Bob Dylan’s Stunning ‘Murder Most Foul’

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And just like that, in 2020, Bob Dylan released a song, “Murder Most Foul,” that he recorded “a while back.” It runs nearly 17 minutes and it’s a stunning period piece that weaves various pop culture references including the Beatles imminent arrival on the scene, Woodstock, The Who’s Tommy, and Wolfman Jack, among its various topics, all centered around the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The song arrived in the wee hours on March 27, 2020, accompanied by a brief note from the Bard:

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

“Murder Most Foul” is accompanied by piano, with minimal violin and percussion accents.

“Twas a dark day in Dallas, November ’63, a day that will live on in infamy,” it begins. The lyrics weave in numerous pop culture references including feature films (Gone With the Wind), events (the Woodstock festival) and a bevy of legendary jazz performers (Oscar Peterson, Stan Getz, Thelonious Monk). Song titles like “What’s New, Pussycat?,” “Wake Up Little Susie” and “Another One Bites the Dust.” All the while, he frequently returns to the events on that dark day in the nation’s history.

Dylan name checks dozens of fellow recording artists: Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Patsy Cline, John Lee Hooker, Etta James, Dickey Betts, Lindsey [Buckingham] and Stevie Nicks, among them.

Listen to “Murder Most Foul”

“Murder Most Foul” was remarkably, the first recording of original music that Dylan had released since 2012. It was the first song shared from his 39th studio album, Rough and Rowdy Ways, which arrived on June 19, 2020. The brilliant album is available in the U.S./worldwide here, in Canada here and in the U.K. here.

At the time of its release, Dylan‘s planned tour of Japan had been cancelled, a victim of the Coronavirus outbreak. The 14 performances were to place from April 1-24 in Tokyo and Osaka. Tickets to his concerts are available here.