The Dylan Code

Michael Drosnin, author of The Bible Code, passed away on June 9. As explained in his New York Times obituary, Drosnin's 1997 best seller claimed that the Hebrew Scripture (sometimes inaccurately called the Old Testament) included prophesies of modern events that could be discovered through the application of computerized numerology:

But “The Bible Code,” published in 1997, captured the portentous mood of the years before the new millennium. Its promise of ancient prophecy revealed through modern computing was ripe for a culture awakening to the possibilities of the internet and digital technology. And it offered religious and nonreligious readers alike an intriguing worldview — and a good yarn.

As it happens, my brother (a music professor at the University of Minnesota) and I discovered a similar phenomenon in the lyrics of Bob Dylan's songs from the 1960s, which we published in a Green Bag article titled "Intimations of Contemporary Law & Politics in the Early Oeuvre of Robert A. Zimmerman: The Dylan Code." Here is the gist:

We were stunned to realize that Bob Dylan’s arcane early lyrics contain a series of previously unnoticed, artfully encrypted references to the impeachment trial of William Jefferson Clinton, from the beginning of Ken Starr’s investigation all the way through to the sad spectacle of the Senate’s deliberations.

Consider this excerpt from It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding):

While preachers preach of evil fates

Teachers teach that knowledge waits

But even the president of the United States

Sometimes must have to stand naked.

The “preachers,” of course, are the religious conservatives who dominated the vast right-wing conspiracy against the President, while the “teachers” must surely signify the members of the American National Education Association, staunch Democrats who were in no hurry –remember, “knowledge waits” – to learn the truth about Clinton’s escapades.

You can read the entire article here, featuring predictive excerpts from Maggie's Farm, Bob Dylan's 115th Dream, Just Like a Woman, and of course The Drifter's Escape, with an additional prediction about the rise of Micosoft in The Gates of Eden.

Drosnin, by the way, was described by the Times as "firmly believing in the hidden messages but unable to explain how or why they appeared." Eerily, he died on my brother's birthday.

Comments

[Zimmerman]

National Education Association?

[Steve L.]

Thanks, "Zimmerman." Correction made.

[Bobby]

I'll never be able to listen to Dylan the same way ever again. I curse you.

[Elston Gunn]

"Genghis Khan he could not keep all his men supplied with sleep"

Stunningly accurate, no?