Seth Rogovoy, a contributing editor at The Forward, is the author of Bob Dylan: Prophet Mystic Poet (Scribner) and the recently-published Within You Without You: Listening to George Harrison (Oxford Univ. Press).
Seth Rogovoy
By Seth Rogovoy
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Culture The Secret Jewish History Of “Rock Around The Clock”
It wasn’t the first rock-and-roll song. It wasn’t even the first rock-and-roll hit. But 66 years ago today, Bill Haley and His Comets’ version of “Rock Around the Clock” was released, beginning its long, strange journey to the top of the pop charts, where it became the first rock-and-roll tune to hit the No. 1…
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Culture Who’s narrating Bob Dylan’s prophetic new song? Satan, God or Dylan himself?
In March 1963, Bob Dylan made a demo recording of “Long Time Gone,” one of numerous original songs he wrote for his publishing company, Witmark. In that early song, never officially released, Dylan sings, “I know I ain’t no prophet / And I ain’t no prophet’s son.” Dylan was lyrically riffing on Amos 7:14, where…
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Culture Did Bob Dylan anticipate the coronavirus epidemic in these 12 songs?
In the past few weeks, Bob Dylan has released two new songs, “Murder Most Foul” and “I Contain Multitudes,” which people have combed for references to the current COVID-19 pandemic. Never mind that these songs were most likely written and recorded months if not years before the new coronavirus upended our world. But the fact…
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Culture The Secret Jewish History of William Shakespeare
Editor’s Note: This story originally ran on April 23, 2018. We are revisiting it on the occasion of William Shakespeare’s 456th birthday. Had William Shakespeare never died, he would be turning 456 years old this year, which would put him in biblical territory for longevity. As it turns out, that’s not necessarily such an unusual…
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Culture Bob Dylan channels Walt Whitman and Anne Frank in his new song of himself
Oops, he did it again. In the deep, dark, blackness of the night, the Mystic Oracle of Hibbing let drop a new utterance. Today, we awoke to the new sounds of Bob Dylan’s “I Contain Multitudes,” just three weeks after Dylan stunned believers and non-believers alike with a 17-minute “Waste Land”-like take on the JFK…
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Music No, you’re wrong — Bob Dylan’s 17-minute song is a work of epic genius
Last week in these pages, my esteemed colleague PJ Grisar offered a devastating and at times humorous takedown of Bob Dylan’s recently released new song, “Murder Most Foul.” “[A]s with all things Dylan,” wrote Grisar, “his votaries will be paying Talmudic attention to this new text and finding a deeper meaning than I care to.”…
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Culture Kaddish for Krzysztof Penderecki — a Christian composer with a Jewish soul
World-renowned Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki – widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the last half-century — died on Sunday, March 29, at the age of 86. (While members of his family and inner circle are reported to have had symptoms of the new coronavirus, Penderecki is said to have died from complications…
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Culture How a simple prayer of thanks has taken on new meaning
As soon as I awake these days, before I am even fully conscious, I take stock of how I am feeling. In that twilight state between sleep and wakefulness, I automatically take inventory: Do I feel feverish? No. Do I have flu-like aches, or that all-around crappy feeling of being attacked by a virus, any…
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