Murder Most Foul

[Joseph Tracy]

Lyrics to Murder Most Foul   
Underlined lines are pretty much Dylans core description of, and asertions about the Kennedy Killing. The bolded text have reference to the importance of the event and the Conspiritorial nature of the event. Both the underlined and bolded lines are  also poetically and rhetorically important/provocative .  


[Verse 1]
'Twas a dark day in Dallas, November '63
A day that will 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 said, "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're gonna kill you with hatred, without any respect
We'll mock you and shock you and we'll grin 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, no one saw a thing
It happened so quickly, so quick, by surprise
Right there in front of everyone's eyes
Greatest magic trick ever under the sun
Perfectly executed, skillfully done
Wolfman, oh Wolfman, oh Wolfman, howl
Rub-a-dub-dub, it's a murder most foul

[Verse 2]
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 'cross the Mersey 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 over to Altamont and sit near the stage
Put your head out the window, let the good times roll
There's a party going on behind the Grassy Knoll
Stack up the bricks, pour the cement
Don't say Dallas don't love you, Mr. President
Put your foot in the tank and then step on the gas
Try to make it to the triple underpass
Blackface singer, whiteface clown
Better not show your faces after the sun goes down
Up in the red light district, like a cop on the beat
Living in a nightmare on Elm Street
When you're down on 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
Dealey Plaza, make a left-hand turn
I'm going down to the crossroads, gonna flag a ride
The place where faith, hope, and charity died
Shoot him while he runs, boy, 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, and where did it go?
Ask Oswald and Ruby, they oughta know
"Shut your mouth," said a wise old owl
Business is business, and it's a murder most foul

[ Verse 3]
Tommy, can you hear me? I'm the Acid Queen
I'm riding in a long, black Lincoln limousine
Ridin' in the back seat next to my wife
Headed straight on in to the afterlife
I'm leaning to the left, I got my head in her lap
Oh Lord, I've been led into some kind of a trap
Where we ask no quarter, and 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 fifty years they've been searchin' for that
Freedom, oh freedom, freedom over me
I hate to tell you, mister, but only dead men are free
Send me some lovin', then tell me no lie
Throw the gun in the gutter and walk on by
Wake up, little Susie, let's go for a drive
Cross the Trinity River, let's keep hope alive
Turn the radio on, don't touch the dials
Parkland Hospital, only six more miles
You got me dizzy, Miss Lizzy, you filled me with lead
That magic bullet of yours has gone to my head
I'm just a patsy like Patsy Cline
Never shot anyone from in front or behind
I've blood in my eye, got blood in my ear
I'm never gonna make it to the new frontier
Zapruder's film, I've seen that before
Seen it thirty-three 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
Let me know when you decide to throw in the towel
It is what it is, and it's murder most foul


[Verse 4]
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 thirty-six hours past Judgment Day
Wolfman Jack, he's speaking 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
Play "St. James Infirmary" in the Court of King James
If you want to remember, you better write down the names
Play Etta James, too, play "I'd Rather Go Blind"
Play it for the man with the telepathic mind
Play John Lee Hooker, play "Scratch My Back"
Play it for that strip club owner named Jack
Guitar Slim going down slow
Play it for me and for Marilyn Monroe

[Verse 5]
Play "Please Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"
Play it for the First Lady, she ain't feeling any good
Play Don Henley, play Glenn Frey
Take it to the limit and let it go by
Play it for Carl Wilson, too
Looking far, far away down Gower 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 Peterson, 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 something for the Birdman of Alcatraz
Play Buster Keaton, play Harold Lloyd
Play Bugsy Siegel, 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 Lindsey and Stevie Nicks
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 twelve million souls that are listening in
Play "Merchant of Venice", play "Merchants of Death"
Play "Stella by Starlight" for Lady Macbeth
Don't worry, Mr. President, help's on the way
Your brothers are comin', there'll be hell to pay
Brothers? What brothers? What's this about hell?
Tell them, "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 spinning around in his grave
Play Jelly Roll Morton, play "Lucille"
Play "Deep in a Dream", and play "Driving Wheel"
Play "Moonlight Sonata" in F-sharp
And "A Key to the Highway" for the king on the harp
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 Powell
Play "The Blood-Stained Banner", play "Murder Most Foul"

So those are the lyrics, the dark content of which is sung in his  rough but perfectly tuned voice. Some might say spoken voice but I hear a definite melodic content.The words are clear throughout   with  beautiful keyboard playing (Benmont Tench Alan Pasqua, Fiona Apple, which gently rises and recedes, somber , lamenting, insistent, tender, exquisitely lovely.  Also Blake Mills on Guitar which is more in the background to my hearing.

