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Bob Dylan’s First New Song in 8 Years Is About JFK and the Death of America

It's an exploration of JFK's assassination and its aftermath.

Bob Dylan - Murder Most Foul (Official Audio)

Bob Dylan has released his first new song in eight years.

"Murder Most Foul" is a 17-minute tapestry of Americana history that is, as most things from Bob Dylan are, folkloric and reverent. Here, the object of Dylan's horror and worship is John F. Kennedy's death, which ties together countless references to everything from ANightmare on Elm Street to "Moonlight Sonata" to Stevie Nicks and Ray Charles.

As violins and drums mutter in the background, Dylan laments America's complex, largely mythological, often wicked history. His focal point is the 1960s and the fallout from JFK's 1963 murder. He mentions Woodstock, the Age of Aquarius, and Altamont, the doomed California music festival that was invaded by Hell's Angels and ended in bloody disaster.

Despite its focus on the mid-20th century, the song veers throughout time and across mediums. The title itself is a reference to Shakspeare's Hamlet, and he specifically shouts out Lady Macbeth in one verse, then pivots to messages of sympathy for a woman whom we can safely assume is Jackie O.

— (@)

Bob Dylan Revisits His Long, Twisted Relationship with John F. Kennedy

Dylan's complex obsession with John F. Kennedy's death goes far back in time. He apparently called JFK "fake" and a "pretender" and did not vote in the 1960 election. But in 1960, he told Rolling Stone, "I don't know what people's errors are: nobody's perfect, for sure. But I thought Kennedy, both Kennedys – I just liked t hem. And I liked Martin Luther King. I thought those people who were blessed and touched, you know? The fact that they all went out with bullets doesn't change nothin'. Because the good they do gets planted. And those seeds live on longer than that."

Later, when asked about the assassination, he said, "Of course, I felt as rotten as everyone else. But if I was more sensitive about it than anyone else, I would have written a song about it, wouldn't I? The whole thing about my reactions to the assassination is overplayed."

He pivoted yet again thanks to an excess of alcohol. When accepting the Tom Paine Award from the National Emergency Civil Liberties Committee in 1963, allegedly "a drunken, rambling Dylan questioned the role of the committee, insulted its members as old and balding, and claimed to see something of himself (and of every man) in assassin Lee Harvey Oswald."

"I'll stand up and to get uncompromisable about it, which I have to be to be honest, I just got to be, as I got to admit that the man who shot President Kennedy, Lee Oswald, I don't know exactly where—what he thought he was doing, but I got to admit honestly that I too—I saw some of myself in him," said Dylan. "I don't think it would have gone—I don't think it could go that far. But I got to stand up and say I saw things that he felt, in me—not to go that far and shoot."

Now he's gone back on his word and returned to JFK nearly half a century later. "Murder Most Foul" is apocalyptic and brooding, and it can't be an accident that Dylan released it in the midst of a pandemic. "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 Judgment Day," he drones, words that—like the best Dylan lyrics—seem to apply to anything and everything at once.

"Murder Most Foul" Questions America's Motives and JFK's Legacy

JFK's rise represented a profound moment of all-American optimism, but to many radicals he was just another figurehead. Dylan's confusion and rage at the government feels relevant today, especially because it was released the day after a controversial and resolutely non-populist stimulus package—which allots $500 billion to big businesses while giving a small one-time check to working people and nothing at all to hospitals—was announced.

Sometimes, in these pandemic days, it does feel like we've passed through some kind of long-feared cataclysm, and now we're in the free-fall. John F. Kennedy's assassination, like 9/11 and like COVID-19, was a moment that marked an entire cultural conscience and revealed the vulnerability of American ideals and the insubstantiality of all our great institutions, for better or worse.

But we still have music; that's one thing that's not going away. In the end, "Murder Most Foul" is just as much of an ode to music as it is an ode to the ephemera of the past.

Bob Dylan - Murder Most Foul (Official Audio)www.youtube.com

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Rosie Carney Talks Life After "Bare," And The Death of Her Rat Matilda

The singer sat down with Popdust before her show at Mominette Bistro

When 22-year-old Rosie Carney released her album Bare in January, BBC referred to the singers haunting debut as "quietly powerful," and compared Carney's aching voice to Joni Mitchell. But the Irish singer-songwriter didn't take time off to rest on her laurels and is already back in the studio.

