Murder Most Foul (song)

"Murder Most Foul" is a single by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on March 27, 2020.[3][4] The song addresses the assassination of John F. Kennedy in the context of the greater American political and cultural history.[5][6]

"Murder Most Foul"
Single by Bob Dylan
from the album Rough and Rowdy Ways
ReleasedMarch 27, 2020
GenreFolk[1]
Length16:54
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan singles chronology
"Wigwam"
(2013)		 "Murder Most Foul"
(2020)		 "I Contain Multitudes"
(2020)
Bob Dylan Twitter
@bobdylan

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. Bob Dylan

March 27, 2020[2]

In a statement released with the song, Dylan indicated that "Murder Most Foul" was a gift to fans for their support and loyalty over the years.[7] Some critics saw the release and content of the song directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8][9]

Release

The song was released unexpectedly on March 27, 2020 on Dylan's YouTube channel.[10] It was his first original song since 2012.[11][12] Lasting 16 minutes, 56 seconds, it is the longest song Dylan has released, eclipsing "Highlands" which runs for 16 minutes, 31 seconds.[11]

Critical response

National Public Radio (NPR) described the song as "unfold[ing] slowly over a delicate instrumental backing of violin, piano and hushed percussion. Dylan's vocal is rich and expressive as he veers between describing the assassination, the unfolding of the counterculture, and a roll call of musicians, movie lyrics and other pop culture references" and felt the song was "Dylan at his most incisive and cutting". NPR concluded that "Murder Most Foul" was "worth many repeated listens and will occupy any Dylanologist holed up at home".[13] Ann Powers and Bob Boilen of NPR analysed the song and identified over 70 songs referenced in the work.[14]

Writing in The Guardian, Ben Beaumont-Thomas felt that the song described Kennedy's assassination in "stark terms, imagining Kennedy being led to the slaughter like a sacrificial lamb ... they blew off his head while he was still in the car / shot down like a dog in broad daylight'" and that Dylan created an "epic portrait of an America in decline ever since" with a form of salvation available in popular music with references to the Beatles, Woodstock and Altamont festivals, the rock-opera Tommy by The Who, Charlie Parker, Guitar Slim, Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Warren Zevon, Stevie Nicks, Lindsey Buckingham, Little Walter, Carl Wilson, and others.[7]

Jeff Slate, for NBC News wrote "It's also virtually devoid of melody, and unlike anything Dylan has ever released, with Dylan essentially delivering his spoken-word, stream of consciousness lyrics on top of a sparse accompaniment of piano, violin and light percussion."[15] Rolling Stone Deputy Music Editor Simon Voznik-Levinson praised the release, stating the song "is really about the ways that music can comfort us in times of national trauma. [...] For those of us who often turn to Dylan's catalog for that very purpose, 'Murder Most Foul' has arrived at the right time."[16] A brief review by Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club praised the combination of gritty vocals with haunting instrumentation.[17]

Kevin Dettmar of The New Yorker was less enthusiastic, calling the song "weird" and the first half "disappointing", explaining that "all the clichés aren't adding up to much." Dettmar continued, however, in a more favorable tone, saying that after the first ten minutes "something amazing happens: Wolfman Jack shows up and starts to play tracks." He stated that the last seven minutes of the song closely resembles a playlist "from one of the Theme Time Radio Hour shows that Dylan hosted from 2006 to 2009." The second half of the song makes reference to Warren Smith's "Uranium Rock", a song Dylan used to cover in his live shows in the mid-1980s; Billy Joel; and the Kingston Trio's "Tom Dooley" from 1958. Dettmar admired the "ecumenicism" of the playlist the song has become, mentioning the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Stan Getz, Patsy Cline, the Everly Brothers, John Lee Hooker, the Animals and the Who. He continued, "The song itself becomes self-referential by including itself in the body of American song by which American history has not only been created, but also preserved: Play 'Love Me or Leave Me', by the great Bud Powell; Play 'The Blood-Stained Banner', play 'Murder Most Foul'."[18]

Salon's David Masciotra wrote a long, positive review that included reaching out to author David Talbot, who has written about the American intelligence community as well as the Kennedy family.[19] Craig Jenkins of Vulture wrote that the song "couldn't be more prescient" and stated that the song can be part of unifying Americans in a time of crisis.[20]

