This starts with the Grateful Dead’s most recognizable signature tune, Truckin’.īut it also includes Box of Rain, Casey Jones, Dark Star, Friend of the Devil, Saint Stephen, Sugar Magnolia, and Uncle John’s Band. In fact, nearly every song that I recognize as “quintessential Grateful Dead” has lyrics by Robert Hunter.
Over a 40-year stretch, Robert Hunter wrote scores of songs for the Grateful Dead. Fair enough: we should simply take his lyrics as written, and see if they move us. Hunter’s lyrics are sometimes puzzling, and (like Bob Dylan) he refused to ‘explain’ the meaning behind his words. This is appropriate for a tune that has been called the `Hippie National Anthem.’ Following the final line, the song ends with a hummed “da da da da,” sung enthusiastically by the crowd of Deadheads, who break out in thunderous applause at the end. In this performance, keyboards substitute for the lovely, lilting mandolin that accompanies the album release of this tune. Jerry’s vocals start out softly, even halting, but he picks up steam as the song progresses. The audience breaks out in applause as they recognize the first chords. I find some of the Ripple lyrics deeply moving, including “Let it be known there is a fountain that was not made by the hands of men,” (this was Hunter’s favorite line from any of his songs) and of course the concluding line “If I knew the way, I would take you home.”
Ripple grateful dead lyrics plus#
Isn’t this lovely? Robert Hunter’s beautiful words plus Jerry Garcia’s melody make for an irresistible combination. This took place at Radio City Music Hall on Hallowe’en, 1980. So here is the Grateful Dead in a live performance of Ripple. It’s a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken Would you hold it near as it were your own? Would you hear my voice come through the music If my words did glow with the gold of sunshineĪnd my tunes were played on the harp unstrung The song Ripple is a poetic monologue where the singer muses about the song, life in general, and an inability to help his lover find a path forward. Amazingly, Hunter wrote the lyrics for two more Grateful Dead classics on that same day – Brokedown Palace and To Lay Me Down. In a recent NY Times column, Jennifer Finley Boylan points out that Hunter wrote the song Ripple while staying in a London hotel in 1970. Hunter would write the lyrics while Garcia supplied the melody. Shortly after the Dead formed in 1965, Garcia and Hunter began a collaboration that lasted until Garcia’s death in 1995.
However, Garcia’s musical talents quickly outstripped Hunter’s, so Robert decided to concentrate on writing. Garcia and Hunter met in 1961, and for a short period they played as a duo in coffee houses around Palo Alto. Robert Hunter (L) and Jerry Garcia January, 1991. Along the way, the Dead took part in both the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967 and Woodstock in 1969. At first, the Dead were notable residents of the Haight-Ashbury area of San Francisco, until the atmosphere in that area became more of a hassle, at which time the group members relocated to Marin County.Įarly on, the Dead teamed up with Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters, who took their bus “Furthur,” their music and their LSD-manufacturing operation all across the U.S. In December 1965, more or less immediately after they adopted The Grateful Dead as their new name, the group began performing at psychedelic fairs on the West Coast. From L: Pigpen McKernan, Bill Kreutzmann, Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Bob Weir. Originally they were known as The Warlocks, but the band changed its name after discovering that an East Coast group had also adopted it.īelow is a photo of an early Grateful Dead performance, from Aug. In the mid-60s, the band coalesced from a number of musicians who had played folk music with groups such as Mother McCree’s Uptown Jug Champions. The Grateful Dead are a Bay Area band that eventually became a legendary ensemble. We will conclude by screening a cover from a world-wide organization called Playing for Change. Next, we will review a cover by New Riders of the Purple Sage. We will first discuss the original version by the Grateful Dead, with a special appreciation to their lyricist Robert Hunter. Hello there! This week our blog features a lovely folk-rock tune, Ripple.
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