Bob Dylan pubblica Murder Most Foul, inedito che parte dall’assassinio Kennedy e racconta l’America

Bob Dylan ha pubblicato una nuova canzone "Murder Most Foul", a otto anni dall'ultimo brano inedito (l'album "Tempest" del 2012). Il Premio Nobel per la Letteratura, nonché uno dei più grandi artisti contemporanei, ha pubblicato, a sorpresa, un brano lungo 17 minuti in cui, partendo dall'assassinio di John F. Kennedy racconta quelli che sono stati gli anni 60 negli Stati Uniti. Diciassette minuti di una canzone che non si sa se è preludio a un album nuovo o semplicemente un singolo che ha ritenuto il momento di pubblicare. La canzone – che su Youtube è presentata con un'immagine dell'ex Presidente degli Usa – è assolutamente dylaniana con il piano che si accompagna al violino e delle percussioni che arrivano da lontano, a cui, ovviamente, si aggiunge il suo cantato quasi sussurrato.

Il messaggio di Dylan ai fan per Murder Most Foul

"Un saluto ai miei fan e a chi mi segue, con gratitudine per tutto il supporto e la lealtà che mi avete mostrato in questi anni – ha scritto il cantante presentando la canzone sui suoi social -. Questa è una canzone inedita che abbiamo registrato qualche tempo fa e che potreste trovare interessante. State al sicuro, tenete gli occhi aperto e dio possa essere con voi". Un messaggio breve, che non presenta la canzone, ma si rivolge solo ai fan in queso momento non semplice per gli Usa e per il mondo intero, colpito dalla pandemia di Coronavirus.

Il significato di Murder Most Foul

"Era un giorno scuro a Dallas, era novembre del 63, quel giorno che sarebbe rimasto infame, Presidente Kennedy andava a gonfie vele, era un buon giorno per essere vivi e un buon giorno per morire, condotto al macello come un agnello sacrificale". Sono i primi versi di una canzone che parte da Kennedy, appunto, descrive quegli istanti, i colpi mortali, il cervello che salta, la diretta televisiva e "migliaia che guardavano da casa e videro tutta la scena, successe così in fretta e così di sorpresa proprio lì, di fronte agli occhi di tutti". La canzone poi diventa un racconto di quegli anni, con tantissimi riferimenti, dai Beatles di "I wanna hold your hand" a Woodstock e Oscar Wilde, ma è anche una cavalcata nella musica di quegli anni, con una serie di nomi, da "Please don't let me be misunderstood" a "Only the good die young", passando per Stan Getz, Art Pepper, Thelonious Monk, Don Henley e Dickey Betts.

Il testo di Murder Most Foul

It was a dark day in Dallas, November '63
the day that would live on in infamy
President Kennedy was a-ridin' high
good day to be livin' and a good day to die
being led to the slaughter like a sacrificial lamb
he say wait a minute boys you know who i am
of course we do, we know who you are
then they blew off his head while he was still in the car
shot down like a dog in broad daylight
was a matter of timing and the timing was right
you got unpaid debts we've come to collect
we gonna kill you with hatred, without any respect
we'll mock you and shock you and we'll put it in your face
we've already got someone here to take your place

the day they blew out the brains of the king
thousands were watching at home and saw the whole thing
it happened so quick and so quick by surprise
right there in front of everyone's eyes
greatest magic trick ever under the sun
perfectly executed, skillfully done
wolf man oh wolf man oh wolf man howl
rub-a-dub-dub it's a murder most fowl

Hush little children you'll understand
the Beatles are comin' they're gonna hold your hand
slide down the banister, go get your coat
ferry across the mercy and go for the throat
there's three bums comin' all dressed in rags
pick up the pieces and lower the flags
I'm goin' to Woodstock, it's the aquarian age
then i'll go to Altamonte and sit near the stage
put your head out the window, let the good times roll
there's a party goin' on behind the blessing door

stack up the bricks, pour the cement
don't say Dallas don't love you, mr president
put your foot in the tank and step on the gas
try to make it to the (?) underpass
blackface singer white face clown
better not show your faces after the sun goes down
up in the red light district like a cop on the beat
livin' in a Nightmare on elm street

when you're down in deep ellum put your money in your shoe
don't ask what your country can do for you
cash on the barrelhead, money to burn
at Daley plaza, make a lefthand turn
i'm goin' down the crossroads gonna flag a ride
the place where faith, hope, and charity died
shoot him while he runs boys, shoot him while you can
see if you can shoot the invisible man
goodbye charlie, goodbye uncle sam
frankly, miss scarlett, i don't give a damn

