Murder Most Foul

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Today I heard the latest song by the legend Bob Dylan on his Facebook page. The song's duration is 17 minutes and these 17 minutes are the best 17 minutes of 2020 so far. This is Dylan's first original song in the last 8 years. This song is about the assassination of John F. Kennedy and it also talks about the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy. This song has numerous references to many famous and infamous people and references to plenty of other songs too. In these dark times of Corona virus and Lockdown, finally there is some beauty. Here are the lyrics :  


Murder Most Foul
---Bob Dylan
 
Twas a dark day in Dallas, November '63
The day that will live on in infamy
President Kennedy was riding high
A good day to be living and a good day to die
Being led to the slaughter like a sacrificial lamb
"Say Wait a minute, boys, do you know who I am?"
"Of course we do, we know who you are"
Then they blew off his head when he was still in the car
Shot down like a dog in broad daylight
'Twas a matter of timing and the timing was right
You got unpaid debts and we've come to collect
We're gonna kill you with hatred and without any respect
We'll mock you and shock you and we'll grin in your face
We've already got someone here to take your place


The day that they blew out the brains of the king
Thousands were watching, no one saw a thing
It happened so quickly, so quick by surprise
Right there in front of everyone's eyes
Greatest magic trick ever under the sun
Perfectly executed, skillfully done
Wolfman, oh Wolfman, oh Wolfman howl
Rub-a-dub-dub, it's Murder Most Foul


Hush, little children, you'll understand
The Beatles are coming, they're gonna hold your hand
Slide down the bannister, go get your coat
Ferry across the Mersey and go for the throat
There's three bums coming, all dressed in rags
Pick up the pieces and lower the flags
I'm going to Woodstock, it's the Aquarian Age
Then I'll go over to Altamont and sit near the stage
Put your head out the window, let the good times roll
There's a party going on behind the Grassy Knoll


Stack up the bricks and pour the cement
Don't say Dallas don't love you, Mr. President
Put your foot in the tank and step on the gas
Try to make it to the triple underpass
Blackface singer, whiteface clown
Better not show your faces after the sun goes down
I am in the red light district like a cop on the beat
Living in a nightmare on Elm Street


When you're down on Deep Ellum, put your money in your shoe
Don't ask what your country can do for you
Cash on the barrel head, money to burn
Dealey Plaza, make a left hand turn
I'm going down to the crossroads, gonna flag a ride
Thats the place where faith, hope and charity died
Shoot 'em while he runs, boy, shoot 'em while you can
See if you can shoot the invisible man
Goodbye, Charlie, goodbye, Uncle Sam
Frankly, Miss Scarlett, I don't give a damn


What is the truth and where did it go?
Ask Oswald and Ruby, they oughta know
"Shut your mouth", said the wise old owl
Business is business and it's Murder Most Foul


Tommy, can you hear me? I'm "The Acid Queen"
I'm riding in a long, black Lincoln limousine
Riding in the backseat next to my wife
Heading straight on into the afterlife
I'm leaning to the left, got my head in her lap
Oh Lord, I've been led into some kind of a trap
We ask no quarter, no quarter do we give
We're right down the street from the street where you live
They mutilated his body and took out his brain
What more could they do? They piled on the pain
But his soul was not there where it was supposed to be at
For the last fifty years they've been searching for that


Freedom, oh freedom, freedom over me
Hate to tell you Mister, but only dead men are free
Send me some loving, tell me no lie 
Throw the gun in the gutter and walk on by
"Wake Up Little Suzie", let's go for a drive
Cross the Trinity River, let's keep hope alive
Turn the radio on, don't touch the dials
Parkland hospital's only six more miles


You got me "Dizzy, Miss Lizzy", you filled me with lead
That magic bullet of yours has gone to my head
"I'm Just A Patsy" like Patsy Cline
I never shot anyone from in front or behind
Got blood in my eyes, got blood in my ear
I'm never gonna make it to the new frontier
Zapruder's film, I have seen that before
Seen it 33 times, maybe more
It's vile and deceitful, it's cruel and it's mean
Ugliest thing that you ever have seen
They killed him once, they killed him twice
Killed him like a human sacrifice


