I heard my first Grateful Dead song three days ago. It blew my mind.

And it happened to be Touch of Grey. This music is so different than anything I've ever experienced before... I can't quite explain it, but it's very refreshing in a way. Since that one song, I've been catching their songs with my DVR on the satellite radio that's on my TV. Box of Rain, Friend of the Devil, St. Stephen, Black Muddy River, Franklin's Tower, Dear Mr. Fantasy, Truckin, Alabama Getaway and then Touch of Grey live and recorded are my favorites so far. I can't stop listening to them. It's like being enlightened to something magical. I'm starting to wish I could've been a deadhead. A little late for that. If only I had been born maybe ten or fifteen years ago I could've seen them in concert, and it's not just the music that attracts me to them. It's the free concerts which says that they're in it for the love of music and people, not the money, and the whole atmosphere of the concerts/parking lots outside the concerts. It's so communal. Gah, sorry about my nostalgia trip here. It's been inspirational. This is the song I wrote about it.

Been eleven years since we've been forsaken
I don't care about my education
I'd rather be where my heart is achin' to be.
I remember rows of eager faces
Ecstatic minds in imagined places
It seems so real I can almost taste it now.
A hundred-thousand flocked together
In the constant search for something better
We'd summer after summer get away.
And we danced until the music faded
Even though the law forbade it
Life was much less complicated then.
Oh
But life goes on.
There was music in the parking lots
And fighting for the closest spots
"Take your fix, just don't get caught" they said.
Throughout the nights we'd sing together
It felt like it could last forever
We journeyed on a never-ending road.
We ran barefoot through the park
But we made it to the show before it grew dark
The fire we made burned brighter than the stars.
Though the song remained throughout the ages
We could feel the Earth was turning pages
Everything was changing all too fast.
Oh
But life goes on.
But the years went by and we grew older
The seasons changed and the wind blew colder
It seems like we were bolder long ago.
There was a day the music ceased
And the silence brought us to our knees
The fog was laid too thick for us to see.
So the cord was cut without a sound
As our nation crumbled to the ground
We lay scattered in the ruins all around.
Because the storm had hit so fast
The devastation stole our past
And left us lost with no way to get back.
Oh
But life goes on.
Now here we are over ten years later
We've struggled and we've barely made it
Remember all the beauty we'd create?
For years we've bonded with eachother
Shared fellowship with all our brothers
I think that we can go another day.
Oh
Still life goes on.

 

have you been living under a rock?

 

eh. They're okay every now and then. Probley the most overratedband of all time.

 

problably not.

 

word

 

and now i do believe the future may be brighter


down with conformist non-conformists and shady creeps

 

Overrated, no. They are amazing.

 

what is amazing about them? They are creeps, they don't live up to the values that people seem to think they do..Jerry Garcia was a hot dog eating pig, who was extremely capitalistic, made neck ties made tons of money..

there can be no arguement that they are the most overrated band of all time, and that many of their fans were shady creeps who put all of their faith in psychedlic drugs

freshen up my friend, there is plenty of good music out there, and some *gasp* being made right now

shake of the crust before it envelops you

 

hasn't been under a rock, he was only born a few days ago by my reckoning. i hate the grateful dead. always did. they bore me to tears. but, that being said, i'll piss off all those people who consider themselves hardcore and say, i really loved touch of grey.

(it's like telling rush fans that tom sawyer is your favorite song by them. makes their mouths go all frothy.)

 

They're okay and can crank out a good jam every now and then, but I really don't think they are of the level they are put on. I doubt they would have ever made it if it was'nt for the acid tests. IF quicksilver messenger service would have played it inteads of the warlocks(later to be named grateful dead) they would have gotten the respect and status they deserve.

 

actually the Grateful Dead name came in 1965. The Acid Tests were in 67

 

I would give them far more credibilty if they weren't so overrated and their scene so corrupted. They have a unique sound, its just blown riduculously out of proportion, even still

I don't like Steely Dan either, but i don't have the repulsion that i get from the deads cult and its group think

that being said, i've certainly had friends that like them, while i think many deadheads only have friends that like the dead and similar types of music, not in all cases of course

 

Why overgeneralize? Deadheads come from all walks a life, were not all dreadlocked acid heads with flowers in our hair

 

I noted that there are exceptions, and dhs, I'm not really speaking about you, because i know you a little bit.

I just see it as willingly diving into a stereotype, for shelter, for acceptance etc.

They are just a band that plays music, not gods, not enlightened, not something to base your whole life around

I don't see anything wrong with being that dreadlocked person with flowers in their hair, i just think that to see massive groups of similar people as any different than conformity in the business world etc is a fallacy.

 

Fair enough

I certainly have devoted a lot of my life to the Grateful Dead, not necessarily base my life around their music, but can say unequivacly that these experiences certainly in part shaped who I am as a person today.

For whatever reason it is, seeing them play back in the early 90's and even some of the reincarnations since Jerry's passing simply move me more than any other band out there. That isn't to say I don't listen to other bands, its just different. And I don't necessarily think there's anything wrong with myself and countless other people feeling that way about their music.

As Jerry said, "Grateful Dead Fans are like people who like licorice. Not everyone likes licorice, but the people who like licorice REALLY like licorice."

 

IM middle of the road when it comes to the grateful dead. I dont really care for the huge following, and I dont really care for the hatred that some people have for the band. they were a band, they put out decent music..... not all of it is good, not all of it is bad.....

steely dan on the other hand, seamonster..... you are totally wrong about. they are pretty damn good, especially their early material. I dig em.

 

Yeah, we all know where those guys were coming from with the name Steely Dan.

 

There certainly are plenty close minded jam fans out there, I'll definitely give you that. They preach acceptance, but don't accept anyone who has the slightest tinge of being straight/square