Melody Monday

The Allman Brothers

MIDNIGHT RIDER &  SOULSHINE

Live at the Beacon

 

 Happy Holidays everyone!

JG

Weir Here

Bob Weir and Jackie Greene 

TRI Studios 12-5-2012

(~);}

JG

Joy

Phish: Joy

2011-12-30

MSG, New York, NY

 It takes as much effort to be miserable as it does to be happy.  Life is not a bed of roses and nobody ever promised us that it would be.  Choose love and a smile people.  Even in the midst of a horrible day, I still have so much to be grateful phor.

 JG

Melody Monday

Grateful Dead

Terrapin Station

12-31-78

"...till things we've never seen will seem familiar"

First performance: February 26, 1977, at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California. "Terrapin" opened the show, which also included the first "Estimated Prophet."  It has occupied a stable place in the repertoire ever since, though only on two other occasions has it appeared in the first set.

There are some interesting aspects to this song. Most notably, the fact that the Grateful Dead's realization of the piece is, in Hunter's view, lamentably incomplete, leaving out as it does the lyric resolution. Garcia intentionally uses only a fragment of Hunter's lyric. In Box of Rain, Hunter writes more about "Terrapin" than about any other single piece, with the exception of "Amagamalin Street." Hunter's own recording of "Terrapin," on Jack O' Roses is complete, and attempts to incorporate a plethora of imagery and iconography from all over the Grateful Dead map, especially in the "Ivory Wheels/Rosewood Track" portion of the song. Ultimately, Garcia's decision to treat the piece as a fragment is far more satisfying. 

Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics

"Faces in the Fire"

Lewis Carrol

"The night creeps onward, sad and slow:
In these red embers' dying glow
The forms of Fancy come and go.

"The picture fadeth in its place:
Amid the glow I seem to trace
The shifting semblance of a face." 

T.S. Eliot's oft-quoted lines from the 

"Four Quartets: Little Gidding" 

"What we call the beginning is often the end
And to make an end is to make a beginning."

JG

Moments

Six of them are not mine (1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 13).  The first picture was taken by Jackie Green from stage at the Roseland, Fall 2012.  A picture narrates a thousand stories. 
" The storyteller makes no choice
soon you will not hear his voice
his job is to shed light
and not to master..."

"Spent a little time on the mountain
Spent a little time on the hill
Heard some say better run away
Others say you better stand still..."

JG

The Darkside of Alice's Wonderland

JG

Phish 11-28-11

PHiSH 

12.28.11 

Madison  Square Garden

Set 1: 

Free
Glide
Possum
Cities
The Ballad of Curtis Loew
Stash
Contact
Sample in a Jar
Kill Devil Falls
Bathtub Gin

Set 2: 

Birds of a Feather
Carini
Tweezer
My Friend, My Friend
Rock and Roll
NICU
Bouncing Around the Room

Harry Hood
Bug

Encore: Tube
Rocky Top
Tweezer Reprise

 See you on the 28th!

JG

A Long December

Circumstances took us to a path not traveled well.  Alas...time stops for nobody and it's getting late; I must push forward.  I will walk alone by the black muddy river...sing me a song of my own.

All the birds that were singing
Have flown except you alone

(>3);}  

JG

Melody Monday

Grateful Dead

 Looks Like Rain 1987

First performance: Probably March 21, 1972 at the Academy of Music, in New York City, following "Mr. Charlie" and preceding "Chinatown Shuffle." It remained in the repertoire from then on.

JG

Melody Monday

Brokedown Palace

Phil Lesh and Jackie Greene Acoustic

JG

Meloday Monday

Grateful Dead 

Jack Straw

July 9th, 1989 

East Rutherford, New Jersey

 First performance: October 19, 1971, at Northrop Auditorium, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. "Jack Straw" appeared in the first set, between  "Black Peter" and "Big Railroad Blues." The show was notable for several other firsts: it was Keith Godchaux's first show; and saw the premieres of  "Tennessee Jed," "Mexicali Blues," "Comes a Time," "One More Saturday Night," and "Ramble On Rose."

