{"id":11503,"date":"2020-03-30T20:23:26","date_gmt":"2020-03-30T20:23:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/?p=11503"},"modified":"2020-04-25T16:17:44","modified_gmt":"2020-04-25T16:17:44","slug":"dylan-offers-an-evocative-expansive-ballad-for-jfk-murder-most-foul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/?p=11503","title":{"rendered":"Dylan offers an evocative, expansive ballad for JFK: &#8220;Murder Most Foul&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fcbkbttn_buttons_block\" id=\"fcbkbttn_left\"><div class=\"fcbkbttn_button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Kevin Lynch\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/facebook-button-plugin\/images\/large-facebook-ico.png\" alt=\"Fb-Button\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"fcbkbttn_like fcbkbttn_large_button\"><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/?p=11503\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\" layout=\"button_count\"  size=\"large\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"fb-share-button fcbkbttn_large_button \" data-href=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/?p=11503\" data-type=\"button_count\" data-size=\"large\"><\/div><\/div><p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"584\" height=\"329\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ZWtzNJz1Q-c?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Ghosts can drag on our psychic heels interminably \u2013 that&#8217;s why they\u2019re called haunting. Damn hard to shake. So Bob Dylan was utterly apt in titling his new 17-minute opus \u201cMurder Most Foul.\u201d He&#8217;s quoting perhaps the most famous haunter in literature, Hamlet\u2019s father &#8212; murdered by Hamlet&#8217;s uncle, who then marries the prince&#8217;s mother and gains the Danish crown. At one point, the ghostly father whispers, \u201cMurder most foul, as in the best it is; But this most foul, strange and unnatural.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"11515\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/?attachment_id=11515\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/william-shakespeares-hamlet-2.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"450,202\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"william-shakespeares-hamlet-2\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;This is the ghost of Hamlet&amp;#8217;s murdered father in the Kenneth Branaugh adaptation of &amp;#8220;Hamlet.&amp;#8221; &lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/william-shakespeares-hamlet-2.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11515\" src=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/william-shakespeares-hamlet-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"450\" height=\"202\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/william-shakespeares-hamlet-2.jpg 450w, https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/william-shakespeares-hamlet-2-300x135.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 450px) 100vw, 450px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>The ghost of Hamlet&#8217;s murdered father in the Kenneth Branaugh film adaptation of &#8220;Hamlet.&#8221; Courtesy Kristlinglistics<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Dylan was apparently among the countless of both the so-called \u201cgreatest generation\u201d and the baby-boomers who could never quite let go of the assassination of John F. Kennedy. And have we really, as a nation? <span style=\"color: #333333; font-style: normal; font-weight: 300;\">Ever since that fateful day in Dallas, America has <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 300;\">indulged a weakness for conspiracy theories. It&#8217;s hard to not argue that Kennedy assassination isn&#8217;t the primary impetus for a collective national neurosis &#8212; the Warren Report be damned. I have an intelligent friend with a license plate that reads simply: &#8220;JFK,&#8221; and who eagerly unfurls intriguing conspiracy tentacles on the subject. I&#8217;ll admit I wrote one of the first poems of my young life, and then read a whole book, about the assassination back in the day. 1<\/span><\/p>\n<p>So, we struggled mightily with the tragedy of it, the insanity of it, the mystery, skulduggery and intrigue. It brought this barrel-chested nation crashing to its knees and wringing its hands, after Kennedy had lifted us up with a noble challenge, the dream of the moon, and hope for a greater America \u2013 not in xenophobic isolation like our current president \u2013 but through the Peace Corps, and diplomacy, in service to the world. Even in largely outmaneuvering The Soviets in the Cold War, though that almost went awry.<\/p>\n<p>What a different world ours might be had Kennedy (and M. L. King and RFK) lived to fulfill their promise and vision. Instead, we soon got the &#8220;Reagan Revolution,&#8221; neo-liberalism, and now, Donald Trump and his white-nationalist primary policy-maker, our currents state of affairs.<\/p>\n<p><em>Rolling Stone<\/em> is straightforward in striving for the song&#8217;s currency, certainly at an emotional level: &#8220;All across the country at this very moment, people are lost, scared, and grieving. The coronavirus crisis has transformed American life with shocking speed \u2014 and\u00a0<a id=\"auto-tag_bob-dylan\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rollingstone.com\/t\/bob-dylan\/\" data-tag=\"bob-dylan\">Bob Dylan<\/a> wants you to know that he feels your pain,&#8221; asserts Simon Vozick- Levinson. 2<\/p>\n<p>For sure, by transporting us with such skilled empathy, Dylan transfers our neurological focus away from our pain, in a similar way that certain tried-and-true medications, such as medical marijuana, work for countless people suffering chronic physical pain.