Bob Dylan / 7:30
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar
Madelyn Quebec: vocals
Al Kooper: guitar
Stuart Kimball: guitar
Richard Scher: synthesizers
Urban Blight Horns: brass
Robbie Shakespeare: bass
Sly Dunbar: drums
Bashiri Johnson: drums
Recording Studio
The Power Station / Studio A, New York: February 23 (Overdubs March 18–21, 23, 1985)
Technical Team
Producer: Bob Dylan
Sound Engineer: Josh Abbey (The Power Station)
Remix: Arthur Baker
With this song, Dylan returns to metaphysical concerns. “When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky” is littered with biblical references. The first line, “Look out across the fields, see me returning,” echoes the book of Job (1:7) in the Old Testament, “The Lord said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ Satan answered the Lord, ‘From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.’” Similarly, in the first verse, “From the fireplace where my letters to you are burning,” and again in the last verse, “I sent you my feelings in a letter,” are certainly allusions to the seven letters sent to the seven churches in Asia Minor by the apostle John, known as the Seven Churches of the Apocalypse.
The “night [that] comes falling from the sky” could be the symbol of Satan’s victory or, more optimistically, the announcement of Judgment Day. Thus, in the Gospel according to Matthew, it says, “As soon as the distress of those days has passed, the sun will be darkened, the moon will not give her light, the stars will fall from the sky, the celestial powers will be shaken” (24:29). Therefore, the time will come for people to confess their sins and answer the judgment of the Lord.
On February 19, a recording session included Steve Van Zandt on guitar and Roy Bittan on piano, then both members of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. The take was released on the The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3: Rare & Unreleased, 1961–1991. This upbeat rocky version is radically different from the electro-disco version appearing on Empire Burlesque, rerecorded without Bittan and Van Zandt on February 23 in four attempts. The third take was selected for the album. Dylan put his harmonica aside and provided an unrestrained vocal in the 1980s style. However, the production and the remix by Arthur Baker do not match the musical language delivered by the songwriter. The arrangements overemphasized the synthetic sound, reverb, and sampled orchestra sound, but did not help the song. Even the Urban Blight Horns are completely lost in the mix. The recording on February 23 was marked by the return of guitarist Al Kooper, who could not equal his work on “Like a Rolling Stone.”