JG

304.00

Do you ever think about times in your life that you turn a part of yourself off?  Like an override button to allow you to take that transition into something your reconditioned response would say no to.  The old primitive brain overthrowing the new brain.  That old brain is a force to be reckoned with.  Seniority I guess.  Hindsight is without a doubt 20/20.  "We, as human beings are desire machines.  We fulfill one and move right on to the next one with a never ending stream of desires."  I am my own biggest hindrance for the most part. A sympathetic morsel feeding your always indulging appetite that screams never enough.  Just like the never ending appetite of fire.  Think about it, you need to feed a fire or else it will dwindle and eventually extinguish.  Nobody really wants to be around when the fire goes out.  Anticipate below the happy medium and expect nothing.  The odds are against me.  The chips are stacked high and there is a lot at stake.  These years have worn me thin.  A very tired shell of what I once was and yet a heart and sense of wonder of a child.   It's weird that I begin these with a few sentences and leave them to linger for weeks only to pick it back up a hundred miles away from where I left off.  I am all over the place.  An epitome of a racing mind.  Funny how we always know what the right thing to do is and we opt for what is behind door number two.  Even though we can't see what is behind door number two, we know exactly what it is.  I can talk myself into and outta anything.  This cold weather brings back familiar feelings of waking up with desperation on my shoulders, dictating my agenda.  An Arctic tundra encased within myself promoting and producing bad seeds because the soil is frozen.  The vision is narrow and it seem that there is only one direction.  Gravitating towards those walking in that path.  The only thing better than one scheming hijacked brain is two.  Exponential growth is always welcomed.  Take notice that there are no beware of a knife in the back sign anywhere.  DOA, black cobra, fire, undertaker...kinda morbid but so fitting for something that will steal your soul.  The sounds of garbage cans emptying at four a.m.  Thoughts that my door was going to burst open at any second.  The morning comes greeting me at a such an unwanted time to be conscience.  An extreme high rate of anxiety pulsating through my being most of the time.  Fear and loneliness with every ounce of good intentions pushed down deep for another day.  This day has no use for them.  Swallowed whole.  Heroin...as if it has some sort of intrinsic value.  Stick a cotton ball in the corner of my eye and draw up my tears with a syringe.  I'll save it for a later date when I can no longer shed some.  Worthless, worthless, this too is worthless! 

JG 

Melody Monday

Phil Lesh & Friends 

Roseland Ballroom

Morning Dew 11/11/12

Walk me out, in the morning dew, my honey.  What a three day rip and one hell of an east coast fall tour as a whole!  Thank you Phil Lesh and Friends for making it a moment in my life that I will never forget.

(~);}

11/18/12 (Sun)  Capitol Theatre - Port Chester, NY

Set 1: Here Comes Sunshine > Row Jimmy, Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues, Built to Last (1), Just A Little Light, Brown Sugar (2), Tennessee Jed (3), The Weight (4)

Set 2: Playing in the Band, Cryptical Envelopment > The Other One > Estimated Prophet > Eyes of the World > Dark Star > Low Rider Jam > St. Stephen > Lovelight > Dark Star > Morning Dew, Playing in the Band (reprise) E: Brokedown Palace

Comment: (1) last time played by Phil & Friends: 11/16/08 Nokia Theatre, NYC
(2) with Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams, last time played by Phil & Friends: 11/06/07 Nokia Theatre, NYC
(3) with Teresa Williams
(4) with Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams 

 

11/17/12 (Sat)  Capitol Theatre - Port Chester, NY

Set 1: Alabama Getaway, Ramble On Rose, Friend of the Devil, Candyman, After Midnight, Next Time You See Me (1), Don't Ease Me In

Set 2: Iko Iko, Shakedown Street > Jam > Sugaree > Bird Song > Revolution > All Along the Watchtower > Terrapin Station > Midnight Hour E: Ripple

Comment: (1) last time played by Phil & Friends: 11/09/08 Nokia Theatre, NYC 

 

11/16/12 (Fri)  Capitol Theatre - Port Chester, NY

Set 1: Let the Good Times Roll (1) > Loose Lucy, Peggy-O, Brown Eyed Women, Good Morning Little Schoolgirl, Bertha, Cosmic Charlie

Set 2: Not Fade Away > Early Morning Rain, Cumberland Blues, A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall > The Wheel > Stella Blue, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider E: Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad

Comment: (1) last time played by Phil & Friends: 7/19/06 Kansas City 

 

11/15/12 (Thu)  Capitol Theatre - Port Chester, NY

Set 1: Jack Straw, Mississippi Half Step > Crazy Fingers > Jam > He's Gone > Cold Rain and Snow > Ship of Fools > Mason's Children

Set 2: Dear Mr. Fantasy > Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Viola Lee Blues > Alligator > The Eleven > Standing on the Moon > Uncle John's Band > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower E: Box of Rain

11/13/12 (Tue)  Roseland Ballroom - New York, NY

Set 1: Touch of Grey, Reuben & Cherise, Ramble On Rose, They Love Each Other, Must've Been the Roses, Here Comes the Sun, Good Lovin'

Set 2: Scarlet Begonias > Fire on the Mountain, Estimated Prophet > Eyes of the World > Somewhere Over the Rainbow (1), Playing in the Band > Jam > Comes A Time > Let It Grow > Jam > Playing in the Band (reprise) E: Not Fade Away

Comment: (1) instrumental 

 

