Tonight, Bob Dylan again: the third time in our course. But this is a very different Dylan.
Learn from Songs · Unit 8: Modals · B1–B2
Gotta Serve Somebody
A gospel song about the choices everyone has to make: obligation and necessity (have to, have got to, gotta, must, need to), don’t have to and mustn’t, and had to / will have to for the past and future, with Marcos, a witness who is offered a bribe.
SOPHIA
PHILO
Not the young man with the guitar and the questions?
SOPHIA
No. By 1979, he had become a Christian, and he made an album of gospel songs. This one says that everyone, without exception, has to choose whom to serve.
MARCOS
Even kings?
Before you listen: the song
Muscle Shoals, Alabama, 1979
In the late 1970s, Bob Dylan became a Christian, and in 1979 he recorded an album of gospel songs, Slow Train Coming, in the famous Muscle Shoals studio in Alabama, with the guitarist Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits. Many fans were shocked; others loved it.
“Gotta Serve Somebody” opened the album. It became his first hit in three years, and won him a Grammy award for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance.
The song lists all kinds of people: rich and poor, powerful and weak, famous and unknown, people in every job and every situation. And it says that whoever you are, you have to serve somebody: either good or evil. You have to choose.
In everyday speech, have got to often sounds like gotta, as in the title. In writing and exams, use have to or have got to.
Everybody has to serve somebody.
Listen: the list
PHILO
Listen once. What kinds of people does the song mention? What does it say they all have to do?
SOPHIA
Then listen for gotta. Answer Section A.
⚖️ Listen to the song: “Gotta Serve Somebody” (Bob Dylan, 1979).Find the official audio on YouTube →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Gotta Serve Somebody”, Bob Dylan.Read the lyrics →
Have to, have got to, must
DEMETRIA
You have to choose. You’ve got to serve somebody. I must tell the truth.
SOPHIA
have to and have got to (more informal, British) = obligation, often from outside. must = an obligation you feel yourself, or strong rules and signs. need to = it’s necessary. In songs and speech: gotta = (have) got to.
Don’t have to or mustn’t?
MARCOS
You don’t have to take his money. Witnesses mustn’t lie.
SOPHIA
don’t have to / don’t need to / needn’t = it isn’t necessary. mustn’t = it’s forbidden. A classic mistake: You mustn’t come (= don’t come!) is very different from You don’t have to come (= you can if you want).
Past and future: had to, will have to
PHILO
Yesterday I had to choose. Tomorrow I’ll have to speak in court.
SOPHIA
must has no past or future form. Use had to for the past and will have to for the future. Questions: Do you have to…? Did you have to…?
Sophia’s comparison: Hercules at the crossroads
SOPHIA
The philosopher Prodicus told a story: the young Hercules came to a crossroads, and two women appeared. One promised an easy life of pleasure; the other, Virtue, promised a hard road and true glory. He had to choose.
PHILO
And Joshua said to the people: choose this day whom you will serve. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.
DEMETRIA
So the song is three thousand years old, with a new tune.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| have to / have got to (gotta) | obligation (often external) | You have to choose. |
| must | obligation you feel; strong rules | I must tell the truth. |
| need to | necessity | You need to be brave. |
| don’t have to / mustn’t | not necessary / forbidden | You don’t have to come. You mustn’t lie. |
| had to / will have to | past and future of must | I had to decide. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. What kind of music is it?
2. What does the song list?
3. What does it say they all have to do?
4. Where was it recorded?
5. What prize did it win?
6. What does “gotta” mean?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. Everybody to serve somebody. (he/she form)
8. You’ve to tell the truth. (have got to)
9. You take his money. You can say no. (not necessary)
10. Witnesses lie in court. (forbidden)
11. Yesterday I to choose. (past)
12. Tomorrow he’ll to speak to the judge.
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “You mustn’t to lie.”
14. “I had to get up early yesterday.”
15. “I must went to the doctor yesterday.”
16. “You don’t have to wear a uniform on Fridays.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Rules. Make a list of rules for your school or home: what you have to do, what you mustn’t do, and what you don’t have to do. Compare with a partner.
Discuss. 1. Do you agree that everyone has to serve somebody or something? 2. What are the hardest choices people have to make? 3. Is it always right to tell the truth?
Write (120–150 words). A hard choice. Write about a time when you, or a character from a story, had to choose between what was easy and what was right.
Now play the gamebook: Marcos, the merchant, and the trial.Play the gamebook →