Was listening to this earlier. Not sure of its vintage but I quite like it. A long , slow one with Dylan talking/singing about the death of John Kennedy , the end of Camelot and the demise of the sixties.
The Official Bob Dylan Site Available to listen and/ or download. Just popped up tonight (3/26/20) I think.
About a minute ago what I think was actually Bob Dylan’s account just posted a comment, basically saying that this was recorded a little while back and thanks everybody for listening for all these years and stay safe. I can’t cut and paste the actual words. This is a really great surprise… Up there in the top 10 for strange Bob Dylan songs. Very much in the spirit of the last two from Tempest. It’s like “American Pie” on barbiturates ... most references are pretty straightforward but some are more mysterious. It’s also obvious that he has a more than cursory knowledge of the JFK assassination. Gory and profane to almost the point of ridiculousness. And yet ... wow!!!
Over on the Expecting Rain board, HatFullOfGasoline has already made an impressive initial attempt at transcribing the lyrics: Murder Most Foul - Expecting Rain twas a dark day in dallas, november '63 the day that would 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 say 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 gonna kill you with hatred, without any respect we'll mock you and shock you and we'll put it 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 at home and saw the whole thing it happened so quick and so quick by surprise right there in front of everyone's eyes greatest magic trick ever under the sun perfectly executed, skillfully done wolf man oh wolf man oh wolf man howl rub-a-dub-dub it's a murder most fowl 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 across the mercy and go for the throat there's three bums comin all dressed in rags pick pu the pieces and lower the flags i'm goin to woodstock, it's the aquarian age then i'll go to altamonte and sit near the stage put your head out the window, let the good times roll there's a party goin on behind the blessing door stack up the bricks, pour the cement don't say dallas don't love you, mr president put your foot in the tank and step on the gas try to make it to the tribon (?) underpass blackface singer white face clown better not show your faces after the sun goes down up in the red light district like a cop on the beat livin in a nightmare on elm street when you're down in 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 at daly plaza, make a lefthand turn i'm goin down the crossroads gonna flag a ride the place where faith, hope, and charity died shoot him while he runs boys, 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? where did it go? ask oscar wilde (?) and bo diddly, they oughta know shut your mouth ______ (?) business is business, and it's murder most foul tommy can you hear me on the acid queen? i'm ridin ....lincoln limosine ridin in the backseat next to my wife headin straight on into the afterlife i'm leanin to the left got my head in her lap oh lord i've been led into some kind of a trap well we ask no quarter, 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 50 years they've been searching for that freedom oh freedom, freedom of ??? i hate to tell ya mister but only dead men are free said mr ? tell me no lie throw the gun in the gutter and walk on by wake up little suzie let's go for a drive cross the trinity river let's keep open eyed turn the radio on, don't touch the dials hartland hospital only six more miles you got me dizzy ms lizzy you fill me with lead that magic bullet of yours it goin on ahead i'm just a patsy like patsy cline never shot anyone from in front or behind got blood in my eye, got blood in my ear i'm never gonna make it to the new frontier zepruter's film i seen the night before seen it 33 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 lemme know when you decide to throw in the towel it is what it is, and it's murder most foul 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 36 hours past judgement day wolfman jack he's speakin 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 the saint james infirmary in the court of king james if you want to remember you better write down the names play it the james too, play the prodigal line (?) play it for the man with a telepathic mind play john lee hooker, play scratch my back play it for that stripclub ownder named jack guitar slim goin down slow play it for me and for marilyn monroe play please don't let me be misunderstood play it for the first lady she ain't feelin too good play don henley, play glenn fry take it to the limit and lettin' it go by play it for carl wilson too lookin far far away at down gallow 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 blues, play stan getz play blue sky, play dicky bettes play art ?, thelonious monk charlie parker and all that junk all that junk and all that jazz play somethin for the birdman of alcatraz play buster keaton, play hal lloyd play bugsy segal, 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 nancy and stevie knicks 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 12 million souls that are listenin in play merchant of venice play merchants of death play stand up by starlight from lady macbeth don't worry mr president, hope's on the way your brothers are comin', there'll be hell to pay brothers, what brothers? what's this about hell? tell em 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 spinnin around in his grave play jelly roll morton, play lucille play deep in a dream and play driving wheel play moonlight sonata in f# and the key to the highway and the king of the heart 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 towel play the bloodstained banner, play murder most foul
I hope nothing is wrong with Bob. A statement like the one posted on his Facebook page, while out of character almost sounds like a “sign off” in some way.
A very strange statement indeed... 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
A 12 inch release would be cool. Hope he’s taking good care of the workers at his coffee shop in Santa Monica, but I’m sure he is. They have good wages and it’s closed once a week
Also reminds me, in different ways, of “The Long & Wasted Years” and the Tempest title track. So I’m very open to the theory it’s from those sessions. After all the epic length songs on that album, it’s be hilarious to learn a 17 minute track was left behind. But my gut feeling from the vocal is that it’s more recent. Hopefully we’ll learn soon what he meant by “a while back.”
I hope I am overthinking it of course. It just really seems out of the ordinary for Bob. However, we are not living in ordinary times....
With everyone always wondering what he will do next, I was secretly hoping for some free verse stream-of-consciousness things. This is it. Also, thanks for posting the early draft of lyrics. We'll get all the Dallas references nailed by morning....It's "grassy knoll" (not blessing door) in the 3rd stanza and "Triple Underpass" - an intersection adjacent to the grassy knoll in Dallas - in the 4th stanza. This song really gives me the chills.
To me, the most interesting thing about this song is the fact that he chose to share it. Perhaps he wanted to do something for everybody who's shut in. This strikes me as pretty clearly being a glimpse into Dylan's creative process. It sounds like he had a general idea for a song, a few lines, and he just started riffing. I think he has such a facility for language that he's able to improvise lyrics like this. I imagine for him this is the equivalent of a guitarist like Jimmy Page improvising three solos so he could go back and pick the best parts and then combine them together into something more composed. I think this is Dylan fishing for ideas, only he decided to drop it. From that perspective, this reminds me a bit of "I'm Not There (1956)" and "Sign on the Cross" from the Basement Tapes, two other songs that seem to have a bit of a foundation but are clearly largely improvised. Interestingly, some of the lines that I'm assuming were pre-written (mostly the earlier ones) are quite cringeworthy. The track itself is beautiful (just like "I'm Not There"), but for me this will be a listen once or twice and never again novelty. Still glad he shared it.
Posted this in another thread on this...."This is perhaps the most beautifully insane thing Bob could have done about now. It's STUNNING tho had you either PREDICTED something like this I would have thought you were insane, and the IDEA of it felt weirdly, I don't know, cowtowing to some sense of "what a sort of bad-novel version of Dylan might do" in a way the Real Bob never has, it's just....beautiful and right and makes me in a weird way more scared of the Apocalypse than anything else he's done. Just a chilling and strange gift, Perfectly Bob."
Scariest thing he's ever done. I adore it yet it makes me more frightened for the Apocalypse he believes in than anything else he's ever done.