<\/p>\n<p>Dylan releasing this now also might help explain why, after becoming the unofficial protest spokesman of the \u201860s generation, he abdicated the role increasingly in the few years after Kennedy&#8217;s death in November 1963. He clearly cares that people hear it now, as if finally unburdening himself.\u00a0 2<\/p>\n<p>The summer of 1964 brought <em><i>Another Side of Bob Dylan<\/i><\/em>\u00a0which stepped back from the heavy protest of <em><i>The Times They Are a\u2019 Changin\u2019,<\/i><\/em>\u00a0with the exception of the magnificent \u201cChimes of Freedom,\u201d a sort of farewell hosanna to justice. And by 1965\u2019s rootsier, more personal and romantic <em><i>Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan\u2019s<\/i><\/em>\u00a0also beginning to plug in, and he chain-anchors the album with the long, searingly bleak \u201cIt\u2019s All Right Ma (I\u2019m only Bleeding)\u201d which remains it\u2019s very own surreal rough beast slouching toward Bethlehem. Yet, in retrospect, it\u2019s chant-like manner and lyrics might also resonate as a conceptual trial run for \u201cMurder Most Foul.\u201d Consider the earlier song\u2019s: <em><i>&#8220;Disillusioned words like bullets bark\/ As human gods aim for their mark\/ made everything from toy guns that spark\/ to flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark\/ It\u2019s easy to see without looking too far\/ that not much is really sacred. <\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>While preachers preach of evil fates\/ teachers teach that knowledge waits\/ can lead to hundred-dollar plates\/ Goodness hides behind its gates\/ but even the President of the United States\/ sometimes must have to stand naked.&#8221;<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p>This new piece won\u2019t be everyone\u2019s cup of tea; Dylan doesn\u2019t even sing a single melody. It\u2019s more like a minister\u2019s funeral sermon. Yet, his voice is richly nuanced, by turns, ironic, quizzical, tender and garrulous. At the very least, let\u2019s agree his bard\u2019s technique remains peerless, including his uncannily effortlessness at rhyming couplets, which keep our mind almost helplessly hooked at his words\u2019 rhythmic resonance.<\/p>\n<p>Dylan contemplates what we lost by paraphrasing Kennedy\u2019s most famous aphorism: \u201cDon\u2019t ask what your country can do for you\u2026\u201d and soon follows by yoking bluesman Robert Johnson with Shakespeare, \u201dI\u2019m going down to the crossroads try to flag a ride\/ the place where faith, hope and charity die&#8230;\u201cWhat is the truth, where did it go? Ask Oswald and Ruby they oughta know. Business is business and it\u2019s a murder most foul.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"11514\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/?attachment_id=11514\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jfk-shot.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"926,744\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"jfk shot\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jfk-shot.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11514\" src=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jfk-shot.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"926\" height=\"744\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jfk-shot.jpg 926w, https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jfk-shot-300x241.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jfk-shot-768x617.jpg 768w, https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jfk-shot-373x300.jpg 373w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 926px) 100vw, 926px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Jackie Kennedy reacts to her husband being shot. Courtesy The Conversation<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Arriving at the decisive moment, Dylan pulls a masterful trick by inhabiting JFK:<\/p>\n<p><em><i>Riding in the backseat next to my wife<\/i><\/em><em><i><br \/>\n<\/i><\/em><em><i>Heading straight on into the afterlife<\/i><\/em><em><i><br \/>\n<\/i><\/em><em><i>I&#8217;m leaning to the left; got my head in her lap<\/i><\/em><em><i><br \/>\n<\/i><\/em><em><i>Hold on, I&#8217;ve been led into some kind of a trap.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p>The songwriter, creator of many unforgettable characters who\u2019d be nobodies if not for him, learned long ago the power of rhetorical illusionism. Of the assassination itself he comments, \u201cThe greatest magic trick under the sun\/ perfectly executed, skillfully done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"11520\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/?attachment_id=11520\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/JFK-gun-sight.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"300,216\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"JFK gun sight\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/JFK-gun-sight.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11520\" src=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/JFK-gun-sight.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"216\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>A simulation of the gun sight of JFK&#8217;s assassin. Courtesy The Guardian\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Abraham Zapruder film, now replayed in slow motion, remains shockingly violent:<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"584\" height=\"329\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eqzJQE8LYrQ?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s a strangely compelling phenomenon \u2013 hearing the man who refused to speak for his generation doing what he can\u2019t help but doing. Speaking for perhaps all generations, then and since, who cherish gifted, inspiring leaders. We feel we, too, must stand naked when they\u2019re torn from us, as Martin Luther King Jr. and Kennedy\u2019s brother Robert soon would be too. No wonder Dylan thought it was all too much for even him, or perhaps anyone, to fully grapple with then. Even now, he drolly disavows any special role: \u201cI\u2019m just a patsy like Patsy Cline.