Murder Most Foul

Sun Jun 27 18:58:53 UTC 2021

To: All

Joseph got to me offline suggesting I did not even try to engage and
understand his words on *Murder Most Foul. *It made me read his words again
and
I confess that he is mostly correct. Turned off by "there can be no doubt"
and after earlier brief words on death by the deep state and hastily
reading these he posted here until I lost it
over the too literalness of the ending couple paragraphs *in my opinion*, I
wrote my rejoinder.

But now it has registered that he, too, spoke of* The Wasteland* and things
akin to my take and had a number of other observations and suggestions that
are not stupid, that I should have acknowledged and not dismissed
everything wholesale.

I personally think he is wrong in almost all of the ways he uses "deep
state", and related; I can easily see why almost all Dylan watchers/critics
and fans ignore it---pace Thomas---but some of his good observations and
others
do show why this work resonances like a masterpiece, I say, and we seem to
agree on that.

Mark

On Fri, Jun 25, 2021 at 3:36 PM Mark Kohut <mark.kohut at gmail.com> wrote:

> First, I disagree with 'there can be no doubt that, etc. "
>
> Regards,
>
> mark
>
> On Fri, Jun 25, 2021 at 3:15 PM Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net> wrote:
>
>> 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.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>
>