When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky Lyrics

Lyric discussion by Louis126 

Cover art for When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky lyrics by Bob Dylan

The line: "I saw thousands who could have overcome the darkness For the love of a lousy buck, I've watched them die..." is about the Jim and Tammy Baker fiasco of the '70's and '80's. There is no doubt about this. The remainder of song appears to go on to see how THIS, along with other atrocities seem to explain how Dylan himself may have decided to not be a part of a mainline church-related organization. That is the reason he wrote this song.

My Interpretation

@Louis126 Thanks for the feedback on my interpretation. The title of ‘The groom’s still waiting at the altar’ clearly points to a careless bride but most of the lyrics appears too unspecific to me for drawing reliable conclusions. ‘Sweetheart like you’ (about temptation) and especially ‘Sugar baby’ are about the ‘bride’ as well and have more coherent messages.

Living in Germany, I have never heard about the Jim and Tammy Baker fiasco. The song ‘When the night comes falling from the sky’ certainly has a wider, more global scope. Dylan’s criticism on traditional churches aims at their refusal of...