Deadlines

I definitely have to preface this blog by saying, if you’re not a fan of the Dead, you won’t understand. Hopefully you’ll trust me enough to read it anyway and maybe I can introduce you to something wonderful.

I can’t figure out whether ‘Box is gonna like this one or not? It’s more insightful than funny, and he rarely likes that, when there’s more fun to be had laughing… however he IS a Dead fan too.


I’ve been in a sort of a funk lately and, since music plays a very large part of my being, I decided to put together a CD of my favorite Dead tunes. They tend to level me out and make me turn inward. I’ve been a fan of the Dead since college and being in the printing business for 20 years it was mandatory to have at least a working knowledge of the Dead.

Recently, since hanging with ‘Box, I’ve rekindled my desire to actually listen to them more. I’ve been a Pink Floyd fan for 20 years as well, and both bands have many things in common. Having heard them for so many years, I’ve taken to just singing along and not actually listening to what they are saying. The other day I saw a wonderful documentary on the making of Dark Side of the Moon and it really got me thinking about the power of music and truly what works of art some pieces are. Like literature if you take the time to think about the image some lyrics create, it will make you understand that music is our generation’s legacy. Generations in the past had painters, novelists, and poets.

I believe our era will contribute music. God Bless Apple for the iPod and Limewire and Napster for giving the masses the ability to hear music that they would never spend money to purchase. Screw Metallica for wanting their royalties.

Did Michelangelo bitch about money?

I think it’s amazing to be able to have music at my fingertips.

A good friend of mine took to giving homemade compilation CD’s as gifts and I thought it was a wonderful idea, especially if you are a person who appreciates music in all genres. I’m lucky enough to appreciate a wide range (maybe that’s the ADD). My museum of music would have many wings. Maybe it’s the luck I’ve had in making friends with so much diversity? My museum would have Rap and Jazz, “chick” music and heavy metal, old rock and new wave, punk and country, blues and garage bands. I’ve always said that the only thing that separates my life from a movie is the lack of a soundtrack that everyone can hear. There has always been one playing in my head.

How’s that for an invention. Everyone has an iPod implanted that they can load with everything they like. Dependent on your mood, a small set of speakers plays your soundtrack audible to only you and those around you at a background level. My only requirement would be that you could not choose which song it was… that would have to occur subliminally.

Okay, the gist of this blog was supposed to be about my favorite Dead lyrics.

When I was just getting out of high school, my roommate and best friend at the time and I decided to compile a journal of lyrics and movie lines that we deemed as pertinent to our lives. Every time we heard something that was memorable, one of the two of us would write it in The Book. We wrote mostly when we had hoisted a few and, after several years, had pretty much filled it with meaningful words…well meaningful to us. I think the best part was remembering the time and place each was written. It was our scrapbook of memories set to a soundtrack.

Long story short…..

his dog ate it.

See ‘Box, there’s some funny.

About four years ago, I started a new book. Very few have seen it and it contains some of my thoughts and feelings as well as lyrics and movie lines. I don’t write in it often enough. Lately I’ve been thinking of branching off to a second book, mainly because there are way too many Family Guy, South Park, and Robot Chicken references to include! Imagine a book of funny to go with the book of reality.

Back to the Dead lines…

Like Floyd, I’d spent years singing along with Dead songs, sometimes getting the lyrics correct and sometimes just making up what I thought was right. Because of myspace and lyric search, I can now actually get the words correct and think about their meaning and the image they create. I feel like I’ve been missing so much about the Dead. It seems every week my favorite Dead song changes as I learn more.

Here are just a few:

Ripple in still water
When there is no pebble tossed
Nor wind to blow

Reach out your hand if your cup be empty
If your cup is full may it be again

(from Ripple)

I used the last line in an article once which I entitled Ripple in Still Water which applies to some of my favorite bartenders, who serve over and above the call of duty. ‘Box and I discussed it at length whether anyone actually knew what it was from. The image the beginning line creates in my inner vision is very powerful. To me it signifies the image of turmoil with no apparent external reason.



I could go deeper but again… attention span and space limitations…



Aren’t these powerful images?

Just like New York City
Just like Jericho
Pace the halls and climb the walls
And get out when they blow

(from Ramble on Rose) before 9/11

Think about it.



Just a box of rain, wind and water
Believe it if you need it, if you don't just pass it on
Sun and shower, wind and rain
In and out the window like a moth before a flame

And it's just a box of rain, I don't know who put it there
Believe it if you need it or leave it if you dare
And it's just a box of rain, or a ribbon for your hair
Such a long, long time to be gone and a short time to be there

(from Box of Rain)

My version of religion?





Well I ain't often right but I've never been wrong
It seldom turns out the way it does in the song
Once in a while you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right

(from Scarlet Begonias)

God playing with me?




Sometimes the lights all shining on me
Other times I can barely see
Lately it occurs to me
What a long strange trip it's been

(from Truckin’)

Revelations?




Goodbye Mama and Papa
Goodbye Jack and Jill
The grass ain't greener, the wine ain't sweeter
Either side of the hill

(from Ramble On Rose)



And last but not least….my requirements for a partner…


I need a woman 'bout twice my age
A lady of nobility, gentility and rage
A splendour in the dark, lightning on the draw
Who'll go right through the book and break each and every law

I got a feelin'
And it won't go away, oh no
Just one thing and I'll be OK
I need a miracle every day

I need a woman 'bout twice my height
Statuesque, raven-tressed, a goddess of the night
A secret incantation, candle burning blue
We'll consult the spirits, maybe they'll know what to do

And it's real
And it won't go away, oh no
Can't get around and I can't run away
I need a miracle every day

I need a woman 'bout twice my weight
A ton of fun who packs a gun with all that other freight
Find her in a side-show, leave her in LA
Ride her like a surfer riding on a tidal wave

And it's real
Believe what I say
Just one thing that I gotta say
I need a miracle very day

It takes dynamite to get me up
Too much of everything is just enough
One more thing that I gotta say
I need a miracle every day.


I could have gone on for at least another thousand words with at least another dozen Dead songs. Ask me for my CD and let’s discuss?

‘Box already knows the words.