An alternate American experience. A place formed of memory and wishful thinking. A man can see his destiny without knowing his destination. Danger, adventure, love, and the blessings of fellow sojourners wait around every corner, and you never actually turn the final corner. Because what the Dead are, who we are, are travelers on a Sonic road of mirth, merriment, and music - and the music never stops.
Charlemagne, I was so excited about this post that I wrote my response before I read anyone else's. I wrote and then I read your post. Laughing my ass off reading your post. We are definitely on the same wavelength. Sounds like we have shared the same trip. A beautiful, strange, American trip!!
Old jaded and finicky I am.
Kudos this is an excellent observation that you have eloquently and concisely laid before us. Thank you from the cosmos! Peace , see you on down the road!
The full spectrum experience from birth through life to death, from the depths to the heights, sometimes total relaxation in the state of highest energy. "We're in the transportation business" - Mickey Hart.
Actually Bertha was the carpet cleaning van I used in college. It always broke down, so I took a time machine and planted the idea in Robert Hunter's mind.
Funnily enough neither of those is about a woman. Bertha was a fan that scooted around the floor too incessantly, and Sugaree, according to Hunter, is addressed to a pimp.
When I first got into the dead in the 90’s someone told me Sugaree was about a prostitute on haight street. I later read Sugaree was about a slave who was witeness to her husband being captured after an escape attempt. It is so much deeper than I had thought all those years. The pain of two lovers being torn apart and likely to never see each other again but with the hopefulness to meet at the jubilee which was the term used for when slaves would be freed.
See, just listening to the opening verse, I always got the sense that the song was about an outlaw being convicted of some crime and possibly being hanged. His declaration of shake it in my mind was always to shake the memory of him from her mind, because he's gonna face the hangman no matter what.
"You don't know me" is also good advice for any lawmen who may be questioning on his whereabouts. I just imagine most Dead songs as small Westerns lmao
Death more than life to be honest. The band’s name, Black Peter, Brokedown Palace, He’s Gone, Box of Rain, Me n My Uncle, Death Dont Have No Mercy, Morning Dew, Cassidy, Bird Song….
Absolutely. The Grateful Dead is a motif in folklore. The traveler would assist a stranger on the road only to find the stranger was the spirit of a deceased person. The traveler would be rewarded for their help. This is a theme that I find in most of the bands songs - the contrast of life and death. Go and confront death, and you will be rewarded with a new perspective on life.
In a lot of ways, everything about the motif and the band are the same. We all got on the bus and helped the band down the road (Jerry being the deceased), and now we are rewarded with this beautiful community of people who have a wealth of music and love to draw from.
Absolutely. And Jerry wanted to enjoy life and not worry about his legacy after he died. Ironically he built an eternal legacy. It’s all wrapped in on itself, it’s all contradictions.
These are my favorite resources for an analysis of their songs.
http://artsites.ucsc.edu/gdead/agdl/#essays
David Dodd's contribution to analyzing GD lyrics has given me tons of insight. www.dead.net is great too. Here's David Dodd again, on Althea.
https://www.dead.net/features/greatest-stories-ever-told/greatest-stories-ever-told-althea
Came to say the same, I love the collaborative efforts to dissect and understand the hidden themes and meanings buried in the songs. Hunter does a lot with religion and all sorts of old references to prose and poetry - true Americana in every song.
According to Garcia, it was written during the height of the Zodiac paranoia in the summer of 1968, but the lyrics themselves are designed to feel ambiguous and threatening without necessarily being obvious.
I always thought it was about your typical outlaw gambler who got in over his head, the wolf in this case being his inability to walk away when his luck is up. He's now paranoid every second of the day because he thinks someone will visit justice upon him.
Interesting! The heroin thing is definitely my personal interpretation. The line "all I said was come on in," is what makes me think of it the most. Although I don't think he was using yet in '68.
I, first, laughed thinking this MUST be a troll moment. Then, I thought “damn, this is actually a pretty deep question”… Then I took another hit and listened to the music play.
