What does With God on Our Side mean?

Bob Dylan: With God on Our Side Meaning

Album cover for With God on Our Side album cover

With God on Our Side Lyrics

Oh my name it is nothin’
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the midwest
It’s taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that land that I live in
Has God on it’s side.

Oh the history books tell it
They tell it...

  1. 1TOP RATED

    #1 top rated interpretation:
    Judith Meyer
    click a star to vote
    Jan 18th 2011 !⃝

    This song just goes to show how the claim "God is on our side" is randomly assigned to whatever conflict is going on at the moment. There are no criteria to it, people can say you have God on your side even murdering 6 million people in cold blood, and on the other hand God is still said to be against the comparatively innocent (like the Indians or the Russians here?). It doesn't make sense; the claim cannot be true. So IF God is actually with us next time, we won't need Him to pick sides, He will just prevent the war and that will be better than victory even.

  2. anonymous
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    Aug 8th 2020 !⃝

    Bob Dylan was a young anti-war activist. The song is not just about war and conflict. It is also about the hypocrisy around religion. 'Though they murdered eight million' We don't ask no questions when God's on our side. It is not about God preventing war - it is about humanity following the teachings of Christianity because if they did, the atrocities would not happen. The song is satire.





  3. anonymous
    click a star to vote
    Sep 1st 2019 !⃝

    It’s tongue-in-cheek. Everyone thinks that God is on their side. We’re still in tribal thinking mode. Still someone always loses in traditional wars and conflicts. God doesn’t really takes sides. We need to out-think and maneuver better resolutions to our conflicts.

  4. anonymous
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    Aug 20th 2016 !⃝

    The meaning of this song for me is that BOB DYLAN was being a young Anti-War Sarcastic ''With God on our side'' song of what most men wants and needs to believe, especially when sent to War. Where even for the most lost ''there are no Atheists in fox holes''. I mean, I do believe that we were ''with God on our side'' in early North and South America as a new garden of eden discovery, but unfortunately we the people should've taken some responsibility for the same temptations offered with strange fruit this time that took over us to be fooled and fueled by The Temptor. To my understanding of history whenever the time came for real physical wars where Humans were involved the god of this world who became to also be called Satan, was roaming in the Garden Of Eden on this Earth before and eversince Adam and Eve were created. This Satan[knowledgeable in pride,laziness,greed,anger,lies and jealousy] wanted both sides to believe that he is on their side to confuse themselves with. 'Cause he really hated God The Creator's Creation for Humanity to be happy and content with eachother in God The Creator eversince the beginning. Satan also wanted them to be happy and knowledgeable, but to become like a wickedly happy god or gods, where their bloodline eventually influenced and led some of the Humans to become evil destroyers of the good deeds that God The Creator wanted for the Human Race. This all came out of his anger and jealousy of GOD's Creation of man that infuriated Satan's pride. Anotherwords God The Creator always wanted to bring the Human Race together to help each other out, and not for Satan[the god of this world] that infiltrated our minds for us to become evily smart that pulled us away from The Creator to believe him as The Destroyer that wants us to be fooled that The Creator is on our side when sent to War to only kill each other off. Even Judas believed that he had God on his side that pitied and Eventually betrayed Jesus with a kiss 'cause he was fooled in his greed and pride of Satan not to believe in the true God The Creator, who was in front of him as Jesus that came down as God The Creator to radiate the truth about Himself to us in order to educate us not to believe that God The Creator is on our side to destroy our neighbors, But to do spiritual warfare and resist Satan's angels full of lies and temptations. Believe that God The Creator never wanted or wants to destroy anything that He created, especially when it came to Humans. He never started or stopped the physical Wars Of Man to be on anybody's side where there is never winners in His eyes. He[God] gave us free will to choose ''with God[Him] on our side'' not to start any wars with each other, only to defend ourselves if invaded and attacked by those who were and are fooled, to only be eventually possessed and used by Satan's men.

  5. anonymous
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    Mar 30th 2013 !⃝

    I think Dylan is thinking about history and all the horrible things that have happened, and how people claim that God is on their side so "they are in the right". I think at the end of the song, he is coming around to the belief that it doesn't mean that everything is "rosey" if God is on your side, that God is sovereign even over Judas's betrayal.

  6. anonymous
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    Sep 1st 2011 !⃝

    My interpretation of this song is that that if you believe in something god can be on your side and it will help you get what you want or win and its not always fair how some of the lives are played out and it doesn't always go to plan but if god was rally on your side he would avoid war and killings all together :) xxx.


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