Gone are the days when the Boards load fast,
Quick access times are all in the past,
Gone are the days when I didn’t need to sigh
Next time I guess I’ll wait for Preview Reply.
No. 2 sounds very much like something Pigpen would have growled out - I’m A Hog For You Baby?
No. 1 I can’t place but its sounds like something from “If I Had the World To Give”
It’s like a diesel train… - They Love Each Other
Fron New York… can’t place this one unless its I Will Take You Home (another trip to the bathroom song for me).
I still think “Hail on my back like a shotgun blast” is wonderful writing, song lyric or not (its from Pride of Cucamonga). That and “Plunging like stones from a slingshot on Mars,” which is from Black Throated Wind.
I’ll heartily recommend Phil Lesh and Friends to anyone out there who hasn’t seen them yet. The Professor (as we called him) is in fine form and the song selection is just amazing…tons and tons of old, dusty stuff. They also do a terrific version of Crazy Fingers that has that little descending mucial figure at the beginning instead of at the end where the Dead put it. It really flipped me out when I heard it. “Wow, that sounds like the ending to Crazy Fingers…wait a minute, they’re putting it at the beginning…”
A few more
Here I am, on the lam, ready to go…
Out on the mountain, it’ll drive you insane…
…the sea will part before me…fire wheel burning in the air…
…tell me what you done it for…no I won’t tell you a thing…
My girl give me the finance blues…
…a copper-domed bhodi wears a silver kimono…
…clank your chains, lay down your change, and try to walk the line…
I won’t even take your life, won’t even take your limb, just unload my shotgun and take a little spin…
…born a slave in the town of Vicksburg, trade for a chestnut mare…
…she don’t love, here I’m sitting in the sun, payday’s coming and my work is all done…
…the sea will part before me…fire wheel burning in the air…
is "Estimated Prophet."
…tell me what you done it for…no I won’t tell you a thing…
is "China Doll."
…born a slave in the town of Vicksburg, trade for a chestnut mare…
is "Catfish John."
plnnr: My first and last quotes were on the tricky side…from “Lazy River Road” and “So Many Roads,” respectively, two late-period tunes that never made it onto a studio album.
“Baby’s gonna weep it up for a while” is from “Dupree Diamond Blues.” Then she’s gonna go out and find another sweet man’s gonna treat her with style.
Here I am, on the lam, …is from “Rain,” by Donna Jean. On vinyl she was a pure treat, and I also really enjoyed her work with the JGB. The mixture of a poor monitor set up and a thundering herd behind her just proved too much for her when she and Keith were in the band. Still, when she let out one of her patented, off-key, yelps during Playing In the Band you just had to smile. You can practically see Jerry cringing (or laughing, depending on how much coke he’d done and the mood of the evening).
…out on the mountain…is from “Unbroken Chain.” Never got to see one of these live, but I have a copy of the first on in Phlly and I like to think that given enough time and a cleaned up Jerry they could have worked this one into a real show stopper. Still a beautiful lyric and from one of the most under-rated albums ever “From the Mars Hotel.”
…the sea will part before me…is from “Estimated Prophet,” a song that Weir said was about “the guy that shows up backstage, ranting and raving, with a head full of snakes.” I’ve been there, done that.
…tell me what you done it for…is from “China Doll,” aka “The Suicide Song.” I never saw the song in that context until I read an interview with Hunter and he, very reluctantly, explicated it a little bit. My all-tiime favorite version is from “Reckoning.” Sure they doctored the hell out of it in the studio, but when they hit the harmonies in “…just a little nervous from the fall…” it send shivers up my spine.
My girl give me the finance blues…is from “Money Money.” Weir’s little bit of male chauvinism. Performed a few times then shelved after Donna Jean led a revolt of the female members of the staff and family. A hot version can be found on the PNE show from Vancouver 1974.
…a copper-domed bodhi…is from “China Cat Sunflower.” Nonsense lyrics combined with a wonderful tune. Tie it to “I Know You Rider” and you have a terrific 2nd set opener. “I wish I was a headlight on a north bound train.”
…clank your chains…is from “Ramble On Rose.” Like many, I would have really enjoyed hearing this, Tennessee Jed, and a few others included on Europe '72 as a fullblooded studio effort (yeah, I know, they doctored the hell out of Europe '72 in the studio, but you know what I’m getting at). Workingman’s Dead, American Beauty, and addition of a third album made of this material would have been an great American trilogy.