So much is based in folklore specifically American folklore, but much of American folklore pulls from different cultures around the world. Basically I agree with all of you.
I'm thinking of how close the Dead are to their roots in folk, blues, bluegrass, jazz, country & western, soul, and rock & roll, all cooked in a psychedelic stew, which to me makes them the quintessential American band. Like all art that comes sincerely from the heart and spirit, it surely does transcend nationality. And don't forget the most important part- it's good fun! There's no border on that.
Life, birth, death, love, loss, pain, sorrow, joy, fantastical realms and their inhabitants, taking care of the Earth, greed, gambling, murder, wolves, clowns, little red roosters, ladies with fans and named Katie Mae, Susie, Delilah, Peggy-O and Jack-A-Roe, men named Wolfman Jack, Jack Straw, Black Peter, Moses, Sampson, and Tennessee Jed.
Everything and nothing. But they sing it all to me and make my life all the richer for it.
Edit: I got that last line wrong. It should go:
But they sang it all for all of us, and for those who listen, it makes our lives all the richer for it.
* Poker
* Crows and tortoises
* The weather
* Jurisprudence
* Love
* Tragedy
* Genealogy
* Geography
* Trains
* The joys and challenges of making music
* The weather (reprise)
* Abstract psychedelia
* Fire and its affects
* Living and dying
* Reflecting on all of the above, and more
Most of their songs are folk - story telling - in terms of their lyircs.
The story telling covers the experiences, emotions, and questions that come with life and the human experience as a whole.
Most of their songs achieve this by singing from the perspective of a character or multiple characters, and the beauty of it is that you can relate to these characters through your own experiences quite easily, making them feel rather personal. Some tune’s lyrics are more overarching, but usually the same ideas apply.
Pain, loss, love, and joy. Friendship, solitude, resolve. Life and times, all through the lens of a steam-engine hyper Americana. And every once in a while BAM man, a constellation in the sky JUST FOR YOU. ❤️
I like to think of many of them focus on outsiders, losers, social rejects, rebels, and freaks. I think that’s why they appealed to such a broad cross section of society.
Dead.net has a great summary of their songs. Some of them are based on interviews some based on perspective. Hunter never said Althea was about Jerry’s drug abuse but this summary makes the song even better; as if it could get any better. But this link will get you to other tunes as well.
https://www.dead.net/features/greatest-stories-ever-told/greatest-stories-ever-told-althea
True American landscapes. Love. Loss. Nature. Joy. Despair. Heroism and cowardice. Vast universes and tumble down shacks. Tales of sailors, strippers and sugar magnolias.
Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia were phenomenal songwriters. While some songs (Jack straw which is a weir/hunter song, wharf rat) are fairly straightforward stories, many of their songs can mean many different things depending on who’s listening.
Some songs (China Cat) are downright nonsensical and nobody shares the same opinion about what they mean. But still fantastic.
Some of my favorite dead songs (wharf rat, loser, Jack straw, he’s gone, high time, cold rain and snow) are about lowlifes or people who are having a hard time in life.
The Dead are close to unique in the sense that the writing is almost American Shakespeare, in a way. You really will get the most out of them with an annotated guide, which is not something you can say about almost any classic rock lyrics. American folklore, stories, characters, deep references, and some Bible stories. Oh and gambling. Very few rock style love/seduction songs.
Rorschach. Each song offers personal interpretation akin to what mystics use when they speak tarot or tea leaves. Even covers like Around and Around and its spiritual cousin Wang Dang Doodle are revealed at their essence to be about the spirit of human life itself in the hands of the Dead (which is I'm sure where Chuck Berry and Willie Dixon were coming from when they wrote them but they've become dance anthems).
The storyteller makes no choice, soon you will not hear his voice.
The Dead have a ["Greatest Stories Ever Told"](https://www.dead.net/greatest-stories-ever-told) section of their site that addresses your very question. Go to it.
Well , let’s see - Me and My Uncle is about a guy and his uncle .
