Bob Dylan releases first songs in eight years
28 March, 2020
Bob Dylan's first new song in eight years is a 17-minute rumination on the 1960s and the assassination of JFK.
"They blew out the brains of the king / Thousands were watching in the home and saw the whole thing," he sings in the opening minutes of Murder Most Foul.
But the visceral account of President Kennedy's murder in 1963 gives way to a rumination on America and music.
The track arrived unannounced at midnight, with Dylan explaining it had been "recorded a while back".
"Greetings to my fans and followers with gratitude for all of your support and loyalty over the years," said the Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winner in a statement.
"That is an unreleased song we recorded a while back that you might find interesting. Remain safe, stay observant, and could God be with you."
He gave no more clues about its vintage, however the delicate, almost conversational vocals are reminiscent of his more recent concert events.
Musically, it's spacious and haunting, with a dusting of piano, a sorrowful violin, and slow, brushed percussion - even though interpreting the lyrics would require weeks of scholarship, two lines in particular advise Dylan may have chosen release a the song now as a commentary on US politics.
"Your day they killed him, someone thought to me, 'Son, the age of the Antichrist has just only begun,'" he sings around the nine-minute mark.
"I said, 'The soul of a nation's been torn away, and it's really beginning to get into a slow decay.' And that it's 36 hours past judgement day."
And also Kennedy's assassination, the song makes allusions to pop culture, from Nightmare on Elm Street and The Merchant of Venice to The Beatles' I WISH TO Hold Your Hand and even Billy Joel's Only THE NICE Die Young.
The last 5 minutes are almost a catalogue of his favourite music, referencing Stevie Nicks, Nat King Cole, The Eagles, Cole Porter's Anything Goes, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata, and jazz greats like Stan Getz and Charlie Parker.
According to Dylanologists, Murder Most Foul is the longest song Dylan has ever released, using its running time of 16 minutes 57 seconds narrowly eclipsing 1997's Highlands, which ran to 16 minutes 31 seconds.
It's unclear if the song is linked to a larger piece of work, however the 78-year-old hasn't released an album of original songs since 2012's Tempest.
That record's title track was also a protracted song in regards to a historical event, the sinking of the Titanic.
Since that time, Dylan has released three albums of covers, many of which were at first sung by Frank Sinatra - Shadows in the night time (2015), Fallen Angels (2016) and Triplicate (2017).
He in addition has released new editions of his ongoing Bootleg Series, collecting unreleased studio sessions from his career. The most recent volume centered on the years 1967-69 and his appearances on Johnny Cash's Television show.
Source: dailyasianage.com
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