…won’t even take your life…is from “Mr. Charlie.” Pigpen gets funky. Southern Comfort will do that to you.
…born a slave…is from “Catfish John.” A favorite from “Reflections,” which sold about 5 copies when it first came out. I like it because it is an early example of Jerry using that filter effect on his guitar that sounded like the grownup voices from Charlie Brown cartoons (you know, “Whanh whanh whanh.” It reached its zenith on Fire on the Mountain and Shakedown Street.
…she don’t love me, here I’m sitting in the sun…is from “Let it Rock.” Chuck Berry wrote it, but Jerry included it on his “Compliments of…” set and the band performed it only once (Miami, Jai Lai Fonton, 1974). Due to techinical difficulties Phil asks, “Aren’t we pretty close to the Bermuda Triangle down here? That place just gobbles electronics.” Weir adds that his microphone “has water in it…we’re going to have to dry this one out.”
A few more for all of you obsessives out there…
…throw me in the jail house, until the sun go down…
…turn on Channel 6 the president come on the news…
…honest to the point of recklessness, self-centered to the extreme…
…let the world go by, all sweet and dreaming…
…all graceful instruments are known…
…watch what you hear now, make sure its clear now…
…did you ever wake unto the sound of stray cats making love…
…well the cool breeze came on Tuesday…
…she can fly like a lie, she can’t be outdone…
…phantom ships with phantom sails set sail on phantom seas…
I was there at that first-time show. You haven’t lived 'till you’re in an audience with 15,000 Deadheads, all of whom know every song in the catalog, and suddenly the boys play one for the first time! There were gasps, yells, and then “Hey! It’s Unbroken Chain!”
Could you summarize the meaning? I never heard this interpretation, and I’m curious to know it…
#3 “honest to the point…” Althea, one of my alltime favorites. I almost had Mrs. Spritle convinced that Althea was a wonderful name had the littlest doper been born a girl. She, however, only related the name with Althea Gibson and couldn’t go for it.
#7 “street cats making love” sort of escapes me. It was one of those “Bobby’s Ballads” that drove me to the pisser quicker than you could say " 'ere, 'ere". I think it’s from LLRain.
My addition to the “game”:
“…before he speaks, the world around us quiets…” (and I truly detest this song.)
“…before he speaks…” is from “Sunrise,” another of Donna Jean’s numbers. The song isn’t so bad when you know the story behind it: Rex Jackson, a longtime crew member, was killed in a motorcycle accident and Donna Jean organized a memorial service for him. The service was conducted by Rolling Thunder, a Native American acquaintance of not only Donna Jean’s but Mickey Hart as well. The song is about the service, which was held at sunrise overlooking the Pacific ocean. The band started The Rex Foundation in his honor and used to (still does?) gives out grants to arts and humanities organizations around the world.
“throw me in the jailhouse” is from “Bertha.” Jerry delivered that line with particular emphasis during the firs show, first set opener after he got arrested for heroin and cocaine possession in 1986.
“turn on channel 6” is from “One More Saturday Night”
“honest to the point of recklessness” is from “Althea,” which is one of my favorites as well. Check out the 1981 version from Grugga Halle in Essen, West Germany if you get the chance. Hell, check out the entire show. A scorching Shakedown Street, an “Other One” that is monumental, and Pete Townsend on “Not Fadeaway” (before the audience got into the really annoying habit of clapping with the beat - that used to bug the living shit out of me).
“stray cats making love” is from “Looks Like Rain,” which I didn’t care much for except for a very fine version I have from Jacksonville in 1978 that has wonderful harmonies with Donna Jean. Evidently she was standing in the right place and the band wasn’t wailing too much for her to hear. She even manages to stay in key.
As to “China Doll,” Hunter made a point of saying that he didn’t like to explain the meaning behind songs, instead he liked to paint in broad brush strokes and let the listener fill in the detail. “China Doll” is about a suicide, either literal or metaphorical (you can kill other parts of yourself besides your physical being (i.e., your true nature, your spirit, your conscience): “A pitol shot at five o’clock, bells of heaven ring. Wonder what you done it for, no I won’t ask you a thing.”
I’ll leave the others unanwered for a bit, see if anybody else wants to play or if the game has run its course.