Amazon, Dylan, Ochs, and Interpreting

March 27, Friday

Woke up this morning to a text from The Kid.. He works at Amazon. They had one confirmed case of COVID-19. They are not closing the distribution center. The Dad in me is worried. The Daughter, his sister, is probably worried too. The Wife, who is no longer with us, is probably up there making sure they don’t have any room up there for him.

The Wife 2 won’t let me out of the house except to go for a walk daily. She’s worried, too.

So goes life in America these days of quarantines and stay the fuck home orders.

I kinda wish more governors and mayors would be more forceful in their daily talks. When they had a nice warm day in Chicago, a lot of people flocked to the Lake walkways. The city closed the parks and walkways. The Mayor said something like, “When we said you could take a walk, we meant a short one in your neighborhood.” She should have said, “What the fuck is wrong with you people? It’s simple, one syllable words:STAY HOME!”

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I woke this morning to a Facebook message from my nephew in California. Bob Dylan released a new 17 minute song “Murder Most Foul.” That was a pleasant surprise.

I am not going to attempt to analyze Dylan, as if anybody really could. To summarize, the piece recaps the Kennedy assassination and runs through the historical events of November, 1963 up to mentioning Kennedy’s brothers. Interspersed are other events of the 60s like the Beatles and the mania of their arrival. He also mentions a lot of other singers and songs. It’s interesting.

I must admit that while I was listening I kept thinking of another song about the Kennedy assassination, “Crucifixion” originally written by Phil Ochs. I like this version better than the one Ochs did.

As for analyzing Dylan, I remember something I learned and tried to emulate when I taught English Literature. This is particularly true of Dylan, but applies to almost all literature and music.