Gotta Serve Somebody

{{About|the Bob Dylan song|the tribute album|Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan}}

{{Infobox song

| name = Gotta Serve Somebody

| cover = Gotta Serve Somebody cover.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Bob Dylan

| album = Slow Train Coming

| B-side = Trouble in Mind

| released = August 20, 1979{{cite book|first1=Philippe |last1=Margotin|first2=Jean-Michel|last2=Guesdon|title=Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7iRBCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT645|date=27 October 2015|publisher=Running Press|location=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|isbn=978-0-316-35353-3|page=645}}

| recorded = May 4, 1979

| studio = Muscle Shoals Sound Studios

| genre = {{hlist|Blues rock{{cite book|first1=Cynthia A. |last1=Jarvis|first2=E. Elizabeth|last2=Johnson|title=Feasting on the Gospels: Chapters 1-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1JW7BwAAQBAJ&pg=PA214|date=1 January 2015|publisher=Presbyterian Publishing Corp|isbn=978-0-664-23553-6|page=214}}|Christian rock|pop rock{{AllMusic |class=album|id=mw0001459213|title= Various Artists - Legends: For Your Love (2004) Review|last= Campbell|first= Al|access-date= February 15, 2025}}|funk{{cite book|author=Dave Henderson|title=Touched by the Hand of Bob: Epiphanal Bob Dylan Experiences from a Buick Six|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AizJJTzlhsMC|year=1999|publisher=Black Book Company|isbn=978-1-902799-00-1|page=70}}|gospel}}

| length = 5:25

| label = Columbia

| writer = Bob Dylan

| producer =

| prev_title = Changing of the Guards

| prev_year = 1978

| next_title = Precious Angel

| next_year = 1979

| misc = {{Audio sample

| type = single

| file = Gotta Serve Somebody.ogg

| description = "Gotta Serve Somebody"

}}

"Gotta Serve Somebody" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released as the opening track on his 1979 studio album Slow Train Coming.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bobdylan.com/songs/gotta-serve-somebody/|title=Gotta Serve Somebody {{!}} The Official Bob Dylan Site|website=bobdylan.com|access-date=2018-06-30}} It won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Male in 1980.{{cite web|title=1979 - The 22nd Annual Grammy Awards - Grammy.com|url=http://www.grammy.com/nominees/search?artist=&field_nominee_work_value=&year=1979&genre=All|website=Grammy.com|access-date=2014-06-30}} It was later anthologized on the compilation albums Biograph (1985), Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume 3 (1994), The Essential Bob Dylan (2000), The Best of Bob Dylan and Dylan (2007).{{Cite web|title=Gotta Serve Somebody {{!}} The Official Bob Dylan Site|url=http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/gotta-serve-somebody/|access-date=2021-05-04|website=www.bobdylan.com}}

Background

The song was recorded in May 1979 at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios in Sheffield, Alabama and produced by Jerry Wexler. The title never appears as such in the lyrics, though numerous mentions of "You're gonna have to serve somebody" come close. The B-side, "Trouble in Mind", was a Dylan original that was recorded for Slow Train Coming but was ultimately left off it.

In the final verse, Dylan makes a then-current but now obscure reference ("You may call me RJ, you may call me Ray"), paraphrasing the act of comedian Bill Saluga, who performed as "Raymond J. Johnson Jr."

Reception

As Dylan's first release during his "gospel" period, "Gotta Serve Somebody" was met with divisive reviews; John Lennon famously criticized the song and wrote a parody titled "Serve Yourself" in response.{{Cite magazine|first=Jordan|last=Runtagh|date=May 27, 2016|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/remembering-bob-dylan-and-john-lennons-drugged-out-limo-ride-20160527|title=Remembering Bob Dylan and John Lennon's Wild '66 Limo Ride|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=June 30, 2018|archive-date=2018-06-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180620002014/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/remembering-bob-dylan-and-john-lennons-drugged-out-limo-ride-20160527|url-status=dead}}{{Cite web|url=https://recordmecca.com/item-archives/john-lennon-serve-yourself-acetate/|title=John Lennon – Serve Yourself Acetate|website=recordmecca.com|date=29 April 2012 |access-date=2018-06-30}} Nevertheless, the single won the Grammy for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Male in 1980.{{cite web | url=https://www.grammy.com/awards/22nd-annual-grammy-awards | title=22nd Annual GRAMMY Awards }} The effort is still Dylan's latest top 40 hit on the Hot 100, peaking at No. 24 and remaining on the chart for 12 weeks.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-10-worst-bob-dylan-songs-20130703/2-gotta-serve-somebody-0393106|title=Readers' Poll: The 10 Worst Bob Dylan Songs|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=3 July 2013|access-date=July 6, 2013|archive-date=June 30, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630052837/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-10-worst-bob-dylan-songs-20130703/2-gotta-serve-somebody-0393106|url-status=dead}}{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/bob-dylan/chart-history/hsi/|title=Bob Dylan Gotta Serve Somebody Chart History|magazine=Billboard|access-date=June 30, 2018}} The song did best in Canada, where it spent two weeks at No. 23.{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.7853a&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.7853a.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.7853a|title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=1979-11-24 |access-date=2020-10-17}}