The day that they killed him, someone said to me, "Son
The age of the Antichrist has just only begun"
Air Force One coming in through the gate
Johnson sworn in at 2:38
Let me know when you decide to throw in the towel
It is what it is, and it's Murder Most Foul


"What's New, Pussycat"? Wha'd I say?
I said the soul of a nation been torn away
It's beginning to go down into a slow decay
And that it's 36 hours past Judgment Day


Wolfman Jack, he's speaking in tongues
He's going on and on at the top of his lungs
Play me a song, Mr. Wolfman Jack
Play it for me in my long Cadillac
Play that "Only The Good Die Young"
Take me to the place where Tom Dooley was hung
Play St. James Infirmary in The Court of King James
If you want to remember, better write down the names
Play Etta James, too, play "I'd Rather Go Blind"
Play it for the man with the telepathic mind
Play John Lee Hooker, play "Scratch My Back"
Play it for that strip club owner named Jack
Guitar Slim - Going Down Slow
Play it for me and for Marilyn Monroe


And please, "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood"
Play it for the First Lady, she ain't feeling that good
Play Don Henley, play Glenn Frey
"Take It To The Limit' and let it go by
Play it for Carl Wilson too
Looking far, far away down Gower Avenue
Play "Tragedy", play "Twilight Time"
"Take Me Back To Tulsa" to the scene of the crime
Play another one and "Another One Bites the Dust"
Play "The Old Rugged Cross" and "In God We Trust"
"Ride The Pink Horse" down that "Long Lonesome Road"
Stand there and wait for his head to explode
Play "Mystery Train" for Mr. Mystery
The man who fell down dead like a rootless tree
Play it for the Reverend, play it for the Pastor
Play it for the dog that's got no master
Play Oscar Peterson and play Stan Getz
Play "Blue Sky", play Dickey Betts
Play Art Pepper, play Thelonious Monk
Charlie Parker and all that junk
All that junk and "All That Jazz"
Play something for the Birdman of Alcatraz
Play Buster Keaton, play Harold Lloyd
Play Bugsy Siegel, play Pretty Boy Floyd
Play all the numbers, play all the odds
Play "Cry Me A River" for the Lord of the Gods
Play Number 9, play Number 6
Play it for Lindsey and Stevie Nicks
Play Nat King Cole, play "Nature Boy"
Play "Down In The Boondocks" for Terry Malloy
Play "It Happened One Night" and "One Night of Sin"
There's 12 million souls that are listening in
Play "Merchant of Venice", play the "Merchants of Death"
Play "Stella by Starlight" for Lady Macbeth


Don't worry, Mr. President, help's on the way
Your brothers are coming, there'll be hell to pay
Brothers? What brothers? What's this about hell?
Tell them, "We're waiting, keep coming, we'll get them as well"


Love Field is where his plane touched down
But it never did get back up off the ground
Was a hard act to follow, second to none
They killed him on the altar of the Rising Sun
Play "Misty" for me and that "Old Devil Moon"
Play "Anything Goes" and "Memphis in June"
Play "Lonely At The Top" and "Lonely Are The Brave"
Play it for Houdini spinning around his grave
Play Jelly Roll Morton, play "Lucille"
Play "Deep In a Dream" and play "Driving Wheel"
Play "Moonlight Sonata" in F-sharp
And "Key to the Highway" by the king of the harp
Play "Marching Through Georgia" and "Dumbarton's Drum"
Play darkness and death will come when it comes
Play "Love Me Or Leave Me" by the great Bud Powell
Play "The Blood-stained Banner", play "Murder Most Foul"

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Love & Love Making @ Durga Puja

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This is an imaginary story of two lovers living in Calcutta during Durga Puja. Any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental.