"It's funny cause everyone is saying to me, 'so you released your first album how does it feel?' The truth is I'm already over it," Carney told Popdust. An industry veteran in her own right, Carney was signed to London-based Polydor records when she was just 15-years-old. "When I was signed there was a lot of pressure to come up with commercial music," Carney said, "I was told that I was signed for my voice and not for my lyrics." Polydor dropped her a year later. "I couldn't write anymore. I didn't know who I was writing for or what I was writing for."

Carney became depressed and struggled to rekindle her inspiration. She became ill and was physically unable to attend school. She dropped out when she was 16. As she recovered physically and emotionally, she forced herself to practice writing and loving her art for what it was, and tailored each work to her interests, rather than to the approval of others. "Kids can be so mean," she said. "I lost all my friends when I got signed. You couldn't give me enough money to go back to school and experience that again." By the time Carney was signed again to Color Study, she had learned how to tap into her creativity in a different way. "I tend to not go back and listen to my work and dip into my past, cause I learned you wouldn't wanna do that generally. I'm just trying to move forward." Carney spoke more on her life after Bare, and how she handles the stress of being back in the spotlight.

So what happened after Polydor dropped you? How did you find your way back to yourself?

I already wasn't very well when I got signed, and being dropped was literally my worst fear. So everything I did in the studio was born out of this fear. I was constantly thinking of what everyone else would want to listen to when I should have just been listening to myself. Then when my worst fear was realized I just completely lost sight of who I was writing for, especially since they told me I was signed for my voice and not my lyrics. So I had to learn how to write and create for myself.

In that year before you were signed again, how did you hone in on your sound?

I just really gave myself the creative space to experiment and figure out what was better for me. My early sound was never something I was really happy with, and being dropped I feel gave me the space I needed to figure out what I wanted to say.

I imagine being a 15-year-old signed musician caused a lot of backlash with your friends at the time.

I lost my friends. Being a teenager is such a hard time, and I became incredibly ill so I ended up dropping out of school anyway just because I physically couldn't go. I was also just away all the time writing and working.

Do you feel fans connect more to your lyrics now?

It's still crazy for me to think that I even have fans, but yes. They really do. A lot of them I connected with when I shared my story, and I just got so many messages about connecting and relating to my music. I feel a very nice sense of unity with them.

But you said that you don't go back and listen to Bare, I'm curious why that is?

I'd never be embarrassed by my work, but Bare was written about very specific experiences, and I just feel like I'm so past that now. I'll always be proud of it, but I don't want to necessarily dwell on it or relive it. I've already got five demos for my second album, I'm working on a demo with Thomas Bartlett tomorrow. I'm just really eager to get back in the studio.

When you were signed a second time did you feel like you had a better head on your shoulders?

I did. I produce my own music now, and I know now exactly what I want down to the smallest texture. I was given so much more control than I was the first go round.

When you go back to Ireland what inspires new material?

The moon. I always end up writing something about the moon. Trees. My god – did I really just say trees? *laughs* but the landscape of my hometown is just so beautiful.

Why the moon?

Well, some people feel that when there is a full moon they go crazy, and I've always just felt myself being pulled by the energy of the moon. It's just so lonely up in the sky.

Now that you're older and wiser, how have you changed the way you manage stress and expectations?

I just am honest with myself when I'm having a bad mental health day. Today I was actually feeling quite anxious.

New York will do that to you.

Seriously, it's so loud! I'm constantly on edge. So I pinpointed it in my head, marked it, and recognize that it'll pass and I'm not going to go crazy. Having pets around also helps.

I have four dogs at home, along with a chicken, a pig, and a horse. I can actually feel myself struggling a bit on this tour cause I haven't been around any animals. My beautiful dog Hemingway has pulled me out of so many dark times.

What makes him your dog?

We've always had 3 dogs, but I asked for one for my birthday that was just mine. So I went to the pet rescue center that was actually in the process of shutting down and this litter had just been delivered, and Hemingway has these big golden eyes. There is an old Irish superstition that golden eyes signify when a creature is possessed by the devil, which is ridiculous.

Is he possessed by the devil?

Absolutely not, but my other dog Murphy did kill my pet rat.

You had a pet rat?