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nevertheless, his insight arises in several ways, including by changing points of view, so we look at life with a prismatic perspective. And it\u2019s perhaps most powerful as emotional insight, well-honed empathy, a way of understanding the old rawness that remains, like heavy, rotting branches from our heart. Time heals, but somewhere beneath our psychic scars, many of us still carry a cross for our martyr, who carried an almost Christ-like aura, even if we knew his human weaknesses. Dylan curtly references the famous temptress who allegedly led two Kennedy brothers astray.<\/p>\n<p>The instrumental accompaniment is also inspired, in its welling empathy and its softly buoyant restraint &#8212; from the most eloquent of instruments, the cello, and bowed bass, and piano. Lightly struck cymbals.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, this feels like Dylan delivering the ghost of a beloved and blood-spattered leader into the existential consciousness of generations (Though Hamlet\u2019s maker did as well, would that the poor prince been so successful):<\/p>\n<p><em><i>\u201cWe\u2019re right down the street, from the street where you live. <\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>They mutilated his body\/ they took out his brain<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>what more could they do?\/ They piled on the pain.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>But his soul is not there where it was supposed to be at<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>For the last 50 years they\u2019ve been searching for that<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Freedom, oh freedom, freedom from me<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>I hate to tell you mister, but only dead men are free\u2026<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Note the deftly swift switching of points-of-view here, as the author refuses to let us forget the horrid, cold-blooded nature of the deed:<\/p>\n<p><em><i>Throw the gun in the gutter and walk on by\u2026<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Got blood in my eye, got blood in my ear<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>I\u2019m never gonna make it to the new frontier.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>The Zapruder film I\u2019ve seen the night before.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em style=\"font-weight: 300;\"><i>Seen it thirty-three times maybe more.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Its foul and deceitful and vile and mean\/ ugliest thing that you ever have seen<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>They killed him once, they killed him twice\/, killed him like a human sacrifice.\u201d<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p>(Incredibly, Secret Service agent Clint Hill, on the Kennedy car&#8217;s trunk by then, reports that Jackie Kennedy climbed onto the hood not to flee, but to retrieve parts of her husband&#8217;s skull and brain matter.) 3<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"11518\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/?attachment_id=11518\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jfk-assassination-evidence-gallery-getty-615320542.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"526,406\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"jfk-assassination-evidence-gallery-getty-615320542\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jfk-assassination-evidence-gallery-getty-615320542.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-11518\" src=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jfk-assassination-evidence-gallery-getty-615320542.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"526\" height=\"406\" srcset=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jfk-assassination-evidence-gallery-getty-615320542.jpg 526w, https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jfk-assassination-evidence-gallery-getty-615320542-300x232.jpg 300w, https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/jfk-assassination-evidence-gallery-getty-615320542-389x300.jpg 389w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 526px) 100vw, 526px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>The Kennedy limousine in Dallas. Photo courtesy Getty Gallery<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Dylan&#8217;s consolation is intermittent, almost as if only the innocent have earned it, by default: \u201dHush little children you\u2019ll understand\/ the Beatles are coming, they\u2019ll hold your hand.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This nifty pop cultural reference preludes Dylan\u2019s most inspired leap, an extended petitioning for grace even non-believers can understand. He invokes the period\u2019s colorful, big-talking\u00a0disc jockey Wolfman Jack, who hardly carries the gravitas of a Walter Cronkite. But\u00a0Jack lets us down easier, we hope, in\u00a0music\u2019s healing waters. So hear Dylan, himself a disk\u00a0jockey of note,\u00a0riding his imploring waves, for the ghost\u2019s sake and ours:<\/p>\n<p><em><i>Wolfman Jack he\u2019s speaking in tongues<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>He\u2019s going on and on at the top of his lungs<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Play me a song Mister Wolfman Jack <\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>play it for my long Cadillac<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>play it that only the good die young, <\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>take us to the place where Tom Dooley was hung\u2026 <\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Play it for me and for Marilyn Monroe.