“Precious Angel” is a song written by Bob Dylan that first appeared on his 1979 album Slow Train Coming. It was also released as a single in the Netherlands. At a concert in Seattle on January 14, 1980, Dylan claimed that the song is addressed to the woman who brought him to Christianity. This is consistent with the lyrics, particularly in the final verse where Dylan refers to his delivering angel as the torch that led him to the greater light of Jesus. Musically, “Precious Angel” has a reggae sound. Authors Oliver Keys and John Nogowski particularly praise the guitar playing of Mark Knopfler on the song. Music critic Michael Gray considers it one of the standout tracks on Slow Train Coming. (More from Wikipedia)
The best known of Bob Dylan’s Christian albums was the previous album Slow Train Coming, which produced the hit song “Gotta Serve Somebody”, the topical song “Slow Train” (also relatively rare by this point in Dylan’s career) and the charming children’s song “Man Gave Names to All the Animals” – this one ends abruptly before naming the snake (and Dylan later verified that he meant the one in the Garden of Eden). But several of the songs didn’t pull any punches or seek shelter in allegory, notably “Precious Angel”, “When You Gonna Wake Up” and “When He Returns”.
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One of the verses in another song on the album, “Precious Angel” seems to echo the dialogue between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well; it lays it out in no uncertain terms:
Sister, lemme tell you about a vision 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 the same breath
You never mentioned one time the Man who came and died a criminal’s death
(August 2014)
