News | Bob Dylan Releases Single “False Prophet” As Preview For Upcoming Album

Pop culture icon Bob Dylan will be releasing his first-ever album in eight years, Rough and Rowdy Ways, on June 19. This all-original catalog is teased further by the third song which he recently unveiled on May 8.

Titled “False Prophet”, the song bleeds indulgent heavy guitars that drive its bluesy progression, the gritty fuzz-infused riff setting the mood just right. Dylan takes themes of existential woes, challenges, more prodding, and spiritual references. He even goes as far as tipping his hat to a Zen koan and quoting Martin Luther before sealing it off with a lead guitar barrage.

Speaking of prophets, the 2016 Nobel Prize winner for literature said he rejected the title without reservations. “You feel like an impostor when someone thinks you’re something and you’re not. I never wanted to be a prophet or savior. Elvis, maybe. I could easily see myself becoming him. But prophet? No.” Dylan shared with 60 Minutes‘ Ed Bradley.

Former Pope Benedict also commented on this prophet-status of Dylan. In a passage from a 2007 memoir, the former pope wasn’t too pleased about Dylan’s appearance at a Vatican youth event, saying, “There was reason to be skeptical – I was, and in some ways I still am – over whether it was really right to allow this type of ‘prophet’ to appear.”