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Love It So


sgrmag2564

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Just thought I'd post this thought I posted on Facebook the other night. I think I might be zeroing in on it...

 

I’m sitting here in the wind. Post Bluegrass hangover. Decided to listen to some of the Dead shows I have been to. I’m listening to 6/21/83, Tom Schmidt and I in in a Datsun B210 in Columbia MD. It rained hard on 6/20, but a smoker just the same. 6/21 is a fav of mine too.

So I ponder...

 

Why do I love it so? I thought how would I explain in such a way to entice one give it a spin? How can I share this with as many people as possible? Truth is, I can’t.

 

I’m a slow learner, so I have to give it a shot...lol

 

I’ll paraphrase a quote from a band member
“Grateful Dead songs are written in such a way that you can find meaning in your life. It’s yours!”

I loved the arrangement of shows, no prior planning, just let the moment take you there, almost effortless while requiring enormous amounts of energy to produce. The almost blissful “and they kept on dancing” with that ever changing, ever evolving Jerry solo smacking you immediately after that lyric.

Then bring you to the depths with Morning Dew lyrics sung from the soul. (Morning Dew, Brokedown Palace, Black Peter, have all brought me to tears at one time or another). Now many have sung from the soul, but NONE, (Save Jerry) let me try this again, NONE, have made me feel they were singing from their soul directly, when I say directly I mean thru all my bullshit insecurities, fears, Love, hate, joy, regrets, accomplishments, basically every part of me that matters, directly in to MY soul.

To sum it up, I love it so because it’s a perfect mix of early 1900’s Chicago Blues, New Orleans Jazz, Appalachian Blue Grass all smooshed together in Memphis. A true American invention delivered with such care for the final product, AND ITS A PART OF ME. It changed my life.

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Kinda Like this?  This sums it up perfectly :)

 

Look for awhile at the China Cat Sunflower
proud-walking jingle in the midnight sun
Copper-dome Bodhi drip a silver kimono
like a crazy-quilt stargown
through a dream night wind

 

There's music you really like and then there's the stuff that changes your DNA.  The Grateful Dead is bleeping magic - that's all there is to it.

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For me: this begins to sum it up.....

 

Your rain falls like crazy fingers,
Peals of fragile thunder, keeping time
Recall the days that still are to come some sing blue.
Hang your heart on laughing willow,  stray
Down to the water, deep sea of love
Beneath the sweet calm face of the sea, swift undertow.

Life may be sweeter for this, I don't know,
See how it feels in the end.
May lady lullaby sing plainly for you soft, strong, sweet and true.
Cloud hands reaching from a rainbow tapping at the window, touch your hair
So swift and bright strange figures of light float in air.
Who can stop what must arrive now? something new is waiting to be born
Dark as the night you're still by my side shine inside .
Gone are the days we stopped to decide where we should go, we just ride.
Gone are the broken eyes we saw through in dreams gone, both dream and lie.
 
When the music starts, the day to day world slips away, as it washes away, sometimes faster than other times, and I begin to drift in the dream of my essence, floating into the space between notes. Fragile thunder, an oxymoron, are those a-ha moments where realization of our own humanity become cleared of perspective and emotion, and stand as truth. It hits home to the bones. You can't help but laugh at how plainly that Truth stands and see the silliness of your mind's picture formerly clouded in illusion. That state is endearing, like an innocent child and makes easy loving humanity. Things move on the Universe's schedule and while it appears we can plan, the moment is where it is at. It is here! Like the William Tell's bow. Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out. Those hippies weren't saying to stop growing, rebel for rebellion sake. The complete opposite, man. Just get yourself out of the game and into your own Truth.  And may the Siren's voice always be heard and here's the catch... listened for. It isn't going to scream at you but come in the quiet of the night. AND What is sweeter than ones who stand by you in the storms of your life and love the promise each new day brings, together? 
 
This music is alive. 
💓
 
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10 hours ago, PoetryGirl said:

For me: this begins to sum it up.....