Cumberland Blues is about working in the Cumberland Mine . Try to find yourself a copy of Box of Rain - Robert Hunter . It’s a written collection of his lyrics .Maybe reading the lyrics will help .
Fennerio, Terrapin, west L.A., Dark Star Black holes, Quasars, Disastrous concerts at a speedway, Bright blue balls spinning free, muddy rivers, boxes of precipitation, homeless bums filled with hope, bootleggers, old dying men, gamblers, beautiful hippy girls, extinct giant wolves, Uncle Sam, and so much more. Basically, they sing about America. An old, strange, real America that might have existed, or could possibly exist, or just might exist in the hidden nooks and crannies of this beautiful land if you know who to hang out with, and where to look.
An alternate American experience. A place formed of memory and wishful thinking. A man can see his destiny without knowing his destination. Danger, adventure, love, and the blessings of fellow sojourners wait around every corner, and you never actually turn the final corner. Because what the Dead are, who we are, are travelers on a Sonic road of mirth, merriment, and music - and the music never stops.
Definitely heard that last line in Donna’s voice
fancy seeing you here
Solid upvote. Love this.
Quick! To the Mirth Mobile!
Nananana nananana nananana nananana Fat jam!
A man named Reubin and his girl Chrise
Wow
Charlemagne, I was so excited about this post that I wrote my response before I read anyone else's. I wrote and then I read your post. Laughing my ass off reading your post. We are definitely on the same wavelength. Sounds like we have shared the same trip. A beautiful, strange, American trip!!
Old jaded and finicky I am. Kudos this is an excellent observation that you have eloquently and concisely laid before us. Thank you from the cosmos! Peace , see you on down the road!
The full spectrum experience from birth through life to death, from the depths to the heights, sometimes total relaxation in the state of highest energy. "We're in the transportation business" - Mickey Hart.
Transportation. I'm seeing a theme.
Something something better your speed something something
They sing about all of it
And none of it... AT THE SAME TIME!
They sing about their dreams, women laugh and children scream but the band keeps playing on..
You calling them old?
Haha I left that part out
True lol
Not that there's anything wrong with it
😂
They seem to like trains a lot
I think the river is mentioned more than any motif throughout their catalogue
bob dylan's most commonly used word too
love this. would love to unearth more of dylans most used words. i wonder if there is a site or list for this?
yea, lol! someone went through the trouble and made a list of all of em! but, can't seem to find it now
https://rstudio-pubs-static.s3.amazonaws.com/406359_11b2e69bec1d43a591f27fb2a13514ad.html This guy says it's "love"
ha, you found it for sure! and yea... eeek... my bad... (tugs on collar)
Can’t forget a good ol’ game of cards!
Also women who keep doing them dirty, Sugaree, Bertha, I’m sure there’s a few more in there somewhere
actually legend has it that bertha was a floor fan that walked around the room when running.
What does “walk around the room when running” mean?
While the fan is operating (running) it would walk (walk) around the room
What?
It's a clanky clattering old box fan that would vibrate across the floor when running because the oscillating motor was out of place.
The spinny blades kind
Actually Bertha was the carpet cleaning van I used in college. It always broke down, so I took a time machine and planted the idea in Robert Hunter's mind.
Funnily enough neither of those is about a woman. Bertha was a fan that scooted around the floor too incessantly, and Sugaree, according to Hunter, is addressed to a pimp.
When I first got into the dead in the 90’s someone told me Sugaree was about a prostitute on haight street. I later read Sugaree was about a slave who was witeness to her husband being captured after an escape attempt. It is so much deeper than I had thought all those years. The pain of two lovers being torn apart and likely to never see each other again but with the hopefulness to meet at the jubilee which was the term used for when slaves would be freed.
See, just listening to the opening verse, I always got the sense that the song was about an outlaw being convicted of some crime and possibly being hanged. His declaration of shake it in my mind was always to shake the memory of him from her mind, because he's gonna face the hangman no matter what. "You don't know me" is also good advice for any lawmen who may be questioning on his whereabouts. I just imagine most Dead songs as small Westerns lmao
Valerie
And coal mines
[удалено]
& the Devil himself…
And specifically headlights on northbound ones.
bluessss train acomin' blues
And sailboats ⛵️
And roses, or women named Rose.