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Play please don\u2019t let me be misunderstood <\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>play it for the First Lady she ain\u2019t feeling so good\u2026<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Play \u201cMystery Train\u201d for Mister Mystery<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>for the man who fell down like a rootless tree\u2026<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Play Oscar Peterson, play Stan Getz, play \u201cBlue Sky\u201d play Dickey Betts.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Play Art Pepper, Thelonious Monk <\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>play Charlie Parker and all that junk.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>All that junk and all that jazz <\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>play something for the Birdman of Alcatraz.<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>play Buster Keaton play Harold Loyd <\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>play Bugsy Seigel play Pretty Boy Floyd\u2026<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>play Nat King Cole play Nature Boy\u201d<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Play \u201cDown in the Boondocks\u201d for Terry Malloy\u2026 <\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Don\u2019t worry Mister President help\u2019s on the way<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>your brothers are coming<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>there\u2019ll be hell to pay. <\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Brothers? What brothers? What\u2019s this about hell?&#8230;<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>Was a hard act to follow second to none <\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><i>They\u2019ll killed him on the altar of the rising sun\u2026\u201d<\/i><\/em><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-Z6SitqCW5Rg\/V0whPpi6AbI\/AAAAAAAAKKc\/otU07czIqR8U8LCJ6sEh8u-lc26q83lIQCLcB\/s1600\/brandoterrymalloy3.gif\" width=\"245\" height=\"180\" \/><\/p>\n<p><em>Marlon Brando as dock laborer Terry Malloy in Elia Kazan&#8217;s classic film &#8220;On the Waterfront.&#8221; Courtesy MarlonBrando.com<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The riffing\u2019s cumulative effect is stunning, deeply gratifying, as the songwriter\/poet\/disc jockey neatly ties it together at the end, like a spiritual tourniquet, that increasingly eases the pain built up over half a century.<\/p>\n<p>Yet Dylan challenges us to reconsider, give this tragedy its full due, once more. How can we, as a nation and people, do better? At times, like now, our leaders need to lead. And yet, &#8220;Ask not what your country can do for you&#8230;&#8221; John F. Kennedy&#8217;s ghost might quote John Lennon: &#8220;Come together, right now, over me.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>But this work also feels healing, the work of a kind of doctor, a pop culture witch doctor perhaps, or a shaman, posing as a mere patsy.<\/p>\n<p>We all know how Patsy Cline went to pieces. By doing so, she began to help us pick up our pieces.<\/p>\n<p>And so, this patsy-priest helps us to walk, with that ghost, away from the altar, to our own rising sun.<\/p>\n<p>_________________<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>My &#8220;JFK&#8221; friend, a deeply involved aficionado of the assassination subculture,\u00a0 comments about official explanations: &#8220;An elaborate disinformation campaign by the CIA has led people astray at a Freudian level.&#8221;<\/li>\n<li>Here&#8217;s a Twitter message Dylan posted with the song&#8217;s release:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>Bob Dylan<\/th>\n<td><a title=\"Twitter\" href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Twitter\">Twitter<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>@bobdylan<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Greetings to my fans and followers with gratitude for all your support and loyalty across the years. This is an unreleased song we recorded a while back that you might find interesting. Stay safe, stay observant and may God be with you. &#8212; Bob Dylan<\/p>\n<p>March 27, 2020<sup id=\"cite_ref-1\" class=\"reference\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Murder_Most_Foul_(song)#cite_note-1\">[1]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n<p>3. This video, narrated by SS agent Clint Hill, recounts the event with startling efficacy:<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"584\" height=\"329\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/vzYwCmDDSLA?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Ghosts can drag on our psychic heels interminably \u2013 that&#8217;s why they\u2019re called haunting. Damn hard to shake. So Bob Dylan was utterly apt in titling his new 17-minute opus \u201cMurder Most Foul.\u201d He&#8217;s quoting perhaps the most famous haunter &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/?p=11503\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[504,500,187,506,502,496,507,510,495,509,508,505,503,498,78,234,501,499,31,497],"class_list":["post-11503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-www-kevernacular-com","tag-abraham-zapruder","tag-art-pepper","tag-bob-dylan","tag-buster-keaton","tag-chrlie-parker","tag-clint-hill","tag-jackie-kennedy","tag-jfk","tag-john-f-kennedy","tag-lee-harvey-oswald","tag-marilyn-monroe","tag-nat-king-cole","tag-oscar-peterson","tag-patsy-cline","tag-robert-johnson","tag-shakespeare","tag-telonious-monk","tag-terry-malloy","tag-the-beatles","tag-wolfman-jack"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2hJWE-2Zx","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11503"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11585,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11503\/revisions\/11585"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}