American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan was awarded the 2012 Presidential Medal of Freedom and in 2016 became the first musician to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Dylan was born into a Jewish family in Minnesota and had a conversion experience to Christianity in the 1970s, after which he spent several months studying the Bible. One of the results was a gospel-themed album, Slow Train Coming, which topped sales charts in 1979. It included “Gotta Serve Somebody,” which won a Grammy Award.

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The song’s lyrics continued the social and political critique that had made Dylan a leading voice in the civil rights and anti-war movements of the 1960s, with references to corrupt government officials, bankers, rock stars, and preachers. But the chorus evokes Joshua’s challenge to the people of Israel in Joshua 24:15: “Choose you this day whom you will serve.” As Dylan writes, “It may be the devil or it may be the Lord,” but a choice is unavoidable. No matter who you are or what social roles you occupy, “you’re going to have to serve somebody.”

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The message got under the skin of British musician John Lennon, who responded by recording several versions of a parody called “Serve Yourself.”