to Bob in 1979 (he is about my age) and that he was hoping some years already for Bob to put "GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY" back on his list. It was to be Winston Watson's last tour with Bob. Sadly he never got to play it.