鮑勃·迪倫
在這樣的特殊時刻（美國當地時間3月27日午夜），78歲的鮑勃·迪倫在YouTube上發布了一首近17分鐘（16』55」）的長歌。翻唱了那麼多老掉牙的歌曲，用靴子腿翻起池底的寶石之後，
《Murder Most Foul》
是八年來迪倫首次發表的原創歌曲。（文末附歌詞）
人類從來沒有過這樣的經驗。一次蔓延全球的瘟疫，所有人都能「看」見他者在瘟疫中的境況，至少能接收到每天滾動跳躍在屏幕上的數據。禁足，緊縮，不安，希望和失望交替，工業文明建立起的強大自信被深深撼動。一次危機到來，一場大水漫灌，貧富差距將進一步拉大。異常年輕的美國夢更遠了嗎？美國人的天真終將被打碎嗎？
「我說，一個國家的靈魂被撕碎/她將慢慢腐爛」。
「謝謝你們多年的真誠相伴。這是一首我們錄好有一陣的歌，你們可能會有點興趣。」 鮑勃·迪倫在留言區向粉絲和追隨者致意。
他選擇在絕佳的時刻發布。若非現在，除了死忠粉、懷舊者和文化人，還有誰會對這樣一首死長，如同配樂詩朗誦般的歌曲感興趣。如果不是感到無助，誰會有耐心在17分鐘的迷宮中追隨往日遺蹟，重新回憶起1963年11月22日12時30分，甘迺迪總統在德州達拉斯的迪利廣場遇刺的骯髒往事。心中則隱懷希望，在迪倫的歌/詩中找到預兆和告誡。
像一個緩慢的夢，綿延不絕，無法醒來。詩人在夢中變換身份，從敘事者變為遇刺的總統，又從總統的身軀逃逸，進入自我意識的心靈。
生者和死者輕易跨越冥界的河流，身姿之輕盈幾乎像在嘲笑我們：「很遺憾地告訴你，先生，只有死者才能獲得自由。」
約翰·甘迺迪總統在達拉斯被槍擊前大約一分鐘從汽車裡揮手。來源：新京報書評周刊
中槍的總統倒在妻子腿上失去生命，妻子身著滿是鮮血的衣服哭泣著參加繼任者（林登·詹森）的就職儀式。殺了總統的奧斯瓦爾德和殺了奧斯瓦爾德的魯比先後進了地獄，而總統的大哥早就在地獄等他（甘迺迪的哥哥約瑟夫·甘迺迪二世在二戰中死於空難）。兄弟二人重逢後，就在地獄共同等待羅伯特·甘迺迪和馬丁·路德·金的到來（二人均於1968年遇刺）。
謀殺的連鎖反應冷酷地展開，如同恐龍的骨骼泛著幽黯的光。恐龍的血肉是嵌入詞中的74首歌和眾多電影、藝術、音樂、名人的吉光片羽。它們是教父級的彩蛋，已有太多人津津有味地投入搜尋行列。《滾石》雜誌為此製作了一份甘迺迪被刺殺後的歌曲創作清單。鮑勃·迪倫粉絲網站「Expecting Rain」每天搜集整理世界各大媒體對這首歌的新聞報導和評論文章。對歌中所涉細節、史實、解讀、歌曲感興趣的人不難獲得這些信息。早有勤勞的遊戲玩家把經驗秘籍整理上傳，待君採擷。
有個喜歡報名字的朋友，問他一個問題，他可以像電腦吐出一長串人名和史實，並詳述他們之間互相勾連的因果。有強大記憶力的人喜歡拿自己當凹地，儲存紛紛雨落的記憶，希望借梳理找到世事隱秘的關聯。鮑勃·迪倫早就是這樣的凹地。雖然未來不在過去之中（但誰能確定呢），陳舊的蛛網中一定存在適用於未來的規律和因果。死亡是它最重要的捕獲物，流行文化作為集體記憶的結晶像寶石般光彩。《Murder Most Foul》正是織了這樣的一張網。
出自《哈姆雷特》的歌名是世人對這樁總統謀殺案的共識——毫無廉恥和尊敬，終結了丹麥王子和美國人民的純真年代。純真被突然終止，必將走向瘋狂。國王/總統死於卑鄙手段，及題放縱的病態使日常黯然失色。一股力量把西方社會推向從未到達的浪顛，鮑勃·迪倫本人也在六十年代投入幻覺世界，險些喪命於一場兇險的摩託車車禍。
年輕時的鮑勃·迪倫
詩人都像先知，鮑勃·迪倫想在長詩中吐露未來的秘密嗎？或者他只是老了，「永不停止」巡演被疫情中止，一首老歌，一部老電影起了念頭，牽扯出連綿不斷的舊絮。也有可能，快要八十歲的鮑勃·迪倫和我們一樣，對年輕時的繽紛難以忘懷。年輕時，酒精和致幻劑讓眼前的世界清晰至發光。年老後，光鮮褪色，音樂抽離，只有淬鍊過的語言更加凸顯。
詩是用來讀的，考據的興頭過去之後，試試朗讀這首長詩吧。只有在自己的朗讀中，阿里巴巴才會洞開神秘的大門。詩歌有自己的生命力。在影像技術完全可以造出夢境的今天，詩歌的魅力依然無可替代。
連接歌中所有紛繁碎片的不是邏輯，也不是時間。是擁有獨立生命的詞語自己找到了彼此。它們自由地變形，新鮮柔軟，絲毫不像出自老人之口。詞語們偽裝成六十年代的流行文化名詞，從一首歌中幻化出另一首，肢端生出碩大的頭顱，頭顱中噴出黑色的血。歌為傑克·魯比演奏（殺了李·哈維·奧斯瓦爾德的脫衣舞俱樂部老闆），為我，為瑪麗蓮·夢露，為所有人演奏。
「演奏黑暗/死亡終將會降臨。」 詩人發出警告，隨後又溫情提示：「注意安全，保持洞察，願上帝與你們同在」。
歌詞全文：
[Verse 1]
Well my heart’s in the Highlands gentle and fair
Honeysuckle blooming in the Wildwood air
Bluebells blazing where the Aberdeen waters flow
Well my heart’s in the Highland
I’m gonna go there when I feel good enough to go
[Verse 2]
Windows were shaking』 all night in my dreams
Everything was exactly the way that it seems
Woke up this morning and I looked at the same old page
Same ol』 rat race
Life in the same oil』 cage
[Verse 3]
I don’t want nothing from anyone, ain’t that much to take
Wouldn’t know the difference between a real blonde and a fake
Feel like a prisoner in a world of mystery
I wish someone would come
And push back the clock for me
[Verse 4]
Well my heart’s in the Highlands wherever I roam
That’s where I』ll be when I get called home
The wind, it whispers to the buckeyed trees in rhyme
Well my heart’s in the Highland
I can only get there one step at a time
[Verse 5]
I’m listening to Neil Young, I gotta turn up the sound
Someone’s always yelling turn it down
Feel like I’m drifting
Drifting from scene to scene
I’m wondering what in the devil could it all possibly mean?
[Verse 6]
Insanity is smashing up against my soul
You can say I was on anything but a roll
If I had a conscience, well, I just might blow my top
What would I do with it anyway
Maybe take it to the pawn shop
