NP nor Pandemic. We can all talk about this new song and why Bob released it now?

[Thomas Eckhardt]

I am not saying you're wrong, just that the first thing one notes surely 
is that Bob Dylan is a conspiracy theorist.

As for the archetypes... The song comes across as an elegy for a country 
or world gone wrong because of the most foul murder of the "king". If 
this is true, the ailing Fisher King of Arthurian legend does not work 
as a frame of reference, and neither does Frazer's sacrifice of a dying 
king for the good of the kingdom. Yes, the assassination is depicted as 
a "human sacrifice", a ritual slaughter performed on "the altar of the 
rising sun", but the killing of the king does not lead to the 
restoration of a barren wasteland but to strife and civil unrest.  The 
allusions to Shakespeare therefore seem more apt, even though I wonder 
why, besides "Hamlet", "The Merchant of Venice" and Lady Macbeth are 
singled out for reference.

Apart from the references to the murder itself, the most peculiar aspect 
of the lyrics is the interlocking of motifs from assassination lore and 
from popular culture. Is this just free-wheelin' association, or is 
there more to it?

Also, I find some of the lyrics awful. The clumsy opening or "I'm just a 
patsy like Patsy Cline" -- this is not very good, is it?

Related listening:

https://www.themetimeradio.com/