Murder Most Foul (song)

"Murder Most Foul" is a single by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on March 27, 2020.[4][5] The song addresses the assassination of John F. Kennedy in the context of the greater American political and cultural history.[6][7] The song's title comes from a line in Hamlet.[8] It also appears as the 10th and final track on his album Rough and Rowdy Ways, released on June 19, 2020.

"Murder Most Foul"
Single by Bob Dylan
from the album Rough and Rowdy Ways
ReleasedMarch 27, 2020
RecordedFebruary, 2020 [1]
StudioSound City Studios
GenreFolk[2]
Length16:56
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Bob Dylan
Producer(s)None listed
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[3]

In a statement released with the single, Dylan indicated that "Murder Most Foul" was a gift to fans for their support and loyalty over the years.[9] Some critics saw the release and content of the song directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic.[10][11]

In addition to members of Dylan's touring band, the song prominently features both Fiona Apple and Alan Pasqua on piano.[12][13]

Composition and Recording

When asked by historian Douglas Brinkley for an interview in The New York Times if he had wanted to write a song about John F. Kennedy "for a long time," Dylan replied, "I'm not aware of ever wanting to write a song about J.F.K.” then reminded Brinkley that "Murder Most Foul" is about a crime, not a politician. When asked if he intended the song to express nostalgia, Dylan replied, "I don't think of ‘Murder Most Foul’ as a glorification of the past or some kind of send-off to a lost age. It speaks to me in the moment. It always did, especially when I was writing the lyrics out”.[14]

Fiona Apple and Alan Pasqua both recorded their piano parts for the song in a single day. Apple told Dylan she "was really insecure" about playing on the track but that Dylan "was really encouraging and nice. He was just like, 'You're not here to be perfect, you're here to be you.'”[15] Pasqua said of the sessions: "I told Bob: 'This is like (John Coltrane‘s) ‘A Love Supreme!’ He just kind of looked at me without saying anything, but it really is like ‘A Love Supreme’ to me. ‘Murder Most Foul’ is so profound and I get a lot of enjoyment out of making music with him. He transcends any musical genre. It's not rock, or folk, or pop. It's just Bob, man”.[13]

Release

The song was released unexpectedly on March 27, 2020 on Dylan's YouTube channel.[16] It was his first original song since 2012.[17][18] Lasting 16 minutes, 56 seconds, it is the longest song Dylan has released, eclipsing 1997's "Highlands" which runs for 16 minutes, 31 seconds.[17]

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".[19] Ann Powers and Bob Boilen of NPR analysed the song and identified over 70 songs referenced in the work.[20]

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.[9]

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."[21] 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."[22] A brief review by Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club praised the combination of gritty vocals with haunting instrumentation.[23]

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'".[7]

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.[24] 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.[25]

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".[26]

Cultural references

As with "I Contain Multitudes", there are many references to other artists and works of art through the ages in "Murder Most Foul". One of the most interesting comes in the song's penultimate line where Dylan sings "Play 'Love Me or Leave Me' by the great Bud Powell".[27] In addition to being the last artist named in the song, jazz pianist and composer Powell is also the only one, among the dozens listed, whose name is preceded by an adjective. Furthermore, the reference is notable because Powell never actually recorded "Love Me or Leave Me". He did, however, compose a contrafact titled "Get It" that is based on the same chord structure as "Love Me or Leave Me". Dylan scholar Laura Tenschert believes that this may have been Dylan's clever, indirect way of acknowledging his own predilection for musical appropriation in songwriting.[28]

Charts

This song was the first Bob Dylan track to top any Billboard chart.[5]

Chart performance for "Murder Most Foul"
Chart (2020) Peak position
Scotland (OCC)[29] 7
UK Download (OCC)[30] 6
US Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[31] 8
US Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (Billboard)[32] 5
US Rock Digital Song Sales (Billboard)[5] 1

Accolades
Accolades for "Murder Most Foul"
Publication Accolade Rank
Variety 40 Best Songs of the 2020[33] 2
Rolling Stone The 25 Best Bob Dylan Songs of the 21st Century[34] 5
Paste 50 Best Songs of 2020[35] 6
Pitchfork 100 Best Songs of 2020[36] 6
Star Tribune 10 Best Songs of 2020[37] 6
The Fader 100 Best Songs of 2020[38] 7
NPR 100 Best Songs of 2020[39] 7
The New Yorker 10 Best Songs of 2020[40] 7
Our Culture Mag 25 Best Songs of 2020[41] 10
The Guardian 20 Best Songs of 2020[42] 13
American Songwriter 20 Best Songs of 2020[43] N/A
Ultimate Classic Rock 20 Best Songs of 2020[44] N/A
Billboard 100 Best Songs of 2020[45] 76
Inside Hook 100 Best Songs of 2020[46] N/A

