Bob Dylan drops 17-minute song inspired by Kennedy assassination

[rooster59]

Bob Dylan drops 17-minute song inspired by Kennedy assassination

 

FILE PHOTO: Bob Dylan performs during the Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware, U.S. June 17, 2017. Picture taken June 17, 2017. REUTERS/Mark Makela/File Photo

 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Bob Dylan on Friday released a 17-minute song inspired by the assassination more than five decades ago of U.S. President John F. Kennedy - the influential singer's first original music since 2012.

 

Dylan, 78, announced the release of "Murder Most Foul" on his website and on Twitter, saying it was "an unreleased song we recorded a while back that you might find interesting."

 

"Stay safe, stay observant and may God be with you," he added.

 

The lyrics rang from a graphic re-telling of the 1963 assassination itself to free wheeling references and observations about pop culture, including the Beatles and the Woodstock festival.

 

"The soul of a nation been torn away, and it’s beginnin’ to go into a slow decay,” Dylan sings in the ballad, accompanied by piano, drums and violin.

 

"Riding in the backseat next to my wife, And it's straight on into the afterlife, I'm leaning to the left I got my head in her lap," he sings at one point, taking the point of view of Kennedy.

 

Dylan, regarded as one of America's most influential singer-songwriters, has shunned publicity for decades but still tours and performs at small venues around the world.

 

The author of iconic 1960s counter culture songs including "Blowin' in the Wind" and "Like a Rolling Stone," last released an album of original music in 2012 with "Tempest," which featured a tribute to murdered Beatle John Lennon and a 14-minute song about the sinking of the Titanic.

 

Other recent music has included cover versions of Christmas songs and carols, and his interpretation of classic American songs.

 

(Reporting by Jill Serjeant; Editing by Alistair Bell)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-03-28

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[Lacessit]

"The times they are a'changing" seems to be the most relevant song today.

[mauGR1]

Listened to the song today, musically not too exciting, but surely the lyrics are food for thought.

[GalaxyMan]

I was very disappointed. I'm a long-time Dylan fan, but this...puerile rhymes, too much of an attempt to be shocking. I couldn't take anymore after 6-7 minutes and just stopped listening.

[norfolkandchance]

Hey, Mister Tambourine Man

[Isaan sailor]

Highway 61.

[Proboscis]

The headline was really confusing - given that the song has been out for days, the use of the word "drops" gave the impression that Dylan had withdrawn the project for some reason.

[Bangkok Barry]

2 hours ago, Proboscis said:

The headline was really confusing - given that the song has been out for days, the use of the word "drops" gave the impression that Dylan had withdrawn the project for some reason.

I was thinking the same. But we live in a world now where bad means good in pop culture, so stating that someone drops something when in fact they do exactly the opposite, offer it up to the public, is par for the course.

[Mick501]

Is it as full of false information as "the hurricane"?

[MickGC]

22 hours ago, GalaxyMan said:

I was very disappointed. I'm a long-time Dylan fan, but this...puerile rhymes, too much of an attempt to be shocking. I couldn't take anymore after 6-7 minutes and just stopped listening.

Each to his own. We all have different tastes. I thought it was a winner. Cheers.

[Spock]

45 minutes ago, MickGC said:

Each to his own. We all have different tastes. I thought it was a winner. Cheers.

I liked it too. But I like almost anything Dylan does.

[GalaxyMan]

As someone who made a living for years as a musician playing guitar in mostly solo acts, I played a lot of Dylan songs. I am a HUGE fan. But this song, sorry, it smacked of desperation to me, trying to recapture something of his fantastic, glorious past, and it just didn't work, at least not for me. Kudos that he tried, but for me, he just came up short. Blood on the Tracks it's not. That's the Gold Standard for me with Bob Dylan.

[keystonecoppers2]

 

 

                   For me, this is the strongest I have heard from him and 

                   in times like this, there is a lot of reflections to be done.

                   It came out at the right time, for sure.

[mauGR1]

1 hour ago, keystonecoppers2 said:

 

 

                   For me, this is the strongest I have heard from him and 

                   in times like this, there is a lot of reflections to be done.

                   It came out at the right time, for sure.

I think the strongest is "It's alright ma.." but i fully agree with the rest of your post.

[rumak]

i had to sing this song a few times more than i like to admit............

 

[Pravda]

Isn't Bob Dylan a religious nut?

[lannarebirth]

1 hour ago, mauGR1 said:

I think the strongest is "It's alright ma.." but i fully agree with the rest of your post.

 

I think the message of "stay observant"  ties into the song very well. Beware the agents and the superhuman crew.