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Bizarro thread: Dead song you do not really like


DesertDead

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Not DSO-specific, but are there any songs that The Grateful Dead performed that while you of course like, you do not really love?

 

 

Spill the beans.

 

And while Samba in the Rain is certainly not off-limits, I am more curious about legitimate tunes.

 

 

 

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This is a topic that does rise up like the cream in the churn every few years. Because new ones comes and sadly old ones go everything old is relevant (if not new) again. So, in that spirit, here is my offering from a similar thread about six years ago:

 

OK, now that this thread has become True Confessions time, I have a little something to share.

I loathe Eyes. In fact, "loathe" does a disservice to all synonyms for "detest" but it will do.

From the first insipid notes of the inevitable interminable jam (a good time to go get the oil changed) leading up to the lyrics, I know it is going to be another 20 minutes of my life that I will never, ever be able to get back. If time is going to be such a thief, why can't he it at least make it be good for me, too? But nope, that jam is like an aural Rape of Nanking. Even though you know it will sometime run out of steam, the experience is proof that what doesn't kill you does not always make you stronger.

But after the swirly girly be-bop highs and lows dosey-doe notes of the intro jam come the lyrics. Hippie self-indulgence at its finest. That crap makes The Phish's offerings read like Dostoyevsky. "Lazy summer home" - glad you can afford one, king of the trustafarians; some people have to work. "Wings a mile long" - hell, to even think of that you have to be a card-carrying member of the sheet of the month club. The closest thing I've seen to that at a show was a pterodactyl and he did't have wings, just horns. But that is another story for another time.

The second verse - what kind of psuedo-spiritual drek is this? Something from a dream you had one afternoon long ago? Thanks for sharing! And "the night comes so quiet, it's close on the heels of the day..." WTF is it supposed to do? Rage like a Viking in heat and then have a cigarette break?

More jamming. More pointless abuse of musical instruments that did nothing to deserve this torture, when all they want to do is rock. But at this point you figure that maybe, just maybe, the end is in sight. All you have to do is be strong, like enduring an extra vigorous cleaning by a really pissed off dental hygenist.

And there it is - the third verse. By this time the imagery is kind of weak. I think the evocative wad was shot after "loaded with clay," and the repeated "sometimes" in the last verse just goes to show that. If it is a song of your own, just keep it to yourself. The shower is a nice place for that.

The only thing worse than a stand-alone Eyes is when it caps off the Trifecta from Hell, Scarlet>Fire, Estimated. That truly is 9th Circle.

Don't get me started on SOTM. If you'd really "rather be with you," then get your munchies-engorged ass off the back porch and do something about it. And "Foolish Heart" - stop whining about it and check out your degrees of compatibility on e harmony. Maybe you'll get lucky.

Meh.


 

 
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1 hour ago, acududeman said:

Memphis Blues

Walkin Blues

Used to Love Her

Wang Dang Doodle

Smoke Stack (post Pig)

Me & My Uncle

Mexicali

Bertha

Sugaree

Franklin's

 

Dang, and I was feeling guilty about not digging a measly 1/2 Step, lol.

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8 hours ago, acududeman said:

Bertha

Sugaree

Franklin's

Eeeeaaaasyyy - just hold on ok ?

Take a deep breath - and another - ok?  Just hold on, we can work through this - you don't know what you're saying....

 

2 songs that others seem to like and I don't:  

 

NFA - I tried

 

Women -R- Smarter - they are.  But that song blew up one too many Scarlet > Fires and I simply can't forgive it.  Just do Iko instead... 

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1 hour ago, Tea for Texas said:

Eeeeaaaasyyy - just hold on ok ?

Take a deep breath - and another - ok?  Just hold on, we can work through this - you don't know what you're saying....

 

2 songs that others seem to like and I don't:  

 

NFA - I tried

 

Women -R- Smarter - they are.  But that song blew up one too many Scarlet > Fires and I simply can't forgive it.  Just do Iko instead... 

 

I tend to get bored with songs that have few structural changes.....they go on and on....it's why I find many of the Dylan covers to be tedious and boring.

 

BUT.......the pre-'80 GD tended to play even the most repetitive tune in an inspired and exciting fashion. For instance, I like almost any tune they played in '77, simply because they were so inspired and on their game. But once the band went on auto pilot as the 80's wore on I tended to get bored with said tunes more often.

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The other note a may add is that some of the GD tunes I mentioned above have been rendered through the years by DSO in such a way that I have really enjoyed them immensely.

 

It's all personal preference after all, some like chocolate.....others vanilla

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Great thread:

 

I'm with Chuck Eyes has never been my favorite tune to frame a Second Set. Similarly Playing in the Band as the Second Set Feature. Having said that I still dig it, its not like I have to go out in the lobby.  Fire also I like but the groove  but  jam often is predictable. Other songs I am not enamored with:

 

Rooster - Ugh

Mnglewood - Double Ugh

Johnny B. Goode - Sacroligous as I am from the STL,  but the song is such a part of the DNA in these parts I always  felt jipped if the Dead did that for an encore.

Diamond Dupree's - Love the Song but it is always is a  struggle live...Tough to get a live groove on that diddy

All Brent Tunes except - Tons of Steel, Blow Away and We Can Run (Sorry folks)

 

Note to Desert* - Half Step?  Come On Man! - My favorite Dead Song ever along with China Doll and High Time

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I've been listening to the Grateful Dead since 1993. Here are the songs I currently loathe (But it took years of listening and concerts to get here): 

 

Iko-Iko

Women R Smarter

Me and My Uncle

Tennessee Jed

They Love Each Other (Post 1973 versions)

Dayjob

Franklin's Tower

Dear Mr Fantasy

Don't Ease Me In

Uncle John's Band

 

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I detest “Queen Jane”. It is a yawner - there isn’t a good way to dance with it. It is listless.

 

 I have heard too many All Over Nows. 

 

Little Red Rooster is ONLY entertaining when RobB does Brent banter. 

 

Acudude- do you know Bertha is about death and reincarnation and birth, according to Hunter? Look up what a bardo is. Fascinating..... 

 

 

 

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Touch of Grey was great in the 6/18:/83 show we heard Saturday.. It finished the conversation nicely and then the Dough Knees / sat night / ripple! Hidamighty!!

 

funny that the dead waited so long to release “in the dark.”. And actually played in the dark first time in the studio. those years of playing songs in concert before studio time saved them money. Figuring out and “ playing” in the studio cost them a lot and they left that module in the dust. 

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