It was Dwitiya. Rahul and Soma decided to meet. They wanted to start their Durga Puja pandal hopping early this year. A cool breeze was blowing. There were a few clouds above. There was a possibility of rainfall also. Still they wanted to meet. That is what lovers do. They want to meet under all circumstances. So they met in front of Priya Cinema around 6 p.m. Soma wore a deep blue top and blue jeans and Rahul wore a deep blue panjabi and blue jeans. They had already decided which colour to wear over phone in the afternoon. He also wore his newly bought Woodlands high boots. Rahul used to study in Class XI at St. Xavier's in the year 2000. That year during Durga Puja he had seen a pair of Woodland high boots at Esplanade and immediately wanted to buy them. But the shoes were expensive and back then unfortunately he did not have enough money to spend on a pair of high boots. Therefore instead of buying the original Woodland boots, he bought a kind of Woodland-ish rip-off high boots from China-Bazaar near Bentinck Street, whose price was quite within his financial means. Years passed by and every year he thought of buying the original high boots but somehow never ended up actually buying them because of one reason or the other. But this year he finally bought his life's first Woodland high boots for around three thousand five hundred rupees from the Woodlands showroom which is between Gol Park and Gariahat. Anyways from Priya Cinema Rahul and Soma first went to Tridhara Sammilani. The Tridhara pandal was amazing. The Ma Durga idol was fascinating. A dozen of female dhaakis were performing in front of the pandal. Male dhaakis are a common sight in Durga Puja pandals. But female dhaakis are a rare sight though these days more and more Durga Puja committees are employing female Dhaakis. Rahul clicked a lot of pictures with his new phone. Just the day before he had bought the latest Samsung A7 smartphone which has three rear cameras. He also clicked a lot of selfies with Soma. From Tridhara, Rahul and Soma went to Ballygunge Cultural. It took them almost fifteen minutes to cross the road near the Jugal's sweet shop. From Ballygunge Cultural, Rahul and Soma also visited the other two pandals in that area and also went to Samaj Sebi. From there they went to Lake Road CCD. There he ordered cappuccino and she ordered cold coffee. They had a lovely adda there. From CCD they went to the newly opened Steak Factory at Sarat Bose Road for dinner. He ordered tenderloin steak and she ordered california fish fillet steak. The food was yummilicious. After dinner Rahul brought Soma to his house at Lake Gardens. There they had Sula red wine. For this Durga Puja Rahul had already bought a bottle of Sula red wine, Old Monk rum, Smirnoff vodka, twelve bottles of Bira White beer and two litres of ThumsUp and Sprite. While sipping on red wine they looked deep into each other's eyes and started passionately kissing each other. They ended up making love. After the first round of love making, Rahul switched on his TV and started browsing through all the bengali news channels. Almost all the bengali news channels were focusing on Durga Puja and were reporting how people have already started their pandal hopping early this year because they all knew that all the famous pandals would be too crowded during Saptami, Ashtami and Nabami and also because there was a prediction of rainfall during those main three days from the weather department. Rahul and Soma made love for a second time and then around midnight he booked an Uber and dropped Soma home and then came back to his house in the same Uber and went straight to sleep.

On Tritiya, Rahul and Soma decided to meet at Sreebhumi. Just like any other year, this time also there was a buzz around the Sreebhumi pandal. This time it was the Padmavaati Palace from the film by Sanjay Leela Bhansali. Due to the tremendous traffic jam, it took Rahul almost one and a half hours from Lake Gardens to reach Sreebhumi. Anyways they met around noon. Soma wore a yellow kurti with red dupatta and with blue jeans and Rahul wore a yellow panjabi with blue jeans and those Woodland high boots. He teased her a bit because she looked like a East Bengal supporter in her red and yellow look. Rahul is a staunch supporter of Mohun Bagan. Anyways there was a queue to enter the Sreebhumi pandal. It took another fifteen minutes to enter the pandal. It was magnificent. Once they came out of Sreebhumi then it started to drizzle. So they immediately booked an Uber and went straight to the nearby Diamond Plaza Mall. There on the second floor they saw a fish-spa. Soma was scared but Rahul immediately dipped his feet in the water and those tiny fishes immediately started eating the dead skin from his feet. It cost hundred bucks for ten minutes of fish-spa. After this they had their lunch at the Food Court. They ate chicken fried rice, chicken noodles and lemon chicken. After lunch they decided to watch a movie. After some initial arguments about which movie to watch they finally decided to watch Srijit Mukherji's 'Ek Je Chhilo Raja'. It was a beautiful film. Throughout the film they held each other's hands. They had booked the last row left corner seats so throughout the film they indulged in sweet nothings and mild kissing. Also they ordered caramel pop corn and cold drinks. After the movie they had coffee on the ground floor of the Mall. Outside the Mall it was still raining. So again Rahul booked an Uber and they came to his house at Lake Gardens. From the Mall they had already packed their dinner which consisted of chicken biryani for him and mutton biryani for her. Back at his house they ate their dinner and then finished off the remaining red wine bottle. It was still drizzling so they made love to each other. After the first round of love making Rahul put on the songs of Kabir Suman in his laptop. The room was dark, there was rainfall outside, the atmosphere was drunk with the melodious songs of Kabir Suman and two naked souls were lying on the bed next to each other. Rahul and Soma looked into each other's eyes and kept looking for a long time. Time itself stood still in that moment. It was a divine moment. The whole cosmos called for a second round of love making. So they again made love. Around 2 a.m. Rahul booked an Uber and dropped Soma home and then came back to his house in the same Uber and went straight to sleep.