Cash Box said that the "bluesy instrumentals" were the song's highlight and that "Dylan avoids a preachy tone with humorous asides."{{cite news|title=CashBox Singles Reviews|date=August 25, 1979|page=7|newspaper=Cash Box|accessdate=2022-01-01|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1979/CB-1979-08-25.pdf}} Record World said that "Dylan's fervent vocals, laced with a gospel female chorus, and subdued keyboard/guitar lines make this an important statement."{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=August 25, 1979|accessdate=2023-02-11|title=Single Picks|page=16|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/79/RW-1979-08-25.pdf}}

In 2016, Rolling Stone magazine featured the song as No. 43 on its list of "100 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs".{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-bob-dylan-songs-20160524/gotta-serve-somebody-1979-20160523|title=100 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=2018-06-30|archive-date=2018-06-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630052841/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-bob-dylan-songs-20160524/gotta-serve-somebody-1979-20160523|url-status=dead}} A 2021 Guardian article included it on a list of "80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know".{{Cite web|date=2021-05-22|title=Beyond Mr Tambourine Man: 80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know|url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/may/22/beyond-mr-tambourine-man-80-bob-dylan-songs-everyone-should-know|access-date=2021-05-22|website=the Guardian|language=en}}

Covers

Shortly after the song's release, Devo, in disguise as a Christian-based anagram cover band, Dove, performed "Gotta Serve Somebody" regularly on the last leg of their Duty Now for the Future tour,{{Cite web|url=http://huboon.com/1979.html|title=DEVO Live Guide - 1979|website=huboon.com|access-date=2020-01-18}} featuring Devo mascot Booji Boy on vocals, stating "We used to do devil music like that band Devo, but then Jerry (...) sat on a Bob Dylan record", parodying Dylan's recent conversion.{{cite web|title=Dove, the Band of Love – "Gotta Serve Somebody"|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVgludGcI5I |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/WVgludGcI5I |archive-date=2021-12-15 |url-status=live|via=YouTube|access-date=2020-01-18}}{{cbignore}}

The song has been covered by over 50 additional artists. Among the most notable versions are those by Shirley Caesar, Willie Nelson, Natalie Cole, Pops Staples, Etta James, Aaron Neville, Mavis Staples, Eric Burdon and Judy Collins.{{Cite web|title=Cover versions of Gotta Serve Somebody written by Bob Dylan {{!}} SecondHandSongs|url=https://secondhandsongs.com/work/8898/versions|access-date=2021-05-04|website=secondhandsongs.com}}

A 2011 live recording from Levon Helm and Mavis Staples appears on the 2022 album Carry Me Home.

American funk band Vulfpeck covered the song in their 2022 album Schvitz.{{Citation |title=VULFPECK /// Serve Somebody |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEm2WqoudI8 |language=en |access-date=2023-01-06}}

Live performances

Dylan has performed the song over 500 times in concert since 1979. The live versions he has performed in more recent years feature almost entirely new lyrics, as seen in his "Mondo Scripto" art exhibition in 2018.{{Cite web|title=Bob Dylan Lyrics Are the Star in Halcyon Gallery's Mondo Scripto|url=https://www.rockarchive.com/news/2018/bob-dylan-lyrics|access-date=2021-05-04|website=Rockarchive|language=en}} A live version performed with the Grateful Dead in 1987 was included on the officially released live album Dylan and the Dead.{{Cite web|title=Gotta Serve Somebody {{!}} The Official Bob Dylan Site|url=http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/gotta-serve-somebody/|access-date=2021-05-04|website=www.bobdylan.com}} An additional seven versions of the song (five live performances from 1979-1980, a studio outtake and a tour rehearsal) were included on the box set The Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979–1981 in 2017.{{Cite web|title=Trouble No More – The Bootleg Series Vol. 13 / 1979-1981 {{!}} The Official Bob Dylan Site|url=http://www.bobdylan.com/albums/trouble-no-more-the-bootleg-series-vol-13-1979-1981/|access-date=2021-05-04|website=www.bobdylan.com}}

The song was performed on Saturday Night Live, Oct. 20th 1979. Eric Idle was the host that night.

In popular culture

The song was prominently featured in the Sopranos' episode "House Arrest" in the year 2000,{{Citation|last=Patten|first=Timothy Van|title=House Arrest|date=2000-03-26|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0705252/?ref_=ttsnd_snd_tt|type=Crime, Drama|others=James Gandolfini, Lorraine Bracco, Edie Falco, Michael Imperioli|publisher=Chase Films, Brad Grey Television|access-date=2021-05-04}} and Mountain's version was used for 2021 Sopranos prequel movie The Many Saints of Newark.

Music video

Director John Wilson created an animated video for Gotta Serve Somebody in 1983.[http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/cartoons-considered-for-an-academy-award-1983/ Cartoons Considered For An Academy Award - 1983|Cartoon Research]

Charts

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" \|+ Chart performance for "Gotta Serve Somebody" ! scope="col"\| Chart (1979) ! scope="col"\| Peak position
scope="row"\| Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite Kent}} \| align="center"\| 96
{{single chart\|Billboardhot100\|24\|artist=Bob Dylan\|rowheader=true\|access-date=April 17, 2021}}

class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

|+ Chart performance for "Gotta Serve Somebody"

! scope="col"| Chart (1979)

! scope="col"| Peak
position

scope="row"| Australia (Kent Music Report){{cite Kent}}

| align="center"| 96

{{single chart|Billboardhot100|24|artist=Bob Dylan|rowheader=true|access-date=April 17, 2021}}