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"Saved", Track #8

DAVID DIXON: This is another glimpse into the honest and humble approach Bob had toward relationship with God. He's seen a lot, and done a lot, and is grateful for the Divine protection and Divine purpose he sees, looking back at his life. It seems significant to me that he still sings this occasionally in concert. (12/20/07)

BILL COHEN: This is a song that I always think about. I suppose that we all live in this life by enjoying the grace of God. The Saving Grace. I think about Dylan's life and all the performers and friends he loved are dead. Dead from drug overdoses, depression, suicide, and defeat. In the early years Dylan was on that path. In one song he says " so much depression, can't keep track of it no more" (Slow Train). It was at this point in his life that he turned to Christ to help him. Many of the songs which were written about his conversion are filled with grief, tears and joy. In Saving Grace he sings to the Lord " If you can findi t in your heart, can I be forgiven? GuessI owe you some kind of apology. I've escaped death so many times, I know I'm only living by the saving grace that's over me. The next line is one that I know well. By this time I -a thought that I'd be sleeping in a pine box or all eternity, but for the saving grace that's over me. Any of the readers who have been in the Army or Marines and in combat understand and appreciate this song and the intensity of the words. You young men and women in Iraq understand the terror of never knowing when you or one of your friends is going to die. It is God's Saving Grace. that keeps you here to go home and see your family and loved ones. We can't know God's plans for the lives no longer lived, and while we will miss them and always remember them, we are still grateful for the grace that was bestowed to us. (01/23/07)