[Verse 7]
My heart’s in the Highlands at the break of dawn
By the beautiful lake of the Black Swan
Big white clouds like chariots that swing down low
Well my heart’s in the Highlands
Only place left to go
[Verse 8]
I’m in Boston town, in some restaurant
I got no idea what I want
Well, maybe I do but I’m just really not sure
Waitress comes over
Nobody in the place but me and her
[Verse 9]
It must be a holiday, there’s nobody around
She studies me closely as I sit down
She got a pretty face and long white shiny legs
She says, 「What』ll it be?」
I say, 「I don’t know, you got any soft boiled eggs?」
[Verse 10]
She looks at me, says, 「I』d bring you some
But we’re out of ’m, you picked the wrong time to come」
Then she says, 「I know you’re an artist, draw a picture of me!」
I say, 「I would if I could, but
I don’t do sketches from memory」
[Verse 11]
「Well,」 she says, 「I’m right here in front of you, or haven’t you looked?」
I say, 「All right, I know, but I don’t have my drawing book!」
She gives me a napkin, she says, 「You can do it on that」
I say, 「Yes I could, but
I don’t know where my pencil is at!」
[Verse 12]
She pulls one out from behind her ear
She says, 「All right now, go ahead, draw me, I’m standing right here」
I make a few lines and I show it for her to see
Well she takes the napkin and throws it back
And says, 「That don’t look a thing like me!」
[Verse 13]
I said, 「Oh, kind Miss, it most certainly does」
She says, 「You must be joking』.」 I say, 「I wish I was!」
Then she says, 「You don’t read women authors, do you?」
Least that’s what I think I hear her say
「Well,」 I say, 「how would you know and what would it matter anyway?」
[Verse 14]
「Well,」 she says, 「you just don’t seem like you do!」
I said, 「You’re way wrong」
She says, 「Which ones have you read then?」 I say, 「I read Erica Jong!」
She goes away for a minute
And I slide up out of my chair
I step outside back to the busy street but nobody’s going anywhere
[Verse 15]
Well my heart’s in the Highlands with the horses and hounds
Way up in the border country, far from the towns
With the twang of the arrow and a snap of the bow
My heart’s in the Highlands
Can’t see any other way to go
[Verse 16]
Every day is the same thing out the door
Feel further away than ever before
Some things in life, it gets too late to learn
Well, I’m lost somewhere
I must have made a few bad turns
[Verse 17]
I see people in the park forgetting their troubles and woes
They’re drinking and dancing, wearing bright-colored clothes
All the young men with their young women looking so good
Well, I』d trade places with any of them
In a minute, if I could
[Verse 18]
I’m crossing the street to get away from a mangy dog
Talking to myself in a monologue
I think what I need might be a full-length leather coat
Somebody just asked me
If I registered to vote
[Verse 19]
The sun is beginning to shine on me
But it’s not like the sun that used to be
The party’s over and there’s less and less to say
I got new eyes
Everything looks far away
[Verse 20]
Well, my heart’s in the Highlands at the break of day
Over the hills and far away
There’s a way to get there and I』ll figure it out somehow
But I’m already there in my mind
And that’s good enough for now
(本文來自澎湃新聞，更多原創資訊請下載「澎湃新聞」APP)