1989 – Bob Dylan – Gotta serve somebody (1979)

 

Escrita por Bob Dylan, foi gravada em 4 de maio de 1979 no Muscle Shoals Soudn Studios, em Sheffield, Alabama e lançada em 20 de agosto de 1979, no compacto com Trouble in mind como Lado B e no disco Slow train coming, o décimo nono disco de Bob Dylan. Foi produzida por Jerry Wexler e Barry Beckett. Ganhou o Grammy pelo Best Vocal Performamce by a Male em 1980. Esse é o primeiro lançamento de Dylan como Cristão. John Lennon o criticou bastante e escreveu uma paródia com o título “Serve yourself”. Foi o último TOP40 de Dylan no Billboard Hot100, chegando ao número 24. Chegou também ao número 23 no Canadá e número 96 na Austrália. A revista Rolling Stone disse que era a 43a melhor canção de Dylan. O Guardian incluiu-a na lista das 80 Bob Dylan songs everyone should know. Foi regravaad por Willie Nelson, Natalie Cole, Etta James, Aaron Neville, Eric Burdon e Judy Collins, entre outros artistas.

A letra:

You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You might be a socialite with a long string of pearls

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You're gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody

Might be a rock 'n' roll addict prancing on the stage
You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage
You may be a businessman or some high-degree thief
They may call you doctor or they may call you chief

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes, you are
You're gonna have to serve somebody (serve somebody)
Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody (serve somebody)

You may be a state trooper, you might be a young Turk
You may be the head of some big TV network
You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame
You may be livin' in another country under another name

But you're gonna have to serve somebody, yes, you arre
You're gonna have to serve somebody (serve somebody)
Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody (serve somebody)

You may be a construction worker workin' on a home
Might be livin' in a mansion, you might live in a dome
You may own guns and you may even own tanks
You may be somebody's landlord, you may even own banks

But you're gonna have to serve somebody (serve somebody)
Yes, you're gonna have to serve somebody (serve somebody)
Well, it may be the Devil or it might be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody (serve somebody)

You may be a preacher preaching spiritual pride
Maybe a city councilman takin' bribes on the side
May be working in a barbershop, you may know how to cut hair
You may be somebody's mistress, maybe somebody's heir

But you're gonna have to serve somebody
Yes, you're gonna have to serve somebody (serve somebody)
Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody (serve somebody)

Might like to wear cotton, might like to wear silk
Might like to drink whiskey, might like to drink milk
Might like to eat caviar, you might like to eat bread
May be sleeping on the floor, sleepin' in a king-size bed

But you're gonna have to serve somebody (serve somebody)
Yes indeed, you're gonna have to serve somebody (serve somebody)
Well, it may be the Devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody

You may call me Terry, you may call me Timmy
You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy
You may call me RJ, you may call me Ray
You may call me anything, no matter what you say

You're still gonna have to serve somebody (serve somebody)
Yes, you're gonna have to serve somebody (serve somebody)
Well, it may be the Devil and it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody

A versão de Bob Dylan:

A versão de Willie Nelson:

A versão de Etta James: