The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll di Bob Dylan storia e video
Se lo chiamano il menestrello di Duluth c’è un motivo: Bob Dylan ha ereditato dai cantanti folk la tradizione di cantare storie ispirate alla vita delle persone.
Ci sono molti pezzi nel suo repertorio con un target di critica sociale, come "Hurricane", ma questa volta andiamo un po’ più lontano nel tempo.
La canzone è "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" e fa parte del suo album "The Times They Are A-Changin '(1964).
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll è il racconto della morte crudele avvenuta il 9 febbraio 1963 a Baltimore, di Hattie Carroll, una cameriera nera di 51 anni e madre di dieci bambini.
Il suo assassino era un cliente bianco, di 24 anni, ricco e ubriaco, di nome William Zantzinger.
William Zanzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll
With a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger...(William Zanzinger uccise la povera Hattie Carroll
Con un bastone che fece ruotare attorno al suo dito con l'anello con diamante)
Secondo quanto spiegò durante il processo, William Devereux "Billy" Zantzinger (February 7, 1939 – January 3, 2009) colpi la donna alla testa con il bastone perché era stata lenta a portargli la bevanda.
Nessuno aiutò la povera Hattie che morì il giorno dopo.
Zantzinger fu condannato a sei mesi di carcere che schivò pagando una multa di 500 dollari per l'omicidio.
La difesa sostenne che Hattie Carroll era morta a causa di una malattia precedente e non solo per il colpo.
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll venne incisa il 23 ottobre 1963, mentre si parlava ancora del processo e Bob Dylan la cantava nei concerti.
Decenni dopo, il protagonista della storia dichiarò che Dylan gli aveva amareggiato tutta la vita con quella canzone.
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll fu eseguita anche da molti altri interpreti e se il giudice fu magnanimo la canzone non lo fu certamente nel ricordare all'assassino il suo crimine.
Testo The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll di Bob Dylan
William Zanzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll,
With a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger
At a Baltimore hotel society gath'rin',
And the cops were called in and his weapon took from him
As they rode him in custody down to the station,
And booked William Zanzinger for first-degree murder.
But you who philosophize, disgrace and criticize all fears,
Take the rag away from your face, now ain't the time for
Your tears.
William Zanzinger, who at twenty-four years,
Owns a tobacco farm of six hundred acres
With rich wealthy parents who provide and protect him,
And high office relations in the politics of Maryland,
Reacted to his deed with a shrug of his shoulders,
And swear words and sneering, and his tongue it was
Snarling,
In a matter of minutes on bail was out walking.
But you who philosophize, disgrace and criticize all fears,
Take the rag away from your face, now ain't the time for
Your tears.
Hattie Carroll was a maid of the kitchen.
She was fifty-one years old and gave birth to ten children
Who carried the dishes and took out the garbage,
And never sat once at the head of the table
And didn't even talk to the people at the table,
Who just cleaned up all the food from the table,
And emptied the ashtrays on a whole other level,
Got killed by a blow, lay slain by a cane
That sailed through the air and came down through the room,
Doomed and determined to destroy all the gentle.
And she never done nothing to William Zanzinger.
But you who philosophize, disgrace and criticize all fears,
Take the rag away from your face, now ain't the time for
Your tears.
In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel,
To show that all's equal and that the courts are on the
Level
And that the strings in the books ain't pulled and
Persuaded,
And that even the nobles get properly handled
Once that the cops have chased after and caught 'em,
And that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom,
Stared at the person who killed for no reason,
Who just happened to be feelin' that way without warnin'.
And he spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished,
And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance,
William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence.
Oh, but you who philosophize, disgrace and criticize all
Fears,
Bury the rag deep in your face, for now's the time for your
Tears.
Foto testo ultima strofa The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll di Bob Dylan
Se vuoi conoscere Bob Dylan anche dal punto di vista grafologico Bob Dylan, Nobel per la letteratura 2016: Molti volti molte firme.