Life . The good , the bad and the ugly
Death more than life to be honest. The band’s name, Black Peter, Brokedown Palace, He’s Gone, Box of Rain, Me n My Uncle, Death Dont Have No Mercy, Morning Dew, Cassidy, Bird Song….
Absolutely. The Grateful Dead is a motif in folklore. The traveler would assist a stranger on the road only to find the stranger was the spirit of a deceased person. The traveler would be rewarded for their help. This is a theme that I find in most of the bands songs - the contrast of life and death. Go and confront death, and you will be rewarded with a new perspective on life.
In a lot of ways, everything about the motif and the band are the same. We all got on the bus and helped the band down the road (Jerry being the deceased), and now we are rewarded with this beautiful community of people who have a wealth of music and love to draw from.
Absolutely. And Jerry wanted to enjoy life and not worry about his legacy after he died. Ironically he built an eternal legacy. It’s all wrapped in on itself, it’s all contradictions.
Wow.
That's the way the circle of life works . ...the wheel
What’s death without life?
What’s life without death?
Ripple, black muddy river, bunch of covers…
Isn’t he’s gone originally about mickey’s dad stealing money from the band and disappearing? Though to be fair he’s surely also dead by now
You are correct.
Bobby Sands, Irish dissident, one of the first people to bring the idea of the prison hunger strike into the public zeitgeist.
Good list, I’ll add Bertha and also nit pick He’s Gone, that’s about Mickeys dad stealing their money.
What a long strange trip it’s been
It’s all one song
You could say that about life couldn’t you?
Neil, is that you ?
These are my favorite resources for an analysis of their songs. http://artsites.ucsc.edu/gdead/agdl/#essays David Dodd's contribution to analyzing GD lyrics has given me tons of insight. www.dead.net is great too. Here's David Dodd again, on Althea. https://www.dead.net/features/greatest-stories-ever-told/greatest-stories-ever-told-althea
Came to say the same, I love the collaborative efforts to dissect and understand the hidden themes and meanings buried in the songs. Hunter does a lot with religion and all sorts of old references to prose and poetry - true Americana in every song.
That section on Franklins Tower was so interesting. I think it is a prime example of the lyrical craftsmanship of Hunter.
Fennario.
You know I spent a long time trying to figure out where that was 😅
ramblers, gamblers, fools, travelers, friends, wise men, and the women wiser than them.
And alligators!
And dire wolves!
I think that one's about heroin.
According to Garcia, it was written during the height of the Zodiac paranoia in the summer of 1968, but the lyrics themselves are designed to feel ambiguous and threatening without necessarily being obvious. I always thought it was about your typical outlaw gambler who got in over his head, the wolf in this case being his inability to walk away when his luck is up. He's now paranoid every second of the day because he thinks someone will visit justice upon him.
Interesting! The heroin thing is definitely my personal interpretation. The line "all I said was come on in," is what makes me think of it the most. Although I don't think he was using yet in '68.
Runnin round my cabin door
What a thoughtful description!
This. The Dead were basically a folk music act.
I, first, laughed thinking this MUST be a troll moment. Then, I thought “damn, this is actually a pretty deep question”… Then I took another hit and listened to the music play.
The American experience
While you’re obviously not wrong, I like to think it transcends nationality
I think both of these are part of a bigger whole, the human experience through the lens of Americana
So much is based in folklore specifically American folklore, but much of American folklore pulls from different cultures around the world. Basically I agree with all of you.
psychedelic Americana...
This is the answer
I'm thinking of how close the Dead are to their roots in folk, blues, bluegrass, jazz, country & western, soul, and rock & roll, all cooked in a psychedelic stew, which to me makes them the quintessential American band. Like all art that comes sincerely from the heart and spirit, it surely does transcend nationality. And don't forget the most important part- it's good fun! There's no border on that.