Cover versions

The song was covered by The Milk Carton Kids' Kenneth Pattengale who released his version on YouTube on April 4, 2020.[47]

See also

References
  1. Pelly, Jenny (December 8, 2020). "Fiona Apple on How She Broke Free and Made the Album of the Year". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  2. Graves, Wren (March 27, 2020). "Bob Dylan Shares First New Song in Eight Years "Murder Most Foul"". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
  3. 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.
  4. "Bob Dylan surprise-releases epic new 17-minute song, 'Murder Most Foul'". Los Angeles Times. March 27, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  5. 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.
  6. "Opinion | What is Bob Dylan's epic 17-minute new song about? You be the judge". NBC News. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  7. Dettmar, Kevin. "What Bob Dylan Is Doing in "Murder Most Foul"". The New Yorker. Retrieved April 30, 2020.
  8. Shakespeare, William. "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark". WikiSource. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
  9. 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.
  10. Moye, David (March 27, 2020). "Bob Dylan Responds to Coronavirus with Song About JFK Assassination". The Huffington Post. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  11. 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.
  12. Pelly, Jenn. "Fiona Apple on How She Broke Free and Made the Album of the Year". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
  13. "Alan Pasqua, the go-to keyboard wiz for jazz and rock legends, on Bob Dylan, Carlos Santana and Peter Erskine". San Diego Union-Tribune. January 10, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  14. Brinkley, Douglas (June 12, 2020). "Bob Dylan Has a Lot on His Mind". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 24, 2020.
  15. Pelly, Jenn. "Fiona Apple on How She Broke Free and Made the Album of the Year". Pitchfork. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  16. 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.
  17. Willman, Chris (March 26, 2020). "Bob Dylan Releases 17-Minute Song About JFK Assassination". Variety. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  18. 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.
  19. Onkey, Lauren (March 27, 2020). "Bob Dylan Releases Epic New Song, 'Murder Most Foul'". NPR. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  20. Boilen, Bob (March 27, 2020). "A List Of The Songs Named In Bob Dylan's 'Murder Most Foul'". NPR. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
  21. 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.
  22. Vozick-Levinson, Simon (March 27, 2020). "'Murder Most Foul' Is the Bob Dylan Song We Need Right Now". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 27, 2020.
  23. 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.
  24. 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.
  25. Jenkins, Craig (March 31, 2020). "Bob Dylan's New JFK Assassination Epic Couldn't Be More Prescient". Vulture. Retrieved May 7, 2020.
  26. Christgau, Robert (July 8, 2020). "Consumer Guide: July, 2020". And It Don't Stop. Substack. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
  27. "Murder Most Foul | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  28. "Bob Dylan's "Murder Most Foul": JFK, Conspiracy Theories, and the Soul of America". Definitely Dylan. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  29. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  30. "Official Singles Downloads Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
  31. "Bob Dylan Chart History (Digital Song Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved April 9, 2020.
  32. "Bob Dylan Chart History (Hot Rock & Alternative Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 10, 2020.
  33. Willman, Chris (January 1, 2021). "Year in Review: The Best Songs of 2020". Variety. Retrieved January 2, 2021.
  34. Vozick-Levinson, Jon Dolan,Patrick Doyle,Andy Greene,Brian Hiatt,Angie Martoccio,Rob Sheffield,Hank Shteamer,Simon; Dolan, Jon; Doyle, Patrick; Greene, Andy; Hiatt, Brian; Martoccio, Angie; Sheffield, Rob; Shteamer, Hank; Vozick-Levinson, Simon (June 18, 2020). "The 25 Best Bob Dylan Songs of the 21st Century". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  35. "The 50 Best Songs of 2020". pastemagazine.com. December 2, 2020. Retrieved December 13, 2020.
  36. Pitchfork. "The 100 Best Songs of 2020". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  37. Bream, Jon (December 18, 2020). "Best Music of the Worst Year". Star Tribune. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  38. "The 100 best songs of 2020". The FADER. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  39. "The 100 Best Songs Of 2020 (Nos. 20-1)". NPR.org. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  40. Schaefer, John. "A Musical Top Ten for an Unmusical Year". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  41. "The 25 Best Songs of 2020". Our Culture. January 2, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  42. "The 20 best songs of 2020". The Guardian. November 30, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
  43. "American Songwriter: Our Top 20 Songs of 2020 « American Songwriter". American Songwriter. December 10, 2020. Retrieved December 11, 2020.
  44. "20 Best Rock Songs of 2020". Ultimate Classic Rock. December 23, 2020. Retrieved January 3, 2021.
  45. "The 100 Best Songs of 2020: Staff List". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2020.
  46. "The 100 Best Songs (And 20 Best Albums) of 2020". InsideHook. Retrieved December 12, 2020.
  47. "Milk Carton Kids' Kenneth Pattengale Covers Dylan's 'Murder Most Foul'!". Rhythms Music Magazine. April 6, 2020. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.