On Choturthhi, it was very cloudy from the morning. Rahul and Soma met in front of Sovabazar Rajbari around noon. Soma wore a dark green top with black jeans and Rahul wore a dark green panjabi with black jeans. They had plans to visit the most well known pandals of north Calcutta. But Mother Nature had other plans. Around 1 p.m. it started raining. Therefore they cancelled all plans and booked an Uber and came to Rahul's house at Lake Gardens. At his house he ordered chinese food from a nearby restaurant. This time they ordered mixed fried rice, chicken noodles and chili chicken. Rahul knows the owner of that restaurant because he has been ordering food from there since many years. The food was delivered within half an hour. After lunch they had Old Monk rum with ThumsUp. While boozing they again started passionately smooching each other and ultimately ended up making love. It was still raining outside. It is an ethereal feeling when you make love to someone while it rains outside. The sound of rain and thunder makes love making really special. The rains stopped around 6 p.m. So Rahul and Soma quickly made love for a second time and then went out to see the pandals in and around Lake Gardens, Jodhpur Park and Selimpur. For dinner they went to this restaurant called 'Roasted Capsicum' near Jodhpur Park. The food was ordinary and the ambience was not that good. They again ate chinese. Anyways after dinner, Rahul booked an Uber and dropped Soma home and came back to his house in the same Uber and went straight to sleep.

On Panchami, Rahul and Soma met in front of Lal Mandir at Sovabazar around noon. Soma wore a light green kurti with black jeans and Rahul wore a light green panjabi with black jeans. From Lal Mandir they went to Kumartulli first. Thankfully the skies were clear and the weather was very pleasant. They spent the entire day walking in those narrow lanes and by-lanes of north Calcutta. They ate a variety of items like mutton roll, chicken shawarma, fuchka, pastries, cold drinks, ice creams etc. from the street vendors throughout the day. They clicked a lot of pictures in their phones. They visited places like Darpanarayan Street, Pathuriyaghata, Ahiritola, Beniyatola, Jagat Mukherjee Park, Bagbazar Sarbajanin, Tala Barowari, Tala Protya, Hatibagan, Sikdar Bagan, Nabin Pally, Nalin Sarkar Street, Kashi Bose Lane etc. They also wanted to go to College Square but the queue outside looked like it stretched till the moon. Around 6 p.m. they booked an Uber and came back to Rahul's place. It took almost two hours from north Calcutta to reach Lake Gardens. While sitting inside the cab, Rahul ordered their dinner from that same restaurant which is near his place and told them to keep the food ready. Once they reached home, Rahul told the restaurant to send the food. This time they ordered mixed fried rice, chicken noodles and chicken manchurian. After dinner they again made love to each other twice while sipping on Bira White beer. Between the two rounds of love making they listened to some of the best songs of Arijit Singh in Rahul's laptop. Around 2 a.m. Rahul booked an Uber and dropped Soma home and then came back to his house in the same Uber and went straight to sleep.

