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Pressing On (Bob Dylan song)

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"Pressing On"
Song by Bob Dylan
from the album Saved
ReleasedJune 23, 1980
RecordedFebruary 13, 1980
StudioMuscle Shoals Sound Studio
GenreGospel
Length5:11
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Bob Dylan
Producer(s)Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett

"Pressing On" is a gospel song written and performed by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and released as the sixth track on his 1980 album Saved. When the album was released it was considered by many critics to be "one of the few bright spots on the album"[1] and has stood the test of time by being covered by more than half a dozen artists in the 21st century.[2] The song was produced by Jerry Wexler and Barry Beckett.

Composition and recording

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In their book Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track, authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon note how the song represents Dylan's "belief in God in spite of those who block his path or doubt", citing the Gospel of John, Chapter 6, verses 30 and 32 as Dylan's main source of inspiration. The third chapter of Paul's Epistle to the Philippians contains the phrase "press on" twice. They also point out that the song is an invitation to listeners to "look toward the future", which seems to deliberately evoke the title of Dont Look Back, D. A. Pennebaker's 1967 documentary about Dylan, with the lyric: "Shake the dust off your feet / Don't look back".[3]

The version that appears on the album was the ninth and final take that Dylan recorded of the song at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio on February 13, 1980. According to Margotin and Guesdon, "Dylan sings a superb gospel, a transporting vocal performance" and the musicians backing him "match the level of emotion released by his amazing singing, and the vocalists pick up to deliver a stunning performance".[4]

Critical reception

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In a Rolling Stone review of Saved from 1980, Kurt Loder called the track "serenely stoic", noting that it is "in part, a melodic descendant of The Band’s 'The Weight'" and that it "utilizes a gentle gospel piano and some inspired lead and backup singing to make a simple statement of spiritual commitment". Loder groups it with "Saving Grace" from the same album as a "genuinely moving" paean.[5] Critic Dave Lifton likewise considers it one of the two "emotionally moving" songs on the album (along with "In the Garden").[6]

Rolling Stone included "Pressing On" in a 2012 list of "Bob Dylan's Greatest Songs of the 1980s". An article accompanying the list notes that anyone who saw Dylan live in 1980 saw "an absolutely killer band, and Dylan singing with incredible passion and force" and noted that the show "often wrapped up with Dylan at the piano belting out this song". They also claim that "it deserves to be sung at every church in America. Don't get too tripped up on the message. Give it a listen".[7]

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The song is prominently featured in the Christian Bale-starring "Pastor John" segment of I'm Not There, Todd Haynes' unconventional 2007 biopic about Dylan. Bale's character, Jack Rollins, representing gospel-era Dylan, performs the song on camera (lip-synching a version recorded for the soundtrack by musician John Doe).[8] Doe's cover was ranked #52 by Rolling Stone on their "100 Best Songs of 2007" list.[9] Dylan himself praised Doe's cover as being “A once in a lifetime recording" in a 2015 interview with Bill Flanagan.[10]

"Pressing On" is also sung in its entirety on camera in two feature-length documentaries: Alicia Keys sings it in Muscle Shoals (2013), and the Chicago Mass Choir, featuring lead vocals by former Dylan back-up singer Regina McCrary, performs it in Gotta Serve Somebody: The Gospel Songs of Bob Dylan (2005).[11]

Cover versions

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Live versions

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Dylan performed the song 65 times in concert in 1979 and 1980.[14] Three of these live versions (along with an alternate studio take) were included on the album The Bootleg Series Vol. 13: Trouble No More 1979–1981.[15]

References

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  1. ^ "Pressing On, after the thunder, a declaration | Untold Dylan". December 13, 2019. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  2. ^ "Cover versions of Pressing On by Bob Dylan". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  3. ^ "Pressing On". bobdylan.com. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  4. ^ Margotin, Philippe; Jean-Michel Guesdon (2015). Bob Dylan : all the songs : the story behind every track (First ed.). New York. ISBN 978-1-57912-985-9. OCLC 869908038.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  5. ^ Loder, Kurt (September 18, 1980). "Saved". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  6. ^ Lifton, Dave (June 23, 2015). "How 'Saved' Became Bob Dylan's Most Listenable Born-Again Album". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  7. ^ "Bob Dylan's Greatest Songs of the 1980s". Rolling Stone. August 15, 2012. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  8. ^ I'm Not There (8/9) Movie CLIP - Pressing On (2007) HD, retrieved April 14, 2021
  9. ^ No byline (December 11, 2007). "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 21, 2007
  10. ^ Padgett, Ray (May 19, 2021). "Every Time Bob Dylan Commented on a Cover of One of His Songs". Cover Me.
  11. ^ Hallgeir (May 25, 2016). "Bob Dylan Pressing On: 2 great originals and 7 fine cover versions". All Dylan - A Bob Dylan blog. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  12. ^ "Valdemar featuring Mattias Hellberg & Voices from the London Community Gospel Choir". secondhandsongs.com. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  13. ^ "Alicia Keys – Pressing On – The Best Dylan Covers". borntolisten.com. November 13, 2020. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  14. ^ "Setlists". bobdylan.com. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  15. ^ "Read the complete tracklisting for Bob Dylan's Trouble No More - The Bootleg Series Vol. 13". UNCUT. September 20, 2017. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
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