When the Deal Goes Down

[3] Lyrically, Dylan juxtaposes phrases appropriated from two poems by Civil War-era poet Henry Timrod with other passages inspired by Biblical texts.

The result, according to Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon in their book Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track, is that the lyrics of 'When the Deal Goes Down' "are among the most interesting" on Modern Times.

[6] In a five-star review of Modern Times, The Guardian's Sean O'Hagan saw the song as an example of Dylan "waking with God": "'When the Deal Goes Down' is a distant cousin of 'Let Me Die In My Footsteps', youthful defiance replaced by gritty stoicism.

Complementing the song's nostalgic tone, the acclaimed video, which takes place in the early 1960s and was shot on 8mm film to resemble an old home movie, contains references to Dylan's early life and career through the careful placement of props including: a vintage car with a Minnesota license plate, an antique acoustic guitar, a hardback copy of Woody Guthrie's Bound for Glory and a vinyl copy of a Hank Williams compilation album.

[15] The live debut occurred at Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada on October 11, 2006, and the last performance (to date) took place at Atlantico in Rome, Italy on November 7, 2013.