On Sasthhi, Rahul first went to Soma's place and picked her up and then they went to have lunch at this newly opened restaurant named 'Jaisalmer' at Sector Five in Salt Lake. Soma wore a light blue kurti and blue jeans and Rahul wore a light blue panjabi with blue jeans. At the restaurant Rahul ordered mutton biryani with chicken chaap and Soma had chicken biryani with mutton chaap. After lunch they started visiting all the nearby puja pandals in Salt Lake. The best one was at FD Block. This year their theme was Jurassic Park. There were a lot of mechanical dinosaurs around and also some fertilizing dinosaur eggs too. Rahul's first girlfriend used to stay in Salt Lake PNB area. This was around the year 2001. Still today whenever he comes to Salt Lake then he really gets depressed and starts missing her badly. Now his first girlfriend is married to some one else and is the mother of a cute little boy. Coincidentally Rahul's first girlfriend got married on his birthday. Anyways around 9 p.m. Rahul and Soma came back to Lake Gardens. For dinner they again ordered food from that same restaurant which is near his house. This time they ordered rumali roti, naan, chicken bharta and egg tarka. After dinner they had Smirnoff vodka with Sprite. While boozing they made love twice. Between the two rounds of love making, Rahul showed her Woody Allen's "Crisis In Six Scenes" on Amazon Prime. Rahul is a big fan of Woody Allen and is totally in love with this series. Anyways around 2 a.m. he booked an Uber and dropped her home and then came back to his house in the same Uber and went straight to sleep.

On Saptami, Soma came to Rahul's place around noon. She wore a red saree with yellow blouse. She knew that Rahul would tease her by calling her an East Bengal supporter. She also had kajal in her eyes and was wearing a red bindi on her forehead though she was not wearing any lipstick because over phone Rahul had warned her against wearing any lipstick. He likes the natural taste and flavour of her lips. Rahul was virtually naked in his room. He was only wearing his boxers. For lunch they ordered chicken pizza from Domino's. After lunch they had Bira White beer and then they made love twice. In between the two rounds of love making they saw some adult videos on xvideos.com. In the evening they went to Ekdalia, Falguni Sangha, Durga Bari, Singhee Park and Hindustan Park. Before leaving the house, Soma took out a red lipstick from her hand-bag and put it on her lips. Rahul wore a red panjabi with blue jeans. They had coffee at the CCD which is near Singhee Park. From there they went to WhatsUp Cafe on Southern Avenue. There they had their dinner. They ordered chicken pasta and non-veg kebab platter. Rahul also ordered a blue lagoon and Soma ordered a virgin mary. After dinner they went for a walk around Ballygunge Cultural, Samaj Sebi, Lake Sarbojonin, Deshopriyo Park, Tridhara Sammilani etc. Around 2 a.m. they came back to Rahul's place. There they again made love while having Bira White beer. Around 4 a.m. he booked an Uber and dropped her home and then came back to his house in the same Uber and went straight to sleep. 

On Ashtami, Soma came to Rahul's place around noon. She wore a black saree with a backless black blouse. She also had kajal in her eyes and a black bindi on her forehead though she was not wearing any lipstick because of Rahul's prior warnings. Rahul was as usual only in his boxers. They had lunch together and then they made love twice. For lunch they had moglai paratha, aloor dum and chicken chaap from that same restaurant which is near his place. They again had Old Monk rum with ThumsUp. Between the two rounds of love making they saw some adult web-series on hoichoi. In the evening around 6 p.m. they went to Maddox Square. Before leaving the house Soma took out a black lipstick from her hand-bag and put it on her lips. She was looking absolutely stunning in her black saree and black backless blouse and black kajal and black bindi and black lipstick. Her long black hair was flowing freely. Rahul wore a black panjabi with black jeans. Every year on Ashtami evenings Maddox is the place to be. All the beautiful boys and girls of Calcutta come here. One gets to meet many old friends there too. People sing songs and have marathon adda sessions. They also have heated and semi-heated debates and discussions on all topics under the Sun. Also Maddox Square has live band performances. That evening D-Trio was performing at Maddox. D-Trio consists of Anjan Dutta, Amyt Dutta and Neel Dutta. It was so nice to hear the evergreen songs of Anjan Dutta inside a packed Maddox Square. Rahul and Soma both went back to the nineties. When they were in school they both used to listen passionately to the audio cassettes of Anjan Dutta, Nachiketa Chakraborty and ofcourse Kabir Suman though his name back then was Suman Chattopadhyay. They also used to listen intensely to the audio cassettes of Mohiner Ghoraguli, Miles, Cactus, Parashpathar, Abhilasha, Chandrabindoo, Krosswindz etc. After the concert Rahul and Soma had their dinner at Cafe Mezzuna near Maddox. They ordered mushroom and red wine risotto and Mezzuna special fish and chips. After dinner they again went back inside Maddox Square. They met up with some common friends there. Around midnight they went to the CCD near Maddox to have cold coffee. After coffee they again came back inside Maddox. Around 4 a.m. Rahul booked an Uber and dropped Soma home and then came back to his house in the same Uber and went straight to sleep.