While reviewing Rough and Rowdy Ways in his Substack-published "Consumer Guide" column, Robert Christgau said the track "sums up the musical grave-robbing Dylan has been transmuting into original art for 60 years now" while providing "an apt summum" to the album's "elegiac retrospective", "despite its excessive length and portentous isolation on the CD package". He concluded that, within the context of the album, it is "both an elegy for and a celebration of all the dark betrayals, stunted gains, enduring pleasures, and ecstatic releases of an American era Dylan has inflected as undeniably as any artist even if he doesn’t understand it any better than you, me, or whoever killed imperfect vessel JFK."[21]

Charts

This song was the first Bob Dylan track to top any Billboard chart.[4]

Chart performance for "Murder Most Foul"
Chart (2020) Peak position
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[22] 7
UK Download (Official Charts Company)[23] 6
US Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[24] 8
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[25] 5
US Rock Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[4] 1

See also

References
  1. Graves, Wren (March 27, 2020). "Bob Dylan Shares First New Song in Eight Years "Murder Most Foul"". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  2. Bob Dylan [@bobdylan] (March 27, 2020). "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. Bob Dylan" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. "Bob Dylan surprise-releases epic new 17-minute song, 'Murder Most Foul'". Los Angeles Times. March 27, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  4. Rutherford, Kevin (April 8, 2020). "Bob Dylan Scores First-Ever No. 1 Song on a Billboard Chart with 'Murder Most Foul'". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  5. "Opinion | What is Bob Dylan's epic 17-minute new song about? You be the judge". NBC News. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  6. Dettmar, Kevin. "What Bob Dylan Is Doing in "Murder Most Foul"". The New Yorker. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  7. Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (March 27, 2020). "Bob Dylan releases first original song in eight years, 17-minute track about JFK". The Guardian. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  8. Moye, David (March 27, 2020). "Bob Dylan Responds to Coronavirus with Song About JFK Assassination". The Huffington Post. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  9. Slate, Jeff (March 27, 2020). "Bob Dylan's 'Murder Most Foul' Is a 17-Minute New Song About JFK – and Maybe Coronavirus?". NBC. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  10. Hughes, William (March 27, 2020). "Bob Dylan Just Surprise-Released a 17-Minute Song About JFK, America, and also Freddy Krueger". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  11. Willman, Chris (March 26, 2020). "Bob Dylan Releases 17-Minute Song About JFK Assassination". Variety. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  12. Sparey, Sara (March 27, 2020). "Bob Dylan has released a song about the Kennedy assassination - and it's 17 minutes long". CNN. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  13. Onkey, Lauren (March 27, 2020). "Bob Dylan Releases Epic New Song, 'Murder Most Foul'". NPR. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  14. Boilen, Bob (March 27, 2020). "A List Of The Songs Named In Bob Dylan's 'Murder Most Foul'". NPR. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  15. Slate, Jeff (March 27, 2020). "Bob Dylan's 'Murder Most Foul' Is a 17-Minute New Song About JFK—and Maybe Coronavirus?". NBC News. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
  16. Vozick-Levinson, Simon (March 27, 2020). "'Murder Most Foul' Is the Bob Dylan Song We Need Right Now". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  17. Hassenger, Jesse (April 3, 2020). "5 New Releases We Love: Bob Dylan Mourns History, Melkbelly Kicks Ass, and More". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 3, 2020.
  18. Dettmar, Kevin. "What Bob Dylan Is Doing in "Murder Most Foul"". The New Yorker. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  19. Masciotra, David (April 4, 2020). ""Murder Most Foul": Unpacking Bob Dylan's new epic, from Dallas 1963 to the pandemic of 2020". Salon. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  20. Jenkins, Craig (March 31, 2020). "Bob Dylan's New JFK Assassination Epic Couldn't Be More Prescient". Vulture. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  21. Christgau, Robert (July 8, 2020). "Consumer Guide: July, 2020". And It Don't Stop. Substack. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  22. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  23. "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  24. "Bob Dylan Chart History (Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  25. "Bob Dylan Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.