 

Your rain falls like crazy fingers,
Peals of fragile thunder, keeping time
Recall the days that still are to come some sing blue.
Hang your heart on laughing willow,  stray
Down to the water, deep sea of love
Beneath the sweet calm face of the sea, swift undertow.

Life may be sweeter for this, I don't know,
See how it feels in the end.
May lady lullaby sing plainly for you soft, strong, sweet and true.
Cloud hands reaching from a rainbow tapping at the window, touch your hair
So swift and bright strange figures of light float in air.
Who can stop what must arrive now? something new is waiting to be born
Dark as the night you're still by my side shine inside .
Gone are the days we stopped to decide where we should go, we just ride.
Gone are the broken eyes we saw through in dreams gone, both dream and lie.
 
When the music starts, the day to day world slips away, as it washes away, sometimes faster than other times, and I begin to drift in the dream of my essence, floating into the space between notes. Fragile thunder, an oxymoron, are those a-ha moments where realization of our own humanity become cleared of perspective and emotion, and stand as truth. It hits home to the bones. You can't help but laugh at how plainly that Truth stands and see the silliness of your mind's picture formerly clouded in illusion. That state is endearing, like an innocent child and makes easy loving humanity. Things move on the Universe's schedule and while it appears we can plan, the moment is where it is at. It is here! Like the William Tell's bow. Tune In, Turn On, Drop Out. Those hippies weren't saying to stop growing, rebel for rebellion sake. The complete opposite, man. Just get yourself out of the game and into your own Truth.  And may the Siren's voice always be heard and here's the catch... listened for. It isn't going to scream at you but come in the quiet of the night. AND What is sweeter than ones who stand by you in the storms of your life and love the promise each new day brings, together? 
 
This music is alive. 
💓
 

What she said,... Plus beer. 🤣

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 1/26/2019 at 8:25 PM, Greg from Chestertown said:

I always thought that about China/rider. You got your psychedelia, your ‘into’ jam,  and your Dead roots with Rider. 

I saw a bunch of china/riders over the years...no matter if the band was on fire, or a little off (if there is such a thing) China Rider was always pristine:)

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On 1/26/2019 at 8:25 PM, Greg from Chestertown said:

I always thought that about China/rider. You got your psychedelia, your ‘into’ jam,  and your Dead roots with Rider. 

If forced to pick one song that epitomized Grateful Dead music, I would also pick China / Rider for essentially the reasons mentioned.

 

But my first answer would be that you need to pick at least a dozen songs to  truly capture their entire essence........ and that is one of the things that makes them so unique.  For many to most bands, I think you could pick one or two songs to get a snapshot of what the band is really about.  Not for Grateful Dead music.

 

If the listener afforded me the time to truly answer the question, I would suggest listening to each of the following selections in order to get a well-rounded and informed perspective on what Grateful Dead music is.

 

Me and My Uncle - they are  cowboy troubadoors

Stella Blue - ......and they are balladeers

China/Rider - they are the intersection of Psychadelia and Americana

Terrapin Station - they are the only ones at what they do

Cumberland Blues  - they bring a rare anthropological perspective and foundation to their music

Saint of Circumstance - they are Rock N Roll Stars....Bob Weir is the true King of Rock and Roll

Samson and Delilah - they provide unique interpretations of roots music.....that will make you dance your face off

Wharfrat- they are storytellers

Dark Star - they are free-form improvisational musicians

Masterpiece -  they love to perform Bob Dylan music

Loser - one great Jerry "first set" song for good measure

Jack-A-Roe - they are bluegrass

The Other One - they are dark

Eyes of the World - they are jazz

Minglewood Blues.....and once again, Bob Weir is the true King of Rock and Roll

 

 

 

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I’m thinking ‘ Must have been the Roses’ needs to be on that list. It’s similar to China Cat Sunflower and Cumberland blues as far as speaking volumes and giving insight into the basic, early thinking of the band and Robert Hunter. It has the vagueness of the lyrics, symbolism with roses, and the prankster subtle sarcasm in the lyrics. Maybe it was, I don’t know, it must have been....along the lines of ....’waits backstage while I sing to you.’ Just my take on things. 

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