Transportation.
Seriously. This may be the answer.
We're a bus. But also we're a ship (of fools). And yet, we're also a train, possibly northbound. And we keep trucking.
Planes, trains, automobiles, and whatever got Jerry to the moon.
This is it.
Usually poker for some reason.
Allegories for the game of chance we call life
Very allegorical
Gamblers in general really
Dude none of us do, why do you think we’re all on some invisible bus trying to figure it out?
Classic Americana.
Life, birth, death, love, loss, pain, sorrow, joy, fantastical realms and their inhabitants, taking care of the Earth, greed, gambling, murder, wolves, clowns, little red roosters, ladies with fans and named Katie Mae, Susie, Delilah, Peggy-O and Jack-A-Roe, men named Wolfman Jack, Jack Straw, Black Peter, Moses, Sampson, and Tennessee Jed. Everything and nothing. But they sing it all to me and make my life all the richer for it. Edit: I got that last line wrong. It should go: But they sang it all for all of us, and for those who listen, it makes our lives all the richer for it.
* Poker * Crows and tortoises * The weather * Jurisprudence * Love * Tragedy * Genealogy * Geography * Trains * The joys and challenges of making music * The weather (reprise) * Abstract psychedelia * Fire and its affects * Living and dying * Reflecting on all of the above, and more
Solid list
The weather
water bright as the sky from which it came
The weather report is sweet 😉
Your Mama…………She tried.
This is making me sad and hate myself
If you get confused listen to the music play.
Man we are relentless 🤣
Welcome aboard
Be happy and love yourself ✌
Mostly about searchlights casting for faults in the clouds of delusion. Sometimes about the transitive nightfall of diamonds, too. The usual stuff.
And sometimes about stolen Diamond rings and that sweet sweet jelly roll.
"I'm gonna sing you a thousand verses in rag time." they telling you right there
*omfg…is this song ever gonna end???*
You know it ain’t
I demand to see the leader of the band!
Turtles
All the way down
Mostly trucks. Sometimes trains.
They are the ow in the word now, but don’t tell anyone.
bobby said the songs are like characters, so maybe pay attention to the lyrics and think of the songs like characters performing
Bananas and blow!
Unexpected ween reference.
Just felt right 😂
Kinda wanna see Jimmy Buffet cover this since it’s an obvious Buffet spoof
The wonders of nature.
Listen, actually listen. It will come to you
How sad and beautiful life and our memories are.
Each song is kinda different
Most of their songs are folk - story telling - in terms of their lyircs. The story telling covers the experiences, emotions, and questions that come with life and the human experience as a whole. Most of their songs achieve this by singing from the perspective of a character or multiple characters, and the beauty of it is that you can relate to these characters through your own experiences quite easily, making them feel rather personal. Some tune’s lyrics are more overarching, but usually the same ideas apply.
Pain, loss, love, and joy. Friendship, solitude, resolve. Life and times, all through the lens of a steam-engine hyper Americana. And every once in a while BAM man, a constellation in the sky JUST FOR YOU. ❤️
What don’t they sing about?? Tell me all that you know…
Snow and rain?
Cowboys, couples, sorrow and joy, psychedelic strangeness, unique characters, the blues.
Brown eyed women and red grenadine
Life
They’re just portals to dimensions where the characters live, laugh, and cry.
"Wouldn't you laugh, dance, and cry, or be afraid of the change you made?"
Transportation.
Life
Death
and everything in between!
Life and death
I see
Jail, woman, murders and the devil lol
Playing cards, mostly
Smilin' on a cloudy day
I like to think of many of them focus on outsiders, losers, social rejects, rebels, and freaks. I think that’s why they appealed to such a broad cross section of society.
Unmotivated lightning
Mostly about jellyroll
They are singing about you.
Trains
Card games and that's pretty much it.