what is the truth? where did it go?
ask Oscar Wilde, and Bo Diddly, they oughta know
shut your mouth (?)
business is business, and it's murder most foul

tommy can you hear me on the acid queen?
i'm ridin ….Lincoln limosine
ridin' in the backseat next to my wife
headin' straight on into the afterlife
I'm leanin' to the left got my head in her lap
oh lord i've been led into some kind of a trap
well we ask no quarter, no quarter do we give
we're right down the street from the street where you live
they mutilated his body and they took out his brain
what more could they do? they piled on the pain
but his soul was not there, where it was supposed to be at
for the last 50 years they've been searching for that

freedom oh freedom, freedom of ???
i hate to tell ya mister but only dead men are free
said mr ? tell me no lie
throw the gun in the gutter and walk on by
wake up little Suzie let's go for a drive
cross the trinity river let's keep open eyed
turn the radio on, don't touch the dials
hartland hospital only six more miles

you got me dizzy ms lizzy you fill me with lead
that magic bullet of yours it goin on ahead
i'm just a patsy like patsy cline
never shot anyone from in front or behind
got blood in my eye, got blood in my ear
I'm never gonna make it to the new frontier
Zapruter's film i seen the night before
seen it 33 times, maybe more
it's vile and deceitful, it's cruel and it's mean
ugliest thing that you ever have seen
they killed him once and they killed him twice
killed him like a human sacrifice

the day that they killed him someone said to me, son
the age of the antichrist has just only begun
air force one comin' in through the gate
Johnson sworn in at 2:38
lemme know when you decide to throw in the towel
it is what it is, and it's murder most foul

what's new pussycat, what'd i say?
i said the soul of a nation been torn away
and it's beginning to go into a slow decay
and that it's 36 hours past judgement day

Wolfman Jack he's speakin' in tongues
he's going on and on at the top of his lungs
play me a song, mr Wolfman Jack
play it for me in my long cadillac
play me that only the good die young
take me to the place Tom Dooley was hung
the Saint James infirmary in the court of king james
if you want to remember you better write down the names
play it the james too, play the prodigal line (?)
play it for the man with a telepathic mind
play John Lee Hooker, play scratch my back
play it for that stripclub ownder named jack
guitar slim goin down slow
play it for me and for Marilyn Monroe

play Please don't let me be misunderstood
play it for the first lady she ain't feelin too good
play don henley, play glenn fry
take it to the limit and lettin' it go by
play it for Carl Wilson too
lookin' far far away at down Gallow Avenue
play tragedy, play twilight time
take me back to Tulsa to the scene of the crime
play another one and another one bites the dust
play the old rugged cross and in god we trust
ride the pink horse down that long lonesome road
stand there and wait for his head to explode
play mystery train for mr mystery
the man who fell down dead like a rootless tree
play it for the reverend, play it for the pastor
play it for the dog that got no master
play oscar blues, play Stan Getz
play blue sky, play Dickey Betts
play Art Pepper, Thelonious Monk
charlie parker and all that junk
all that junk and all that jazz
play somethin' for the Birdman of Alcatraz
play Buster Keaton, play hal lloyd
play bugsy segal, play pretty boy floyd
play the numbers, play the odds
play cry me a river for the lord of the gods
play number nine play number six
play it for nancy and Stevie Knicks
play nat king cole, play nature boy
play down in the boondocks for Terry Malloy
play it happened one night and one night of sin
there's 12 million souls that are listenin in
play merchant of venice play merchants of death
play stand up by starlight from lady macbeth

don't worry mr president, hope's on the way
your brothers are comin', there'll be hell to pay
brothers, what brothers?
what's this about hell?
tell em we're waiting, keep coming, we'll get them as well

love field is where his plane touched down
but it never did get back up off the ground
was a hard act to follow, second to none
they killed him on the altar of the rising sun
play misty for me and that old devil moon
play anything goes and memphis in june
play lonely at the top and lonely are the brave
play it for Houdini spinnin around in his grave
play jelly roll morton, play Lucille
play deep in a dream and play driving wheel
play moonlight sonata in f#
and the key to the highway and the king of the heart
play marching through georgia and dumbarton's (?) drums
play darkness and death will come when it comes
play love me or leave me by the great bud towel
play the bloodstained banner, play murder most foul (testo via)