Cover art for Precious Angel by Bob Dylan

Precious Angel

Apr. 20, 19791 viewer7K views

Precious Angel Lyrics

[Verse 1]
Precious angel
Under the sun
How was I to know
You'd be the one
To show me I was blinded
To show me I was gone
How weak was the foundation
I was standing upon?

Now there's spiritual warfare
And flesh and blood breaking down
You either got faith or you got unbelief
And there is no neutral ground
The enemy is subtle
How be it we are so deceived
When the truth's in our hearts
And we still don't believe?


[Chorus]
Shine your light, shine your light on me
Shine your light, shine your light on me
Shine your light, shine your light on me
You know I just couldn't make it by myself
I'm a little too blind to see

[Verse 2]
My so-called friends
Have fallen under a spell
They look me squarely in the eye
And they say, "All is well"
Can they imagine the darkness
That will fall from on high
When men will beg God to kill them
And they won't be able to die?


Sister, let me tell you
About a vision that I saw
You were drawing water for your husband
You were suffering under the law
You were telling him about Buddha
You were telling him about Mohammed, in one breath
You never mentioned one time
The Man who came and died a criminal's death


[Chorus]
Shine your light, shine your light on me
Shine your light, shine your light on me
Shine your light, shine your light on me
You know I just couldn't make it by myself
I'm a little too blind to see

[Verse 3]
Precious angel
You believe me when I say

What God has given to us
No man can take away
We are covered in blood, girl
You know both our forefathers were slaves
Let us hope they've found mercy
In their bone-filled graves

You're the queen of my flesh, girl
You're my woman, you're my delight
You're the lamp of my soul, girl
And you torch up the night
But there's violence in the eyes, girl
So let us not be enticed
On the way out of Egypt
Through Ethiopia
To the judgment hall of Christ

[Chorus]
Shine your light, shine your light on me
Shine your light, shine your light on me
Shine your light, shine your light on me
You know I just couldn't make it by myself
I'm a little too blind to see

[Outro]
(Shine your light, shine your light on me)
(Shine your light, shine your light on me)
(Shine your light, shine your light on me)
(Shine your light, shine your light on me)
(Shine your light, shine your light on me)
(Shine your light, shine your light on me)
(Shine your light, shine your light on me)
(Shine your light, shine your light on me)

How to Format Lyrics:

  • Type out all lyrics, even repeating song parts like the chorus
  • Lyrics should be broken down into individual lines
  • Use section headers above different song parts like [Verse], [Chorus], etc.
  • Use italics (<i>lyric</i>) and bold (<b>lyric</b>) to distinguish between different vocalists in the same song part
  • If you don’t understand a lyric, use [?]

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Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Bob Dylan say about "Precious Angel"?
Genius Answer

Song Talk: “Precious Angel” [from “Slow Train Comin'”]

Dylan: Yeah. That’s another one, it could go on forever. There’s too many verses and there’s not enough. You know? When people ask me, “How come you don’t sing that song anymore?” It’s like it’s another one of those songs: it’s just too much and not enough. A lot of my songs strike me that way. That’s the natural thing about them to me. It’s too hard to wonder why about them. To me, they’re not worthy of wondering why about them. They’re songs . They’re not written in stone . They’re on plastic.
http://www.interferenza.com/bcs/interw/1991zollo.htm

Credits
Written By
Release Date
April 20, 1979
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