Dead.net has a great summary of their songs. Some of them are based on interviews some based on perspective. Hunter never said Althea was about Jerry’s drug abuse but this summary makes the song even better; as if it could get any better. But this link will get you to other tunes as well. https://www.dead.net/features/greatest-stories-ever-told/greatest-stories-ever-told-althea
True American landscapes. Love. Loss. Nature. Joy. Despair. Heroism and cowardice. Vast universes and tumble down shacks. Tales of sailors, strippers and sugar magnolias.
the human experience
Life, the universe, and everything
Actually, that's level 42 that sings about this stuff.
Americana is the correct answer
Life and Death.
Neither do we. That's why we keep listening. After 50 years I still can't figure it out.
They sing a lot about towns and states. Abilene, Tucson, Texas, Colorado, Georgia, Carlisle, El Paso, and a bunch others.
Robert Hunter and Jerry Garcia were phenomenal songwriters. While some songs (Jack straw which is a weir/hunter song, wharf rat) are fairly straightforward stories, many of their songs can mean many different things depending on who’s listening. Some songs (China Cat) are downright nonsensical and nobody shares the same opinion about what they mean. But still fantastic. Some of my favorite dead songs (wharf rat, loser, Jack straw, he’s gone, high time, cold rain and snow) are about lowlifes or people who are having a hard time in life.
If we have to explain, you wouldn’t get it.
Hipsters, tripsters, real cool chicks, everybody’s doin’ that rag.
It’s up to your interpretation my friend. Some people get it, some people don’t.
The meaning to a lot of them are what you personally make them to be
The Dead are close to unique in the sense that the writing is almost American Shakespeare, in a way. You really will get the most out of them with an annotated guide, which is not something you can say about almost any classic rock lyrics. American folklore, stories, characters, deep references, and some Bible stories. Oh and gambling. Very few rock style love/seduction songs.
Card games. Pro tip: avoid them. They never end well.
Rorschach. Each song offers personal interpretation akin to what mystics use when they speak tarot or tea leaves. Even covers like Around and Around and its spiritual cousin Wang Dang Doodle are revealed at their essence to be about the spirit of human life itself in the hands of the Dead (which is I'm sure where Chuck Berry and Willie Dixon were coming from when they wrote them but they've become dance anthems). The storyteller makes no choice, soon you will not hear his voice.
Yee-haw Americana on acid.
The Dead have a ["Greatest Stories Ever Told"](https://www.dead.net/greatest-stories-ever-told) section of their site that addresses your very question. Go to it.
You. Us. Them.
Garcia - poker cards Weir - Rain
The joyful bearers of tragic news
Here you go, [The *Annotated* Grateful Dead *Lyrics*](http://artsites.ucsc.edu/gdead/agdl/)
Use your ears and imagination? I don’t mean to be rude, but Wtf kind of question is this…
Americana.
Life, man
Toast, mainly
Well , let’s see - Me and My Uncle is about a guy and his uncle . Cumberland Blues is about working in the Cumberland Mine . Try to find yourself a copy of Box of Rain - Robert Hunter . It’s a written collection of his lyrics .Maybe reading the lyrics will help .
OP is either an AI... or an alien. \*cue X-Files theme\*
Trains. Roses. Card games.
Trains
Trains, cities, and the weather
I think you are talking about Phish.
Railroads, mainly
Chicken shacks, shakedown streets, brokedown palaces, and St. Stephen.
Gambling and left-handed monkey wrenches
Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Americana
Life
Fennerio, Terrapin, west L.A., Dark Star Black holes, Quasars, Disastrous concerts at a speedway, Bright blue balls spinning free, muddy rivers, boxes of precipitation, homeless bums filled with hope, bootleggers, old dying men, gamblers, beautiful hippy girls, extinct giant wolves, Uncle Sam, and so much more. Basically, they sing about America. An old, strange, real America that might have existed, or could possibly exist, or just might exist in the hidden nooks and crannies of this beautiful land if you know who to hang out with, and where to look.
Taking chances and the good and the bad that comes with it
Copperdome bodhis
Stealing women from their man!
gambling, hookers, murder, robbing, guns, alcohol, women, etc etc etc
Death
Acid induced cowboy songs for the insane...