We had two. Mine was named Matilda, and Murphy snuck upstairs and bit right into him and presented him to me. He's a Jack Russell Terrier so it's in his nature, but I was pissed. I couldn't exactly be like "fuck you!" though could I?

Be sure to catch Rosie Carney on her European tour. Tickets can be purchased here.

Mackenzie Cummings-Grady is a creative writer who resides in the Brooklyn area. Mackenzie's work has previously appeared in The Boston Globe, Billboard, and Metropolis Magazine. Follow him on Twitter @mjcummingsgrady.

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The New Era of The Head and the Heart

Charity Rose Thielen sits down with Popdust to talk about the band's newest album, Living Mirage.

The music of Seattle's pastoral-folk group The Head and the Heart has served as the soundtrack of every high school graduation slideshow and engagement video since 2009.

They've earned this place of honor in the tear-jerking life events of Americans with their thoughtful, sentimental songwriting and simple, joyful instrumentation. Their music makes you believe that maybe you really could be happy composting in a small cabin in the woods, maybe your boyfriend really would look better with a man bun, and maybe you really should get into hiking.

They rose to fame during the early 2010's renaissance of folk-rock, joining bands like Mumford & Sons and the Avett Brothers in leading the banjo resurgence. Listeners were suddenly interested in simple guitar and campfire harmonies once again, and consequently, The Head and the Heart independently sold 10,000 copies of their debut album before making a deal with Sub Pop and re-releasing the album in 2011.

Since then, the six-person group has released three more studio albums, including their latest from Warner Bros, Living Mirage. Charity Rose Thielen, whose ethereal voice, moving violin solos, and expert guitar plucking can be heard on every The Head and the Heart album, told Popdust that the newest album began differently than its predecessors. "There was a lot of uncertainty when we started demoing. We were in Joshua Tree with the initial intention of just making a few songs, but we ended up with a whole album. From there we bounced around places. We went to Tennessee, LA, and even Appleton, Wisconsin. More than ever before, the places informed what this record became. We treated each song as its own album, so it's definitely not a concept album, though of course there are threads throughout that keep it together and cohesive."

Living Mirage also differs in that it's the first album the band has made without co-founder Josiah Johnson, who recently left the band to become sober and pursue a solo career. "We lost a member and gained a new member for the first time," Thielen said thoughtfully, her voice tinged with something like reminiscence. "That definitely affected things with this record; we were all processing those changes while making the record. All that you can bank on when making an album is unpredictability. We always tend to be reactionary to the album that precedes the current album, and that stayed true, but there was also a lot of incredible experimentation this time. We had different producers for Living Mirage, and we went into a more minimal world, sonically."

One thing is definite: this latest album is a musical departure for the band. Gone is the feeling of delightful messiness that elicits visions of campfire singalongs and Birkenstocks. In its place is a collection of polished songs with strong pop sensibilities and a clearer sense of direction than ever before. It's the same band that fans fell in love with in 2011, but with an updated, modern sound that firmly secures them as one of the most sonically consistent groups in modern music.

When asked about this growth, Thielen explained that The Head and the Heart has always been comprised of "super unique people. We're very democratic and very different from each other, but I think that serves us. No one has any set role, so there is so much room to grow. This record, in particular, saw a lot of members stepping into new and different roles and trying new things, and I think you can hear that on the album. Basically, we take all these crazy different people and songwriters and finish each other's songs by filling in the blanks. We're very collaborative."

Despite the changes within the band, the stirring, poetic lyricism that has brought tears to thousands of eyes on songs like "Rivers and Roads" remains just as pervasive on Living Mirage. The band shines the most on songs like "Glory of Music," which features emotional vocal performances from Jonathan Russell and simple, expert production that emphasize the technical skill of the multi-instrumentalist band members.

Perhaps, most importantly, the same cathartic melancholy of their previous works remains on Living Mirage, but now there is a sense of newfound hope and a sense of celebration of progress. It's as if The Head and The Heart are declaring the beginning of a new era as a group, seizing their moment of painful growth, singing:

"I'm more than fine

I'm here today

The time is now

To find our saving, our saving grace"

Check out Living Mirage on all platforms today!

Living Mirage

Brooke Ivey Johnson is a Brooklyn based writer, playwright, and human woman. To read more of her work visit her blog or follow her twitter @BrookeIJohnson.

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