Dylan Performs For 300,000 At "Catholic Woodstock"

In papal news -- that's right, papal news -- Pope John Paul II may well earn himself the distinction of being the first-ever rock 'n' roll pontiff. Proving that truth is often stranger than fiction, the Pope himself presided over what some were calling a "Catholic Woodstock" as folk demigod Bob Dylan performed a three-song set for more than 300,000 onlookers.

As the Pope looked on, hands clasped in his lap, Dylan launched into "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," followed by "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall." After these songs, Dylan, clad in a black suit and wearing a tan cowboy hat, approached the Pope's podium and exchanged a few words with the leader of the world's 960 million Catholics.

The Pope, once a poet himself, spoke a few words to the crowd then called it a night, leaving Dylan to close his set with "Forever Young."

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

More Song Stories entries »

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