Song by Song: "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" Quiz

Answer: false

Dylan's "born-again Christian period" is typically regarded as beginning with his release of his 1979 album "Slow Train Coming," which was followed by "Saved." However, "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" was recorded years earlier, on October 16, 1967, during the first recording session for his eighth studio album, "John Wesley Harding." The album contained one of Dylan's most popular songs, "All Along the Watchtower" and peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart in 1968.

Answer: Joe Hill

Joe Hill was a Swedish immigrant worker in America who became a cartoonist and songwriter for the union, writing "There is Power in a Union" and "Casey Jones - the Union Scab," among other songs. He was a labor activist, and many thought he was framed for the murders (of a Utah grocer and his son) for which he was convicted. He was executed by firing squad in November of 1915.

The song "Joe Hill," which has been famously sung by The Dubliners, begins:

"I dreamed I saw Joe Hill last night
Alive as you and me
Says I, 'But Joe, you're ten years dead'
'I never died', says he
'I never died', says he."

Dylan's song similarly begins:

"I dreamed I saw St. Augustine
Alive as you or me."

Answer: A blanket

"I dreamed I saw St. Augustine
Alive as you or me
Tearing through these quarters
In the utmost misery
With a blanket underneath his arm
And a coat of solid gold."

St. Augustine "wears a coat of solid gold" while carrying "a blanket underneath his arm." The coat may represent worldly wealth and excess, while the blanket may represent aestheticism, thus painting an ambiguous and contradictory picture of the figure in Dylan's vision.

Answer: sold

Here, "sold" rhymes with "gold" from the previous "coat of solid gold" line. This line adds to the overall gloom and despair of the song, as St. Augustine's search appears futile. The line also calls to mind a line from another song on the same "John Wesley Harding" album. In "Dear Landlord," Dylan sings, "Please don't put a price on my soul."

Answer: Arise, Arise!

"Arise, arise, he cried so loud
In a voice without restraint
Come out, ye gifted kings and queens
And hear my sad complaint.
No martyr is among ye now
Whom you can call your own
So go on your way accordingly
But know you're not alone."

The allusion to 20th century labor martyr Joe Hill in the opening lines seems somewhat ironic given the denial of modern-day martyrs in these lines.

In 1969, at the Isle of Wight Festival, Bob Dylan played "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" in a slow waltz arrangement.

Answer: fiery

"I dreamed I saw St. Augustine
Alive, with fiery breath."

The choice of "fiery" as an adjective suggests passionate speech. Fire is also associated with the Holy Spirit, as tongues of fire reportedly descended upon people at Pentecost when they received the Holy Spirit. This description of Augustine's breath as "fiery" compliments the earlier image of his "voice without restraint."

Answer: Augustine of Hippo was martyred, or, as Dylan sings, "put...out to death"

It is generally thought Bob Dylan is referring to Augustine of Hippo in this song, though that St. Augustine was never martyred as implied in Dylan's lines:

"And I dreamed I was amongst the ones
That put him out to death."

St. Augustine of Hippo is, however, sometimes pictured in paintings as wearing a stunning coat of predominantly gold color, and in Dylan's dream, St. Augustine wears "a coat of solid gold." (In other paintings, Augustine wears a red or blue cloak.) Augustine of Hippo is also famous for his book "Confessions," in which he wrote about guilt, sin, and confession, and this aligns well with the overall tone of guilt in Dylan's song.

Other people who have been referred to as St. Augustine in history include St. Augustine Webster, St. Augustine of Canterbury, and Augustinus Nidrosiensis (which is a latinized version of Eysteinn Erlendsson, the Archbishop of Nidaros from 1161 to 1188). Of those, the only one to have been martyred was St. Augustine Webster. He was imprisoned in the Tower on the orders of Thomas Cromwell for refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy. Augustine Webster was hanged and quartered in 1535 and has a May 4 feast day as a saint.

Answer: He screams out into the night

"Oh, I awoke in anger
So alone and terrified
I put my fingers against the glass
And bowed my head and cried.

Rolling Stone magazine rated this song number forty on its list of "100 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs of All Time." In the song, Rolling Stone writes, "Dylan replaces folkie certainty with layered complexity" and sings with a "tattered, slightly out-of-tune intensity." The song, says Rolling Stone, is "an earnest gesture of faith in something that he doesn't quite understand."

Answer: Eric Clapton

While Jimi Hendrix considered covering "I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine" at one point, he decided it was too personal and opted to cover "All Along the Watchtower" instead. Eric Clapton, however, covered it on "I Still Do."

Athens singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt also included a cover of the song on his 2004 re-release of his 1993 album "Drunk."

Answer: Joan Baez

"Any Day Now" was an album consisting entirely of Bob Dylan songs. It peaked at number thirty on the U.S. Billboard Pop Albums Chart. John Doe, founder of X, a Los Angeles punk band, also covered the song, as have Dirty Projectors and Thea Gilmore.