Forum MVP John A Posted October 27, 2016 Forum MVP Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 Go to the 17:00 mark where Phil is asked about Days Between. Very poignant and emotional reaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP Island Bro Posted October 27, 2016 Forum MVP Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 Powerful to hear Phil's emotion about that,, Thanks John! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP PoetryGirl Posted October 27, 2016 Forum MVP Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 There were days and there were days and there were days between Summer flies and August dies the world grows dark and mean Comes the shimmer of the moon on black infested trees the singing man is at his song the holy on their knees the reckless are out wrecking the timid plead their pleas No one knows much more of this than anyone can see anyone can see There were days and there were days and there were days besides when phantom ships with phantom sails set to sea on phantom tides Comes the lightning of the sun on bright unfocused eyes the blue of yet another day a springtime wet with sighs a hopeful candle lingers in the land of lullabies where headless horsemen vanish with wild and lonely cries lonely cries There were days and there were days and there were days I know when all we ever wanted was to learn and love and grow Once we grew into our shoes we told them where to go walked halfway around the world on promise of the glow stood upon a mountain top walked barefoot in the snow gave the best we had to give how much we'll never know we'll never know There were days and there were days and there were days between polished like a golden bowl the finest ever seen Hearts of Summer held in trust still tender, young and green left on shelves collecting dust not knowing what they mean valentines of flesh and blood as soft as velveteen hoping love would not forsake the days that lie between lie between Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP Rude Posted October 27, 2016 Forum MVP Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 I never really listened to days between. I had the 10-1-94 Boston garden dead show with so many roads on an early ipod and listened to that song 100s of times. It really registered with me. It was a late jewel we were really lucky to get as fans. It very easily could have never been sung. It's meaning constantly changes for me. It used to fill me with regret during dark days when the sun refused to shine, but now it's a song of hope and the few times I've heard DSO sing it, it fills me with tears of joy thinking of jerry singing that version. Every time I hear Jerry belt out the end of this song it fills me with tears. He may not have had much left in the tank but he let loose at the end of this version. I broke down watching it and cant contain my emotions as I type. Its a little hard to watch. If you dont break starting around the 5:00 mark you are a stronger man than I. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advisory Board Dr. Barry Posted October 27, 2016 Advisory Board Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 Days Between was a classic. The words and tune were haunting then as now. As far as evoking feeling it was as good as anything Jerry ever sang. It sent shivers up and down my spine. So many roads never held that space for me like days between did. It was/is a great song. But the repetition of "so many roads to ease my soul" kind of lost my interest. But the words in Days Between are like real poetry that grasped me by the spinal cord, and the way Jerry rendered them was chilling. A true favorite song in the Jerry repertoire. Had it had a bit more time to mature it would have attained legend status. Dark and haunting. A combo of Black Peter and Chinadoll, but more intense. Scary even. "Valentines of flesh and blood, as soft as velveteen." Dr. Barry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP Rude Posted October 27, 2016 Forum MVP Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 Days Between was a classic. A combo of Black Peter and Chinadoll, but more intense. Scary even. Dr. Barry It means that much to you? Black Peter level? I wouldn't dare to tell people how they should feel about a song but to elevate it to the level of black Peter seems a tad sacrilegious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advisory Board Dr. Barry Posted October 27, 2016 Advisory Board Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 It actually means more to me than Black Peter does. I love Black Peter. Incredidibly so. A few differences to me besides the poignancy of Days Between coming so late in the game, is that Peter feels like a narrative about some poor guy. Very touching. Very tragic. Very deep. But I'm just a voyeur on Peters death bed. Days Between feels like a combo of Jerry telling his own story, and like Phil alluded to he is telling everyone's story. I thought Jerry was telling a more universal story of "the human condition". I related to it immediately. I also had the pleasure of being present when the song was brought into rotation and seeing it live. It was very emotional. Pin drop stuff. And the words are gripping. Really deep. I can't think of a better song in the last phase of Jerry's life. Black Peter/Chinadoll/Comes a Time when mixed together and aged 20+ years = Days Between. Dr. B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP Rude Posted October 27, 2016 Forum MVP Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 BlAck Peter makes me project my own death and wonder if anyone will be at my side. I always thought "who cares" if I die by myself or whatever. But maybe subconsciously this is actually important to me as I can't hear the song without crying. Cried on tour hearing it. Cried at home. Maybe I'm sensing my own mortality and also I may be trying to force this on others as being more important than it is. These are just songs of our own and each means different things. There may be some consensus but not full consensus on any dead song. Read a comment on some board where someone said brokedown was one of the deads worst songs. He just had bad taste lol. Edit: black Peter is as much about having friends who care about you than death. Maybe I cried because I wondered if my friends are as true as his. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP John A Posted October 27, 2016 Author Forum MVP Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 To experience about as much as Jerry was able to give to a Days Between, check out 12-11-94 from Oakland. If Days had come just a few years earlier I think it would hold a spot for most Heads right next to the great Garcia Hunter ballads. As it was, by the time it entered the rotation Jerry just didn't have much left. There are no shortage of versions with powerful moments, but it's hard to find many where the performance really shines from beginning to end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP PoetryGirl Posted October 27, 2016 Forum MVP Report Share Posted October 27, 2016 Days Between.Through the eyes of an earnest lover of life and seeker of the world of divinity making it through a world of humanity, cherishing the promise of a free heart and dreams yet realized and mourning the scars and pain unknowingly brought on by bright , unfocused eyes."Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.For now we see in a mirror, darkly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP Island Bro Posted October 28, 2016 Forum MVP Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 I agree with you guys that Days Between would have developed into an even stronger, more commonly acknowledged, ballad if it had a few more spins around the sun, before Jerry's death. On the other hand, I kind of felt like the song contained Jerry's final cryptic message(s) and perhaps not leaving it over played adds to power and mystique of it. In 94/95 when it was getting more difficult to get off on the music and vibe I became very intrigued by days between... as Dr B said--I felt 'haunted' by it...not in a spooky way, but deeply intrigued and curious since the times I heard it played live were often moments at a show where I got the sense of Jerry digging deeper into his emotion than anything else at that show. Such deep deep feeling that he seemed to be pouring into that song and the emotion that it touched within myself that I wanted to learn more about the tune....The song seemed very important to him in those final months, weeks and days. I remember a late night conversation with a buddy about Days Between the night before what unknowingly became my final show in June '95,,,they had played it that afternoon and we were trying to deconstruct the song and seek out meaning of various sorts from the lyrics,,but the point of noting this is that was the song that we came away AFFECTED by, given the otherwise kinda blah show in some ways.... So I appreciate hearing Phil speak of it in the video and witnessing his own emotion welling up around this fascinating ballad... I remember a conversation about Days Between on these boards a few years back and somebody,,can't remember who,,shared their opinion that this song was the last great and true 'art' that Hunter and Garcia produced and I've been pondering that notion ever since.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian NJ Posted October 28, 2016 Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 very touching to see the human Side of Phil with his emotions almost speechless about what he felt. days between so many roads both beautiful touching songs. at the time I could not grasp the beauty and full debth of the lyrics.by the time those songs came out I had been Peter for many years...I listened to that song daily. all I wanted was a little piece and a friend or two I love at hand before I die... Life had no meaning to me death had even less meaning my spirit had been all but extinguished. 93,94 and the beginning of 95 I listened to Black Peter many times throughout the day. the fear of not having a few friends at hand upon my death probably kept me alive during that period... Just tonight I thought of how I felt back then. I was parked illegally in New Brunswick New Jersey and as I went to put the window up my car died.having a total of $53 to my name no savings account no credit card no 401K Etc. I felt all alone not knowing what I would do... This brought me to a memory of waking up on Ludlow and Rivington st. Manhattan, hearing some woman yelling and hearing / feeling thumps. as I came to,this hooker and my girlfriend (love you A.R.) were kicking me in the ribs and legs and the hooker was yelling you can't let him die on my stroll... feeling alone brought me back to Black Peter, of a time when life / death were one in the same. memories of a life long gone allowed me to feel alone for about only a few minutes.funny how something like a problem with the car can bring me to feel all alone even if only a couple minutes.Memories of Peter put things in perspective! I got my car started, Got it home and will fix it tomorrow hopefully. I can ramble on for hours so I'll just say ITS A GREAT NIGHT TO BE ALIVE... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic81 Posted October 28, 2016 Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 This is a beautiful and powerful thread, thanks everyone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP PoetryGirl Posted October 28, 2016 Forum MVP Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 I think Jerry was acknowledging the pain body, aka in Stillness Speaks by Eckert Tolle. The pain body, or the shadow of living, that feeds on pain we create unknowingly and semi- unconsciously. For example, it is the force that pushes one to say the thing that knowingly leads to conflict as one watches in horror, wondering how one could go there. And the pain body quiets and lies dormant a while until it needs to feed again like the Upside Down demagorgon in " Stranger Things". The struggle against suffering brings a choice. The search for grace begins when the suffering becomes too great - "that space gets hot"- and the effort is made to shrug off the pain body by consciously confronting its ugly heads- the fears we carry- as a person, race, gender, nation, human- and slaying one off, one at a time. Gratitude follows in that space a greater peace and awareness. Or one suffers a little more until one consciously confronts the pain body and chooses otherwise. In "Days Between", I hear there was winter and darkness. All sorts are acting out in roles cast by humanity. Humanity is limited in what it can accomplish to change the decay. The collective awareness can see only so far. And a candle burns for the idyllic garden of Eden- the space of a lullabies, safe, nurturing and sweet. ( "May Lady Lullaby sing plainly for you. Soft, strong sweet and true") There is dreaming. Sending out dreams - manning a ship and casting it on the waters and sailing into the unknown-and believing those dreams could be possible and realized and hold real Truth. All we ever wanted was to learn, love and grow. And the dreams were followed. Shoes filled with maturer souls struck out and lived life to the best of their ability. With open and loving hearts that were blinded at times by their own dirty windows- fears and hangups- that blocked the reception of true valentines and hearts of summer that knew none of the black decay. The vessel shines ready to receive, grace abounds and that golden ring that lies deep within requires one to REACH for it. Prospero does not drown his magical book; he exposes it for the trappings it has. I hear a song that believes in accomplishing the dream. With affirmation that yes, there is beauty in life, love in life, abundant peace in the moments, joy and laughter that were true and real and precious. However, it must be chosen over the pain body. The vessel is there, gleaming, shining and ready. Got to get back to the garden...... Honor the divine masculine and the divine feminine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forum MVP 2muchfun Posted October 28, 2016 Forum MVP Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 I really cannot imagine seeing and hearing Jerry singing Days Between before I did...makes no sense in the 70's and 80's but as usual with a Hunter/Garcia ballad it hit(s) me right where it was seemingly intended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian NJ Posted October 28, 2016 Report Share Posted October 28, 2016 PG Hits the ball outta the park again. Your words are Beautiful Jenn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weather Command Posted October 30, 2016 Report Share Posted October 30, 2016 Jen, you are so kind..its easy to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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