First there can be no doubt that Dylan is saying as boldly as possible that JFK was shot in a carefully planned multiparty conspiracy involving money, revenge, and plans to replace him with a more compliant ‘leader’.  He even says the same people killed Robert.  

My second main point so far is that this changed the meaning of America and the way I read the song he is describing an outcry for comfort from Wollfman Jack but somehow all the comforting and lamenting and faithful and brave songs cannot heal the wound.  whether this cry is is from Kennedy or America or both is not clear to me. I may be missing a clue. 

Verses that demonstrate the change in the meaning of america and democracy and truth:

 A day that will live on in infamy; I'm going down to the crossroads, gonna flag a ride, 
The place where faith, hope, and charity died;

 goodbye, Uncle Sam;

 What is the truth, and where did it go? Ask Oswald and Ruby, they oughta know
"Shut your mouth," said a wise old owl
Business is business, and it's a murder most foul;

Freedom, oh freedom, freedom over me
I hate to tell you, mister, but only dead men are free;

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”;

I said the soul of a nation been torn away
And it's beginning to go into a slow decay
And that it's thirty-six hours past Judgment Day

These above lines make it pretty cear to me that  Dylan sees the Kennedy killing as a dark  turning point whose importance for the nation is hard to overstate.  

Right after this line about the soul of a nation torn away and its 36 hours after judgement day Wolfman Jack makes his second appearance in the song. His first appearance is  in the first verse.   
Wolfman, oh Wolfman, oh Wolfman, howl
Rub-a-dub-dub, it's a murder most foul 

I see this as Kennedy , now a  ghost like Hamlet’s father telling Wolfman Jack it is murder most foul. Kennedy’s voice appears throughout  along with the primary  narrator who I assume is Dylan, Oswald, a secodary narrator offering false comfort , and Kennedy’s killers
The rub-a-dub -dub is an odd choice implying the second line,”3 men in a tub”??? There are several 3s in the song.

The second appearance of the famous howling, gravel voiced border radio DJ is in the 4th verse and asks Wolfman Jack for a long list of pop culture material, mosty songs to be played  and singers , but also charcters like Lady Macbeth or real people like Bugsy Siegel,  Buster Keaton. How do you play a person?
“Wolfman Jack, he's speaking in tongues
He's going on and on at the top of his lungs
Play me a song, Mr. Wolfman Jack

One wonders at this point in the song what Wolfman’s broadcast after the Kennedy killing was actually like. 1963 was the very year he had moved to the most powerfu radio station in North America XERF AM on the  Mexican  border across from Texas.  One might also wonder what is intended by this coincidence of time and name( Jack), beginning and ending.  


Play it for me in my long Cadillac ( this may be Kennedy in his hearse as part of the request is to comfort Jacqueline) but who this is  all to be payed for gets shifty
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 it for that strip club owner named Jack
Play it for me and for Marilyn Monroe
There's twelve million souls that are listening in

also Dylan interrupts this song and culture list to insert more of the narrative 

 Play "Stella by Starlight" for Lady Macbeth
Don't worry, Mr. President, help's on the way
Your brothers are comin', there'll be hell to pay
Brothers? What brothers? What's this about hell?
Tell them, "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
 
This last line seems to me a  dual reference first to the house of the rising sun in the blues song and the implication that the house of democracy will become a house of whoredom; and second to the Flag with the rising sun that symbolized   the rise of fascism for Kenndy, who fought in the Pacific.  Fascism requires  blood sacrifice, hence an altar, and what is more fascist than a bllody coup against a popular leader and a takeover by the secret police and capitalists. 

There’s a lot more here, references to race relations that will suffer, to war,  the mob and to the drug wars to come,  te new frontier that wil never be reached, and doubtless many more references and hints that I am missing.  There is a Pynchonian aspect in that one is rewarded by following  and thinking about or researching the references. Cumulatively it has similar effect as Howl or the Waste Land on the psyche.  More than I intended to write about, but the song is worthy of attention. To me this worthiness has more to do with the impliction of a murderous coup and the deep repurcussions of the murder of a president followed by many official lies, many easily exposed as lies, to support a non credible narrative. While thre is more to the artfulness and multi-dimensionality of the song than that issue, I feel that issue is obviously the central unifying narrative. Read the words of the song, read some of the investigations into the event. It was a dark day in Dallas.