On Navami, Soma came to Rahul's place around noon. She wore an orange kurti with blue jeans. As usual she was not wearing any lipstick. Rahul was as usual in his boxers. They ordered lunch from the same restaurant which is near his house. They ordered mixed fried rice, mixed noodles and lemon chicken. After lunch they had Old Monk rum with ThumsUp and while boozing they made love twice. Between the two rounds of love making Rahul showed her the documentary "Wild Wild Country" on Netflix. This documentary is about Osho and about his commune in America. Rahul just loves the soundtrack of this documentary. He is a follower of Osho and every night he listens to the english and hindi speeches of Osho on his phone. Osho is his prophet. There is an app called Osho Radio which he has installed on his new phone from Google PlayStore. He has also downloaded all the speeches of Osho from oshoworld.com. Anyways in the evening before leaving the house, Soma took out a pink lipstick from her hand-bag and put it on her lips and Rahul wore an orange panjabi and blue jeans and then they went to Mudiali, Shib Mandir and Sebak Sangha. From there they went to puja pandals like Adi Lake Palli, Parashar, Matri Mandir, Bakul Bagan, Abasar, Bhowanipore Durgotsav, 22 Palli, Chakraberia Sarbojonin, 75 Palli, Harish Park Byayam Samiti, 23 Palli, Forward Club, Sangha Shree, Ashar Sangha, 66 Palli, Jana Mangal Samiti, Chetla Agrani and finally at Suruchi Sangha. They had their dinner at Bachchan's Dhaba near Rash Behari Avenue. They had rumaali roti, naan, chicken bharta and egg tarka. There were never ending serpentine queues at Chetla Agrani and Suruchi Sangha. Still it was worth visiting those pandals. Around 4 a.m. Rahul booked an Uber and dropped Soma home and then came back to his house in the same Uber and went straight to sleep. 

On Dasami, Soma came to Rahul's place around noon. She was wearing a white saree with a red border and red sleeveless and backless blouse. Her long hair was flowing seductively. She was also wearing a big red bindi on her forehead though there was no lipstick on her juicy lips. She had kajal in her eyes. For lunch they ordered chicken biryani and mutton chaap from Zeeshan at Deshopriyo Park. Rahul asked her to take off her white saree before having lunch because if the mutton gravy fell on her expensive white saree then it would leave a stain. She obliged eagerly. They ate their lunch with Bira White beer. After lunch, since her saree was already off her body therefore they decided to make love. This time they only made love once, not twice. They also surfed through all the bengali news channels on TV. Most of the channels were showing live footage of the sindoor khela from the famous puja pandals of Calcutta, especially Bagbazar. Other channels were showing baithaaki addas featuring bengali celebrities. It was also so nice to hear the puraatani songs of Srikumar Chattopadhyay. Also it was amazing to hear the saxophone of Michael Banerjee in one of the channels. In the evening, before leaving the house Soma took out a red lipstick from her hand-bag and put it on her lips and then they both went to Maddox Square where Soma participated in the Sindoor Khela there. Rahul wore a white panjabi and black jeans. For dinner they went to Red Hot Chilli Pepper at Ballygunge Circular Road. They ordered ginger capsicum fried rice, sliced lamb in honey black pepper sauce and sichuan corn bhetki. The food was amazing. After dinner Rahul booked an Uber and dropped Soma home and then came back to his house in the same Uber. Thus ended this year's Durga Puja pandal hopping. They both thanked God because there was no rainfall during the main days of the festival and therefore everybody could enjoy to the fullest. They both sat very close to each other inside the Uber and held each other's hands. Soma closed her eyes and kept her head on Rahul's shoulder. Throughout the cab ride they both did not speak much and was totally at peace with the cosmos...

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