The Grateful Dead was one of the rare bands to employ a dedicated lyricist. Procul Harum, for example, had Keith Reid. The Grateful Dead leaned on Robert Hunter. Of all the bands that filled my college years, The Grateful Dead had a gift for lyrics that penetrated my thick skull. These were songs you could quote as if you were a scholar quoting Shelley or Keats. Dead and Friends are at Wrigley Field Friday and Saturday and WXRT has chosen The Grateful Dead for a Friday Feature. Here are some Grateful Dead songs with poetic musings that will be with me always.
The song that I play when I want people to ponder the profundity of the human condition is always “Ripple.” Hunter wrote it with Jerry and the entire song is fairly brilliant.
I have never understood the appeal of “Touch of Grey.” It is their biggest “hit” and for radio stations that might play just one Dead song, this is the one they choose. A pity. However, as a reflection from an aging band, these words of affirmation work for me.
The power of “Box of Rain” may come with the knowledge that Phil Lesh was writing this for his dying father. A collaboration with Hunter. And on July 9th, 1995, it was the final song ever played by The Grateful Dead. It was at Soldier Field and of you were there.
Don’t tell anyone this, but the first time I heard Uncle John’s Band, I thought they were singing “Come see Uncle Tom’s cabin.” I’m glad I listened a second time. Here’s a rhyming couplet that reminds me to take nothing for granted.
It’s funny the way Dead lyrics traipse thru our daily rounds. When you walk out the door on a summer day and greet the sun, the words “Sunshine daydream” may just spill out of your brain.
Or maybe the contents of Jerry Garcia’s “Wheel” are what you need to describe the impermanence of our world. It is also reminiscent of Bob Dylan's "Don't speak too soon cuz the wheel's still in spin."
Of all the lyrics that have been repeated and borrowed, there are no lines that have been cemented in our collective cultural consciousness like these words from “Truckin.’”
Keep it strange.
-Lin