11/12/12 (Mon)  Roseland Ballroom - New York, NY

Set 1: Dire Wolf, Friend of the Devil, Loser, Deal, Sugaree, Black Peter > Casey Jones

Set 2: Shakedown Street > Jam > New Speedway Boogie > Jam > Unbroken Chain > Eleanor Rigby (1) > Wharf Rat > Caution > Death Don't Have No Mercy > Viola Lee Blues E: St. Stephen > Satisfaction

Comment: (1) instrumental 

 

 

11/11/12 (Sun)  Roseland Ballroom - New York, NY

Set 1: Alligator, Bird Song, Till the Light Comes (1), Strawberry Fields Forever, Franklin's Tower

Set 2: Dweller on the Threshold (2), Doin' That Rag, Just Another Whistle Stop (3), Althea, Cosmic Charlie

Set 3: Jam (4) > Mountains of the Moon (4) > The Other One (4) > Dark Star (4) > Stairway to Heaven (5) > Dark Star (4) > Jam (4) > All Along the Watchtower (4) > Morning Dew (4) > Dark Star (4) E: U.S. Blues (4)

Comment: (1) Jackie Greene song, first time played live by Phil & Friends
(2) Van Morrison cover, first time played live by Phil & Friends
(3) last time played by Phil & Friends: 6/23/06, Tampa FL
(4) with Stanley Jordan
(5) with Stanley Jordan, played once before by Phil & Friends, on 7/27/12 in San Rafael 

 

11/09/12 (Fri)  Wellmont Theatre - Montclair, NJ

Set 1: Jack Straw, Loser, Mama Tried, Mr. Charlie, Pride of Cucamonga, Crazy Fingers (1), Bertha (1), Cumberland Blues (1)

Set 2: The Wheel (1) > Magic Bus (1) > Goin' Down the Road Feeling Bad (1), Life is a Carnival (1) > Uncle John's Band (1), Mountain Song > Wharf Rat > Scarlet Begonias (1) > Fire on the Mountain E: Turn On Your Lovelight

Comment: (1) with Jason Crosby 

 

 

11/08/12 (Thu)  Wellmont Theatre - Montclair, NJ

Set 1: Truckin', Any Road, Early Morning Rain, Ship of Fools, He's Gone > Cold Rain and Snow > New Speedway Boogie > Mason's Children

Set 2: Across the Universe > Mountains of the Moon, St. Stephen > The Eleven > Wish You Were Here > China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, So Many Roads, Not Fade Away E: And We Bid You Goodnight

 

 

11/07/12 (Wed)  Wellmont Theatre - Montclair, NJ

Set 1: Mississippi Half Step, Let Me Sing Your Blues Away (1), Row Jimmy, Stella Blue, Here Comes Sunshine, Eyes of the World, Weather Report Suite Prelude > WRS Part I > Let It Grow

Set 2: Playing in the Band > Dear Mr. Fantasy > Unbroken Chain, Help on the Way > Slipknot! > Golden Road (to Unlimited Devotion) > The Other One > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower E: China Doll > Playing in the Band (reprise)

Comment: (1) first time played live by Phil & Friends

 

JG

 

 

 

 

 

 

Meldoy Monday

Phil Lesh and Friends 

11/11/12 Roseland Ballroom, NYC

Stairway To Heaven

Just a little snippet from last night's show at the Roseland.  Can't wait to see what these next two days have in store.

(~);}

JG

11/11/12 (Sun) Roseland Ballroom - New York, NY

Set 1: Alligator, Bird Song, Till the Light Comes (1), Strawberry Fields Forever, Franklin's Tower

Set 2: Dweller on the Threshold (2), Doin' That Rag, Just Another Whistle Stop (3), Althea, Cosmic Charlie

Set 3: Jam (4) > Mountains of the Moon (4) > The Other One (4) > Dark Star (4) > Stairway to Heaven (5) > Dark Star (4) > Jam (4) > All Al

ong the Watchtower (4) > Morning Dew (4) > Dark Star (4) E: U.S. Blues (4)

Comment: (1) Jackie Greene song, first time played live by Phil & Friends
(2) John Kadlecik song, first time played live by Phil & Friends
(3) last time played by Phil & Friends: 6/23/06, Tampa FL
(4) with Stanley Jordan
(5) with Stanley Jordan, played once before by Phil & Friends, on 7/27/12 in San Rafael

Lineup: Phil Lesh
John Kadlecik
Jackie Greene
Joe Russo
Jeff Chimenti

#epicshow(~):}

Melody Monday

JG

Melody Monday

 Eels 

Novocaine For The Soul

 

JG

Haiku are you?

Hopscotch addict

hop hop hop hop hop hop hop

hop hop hop hop hop

Axis one through five

There is nowhere to hideout 

Embrace your pathway

Run around rabbit

Filthy bathroom stalls at night

Refined and obscene

Chasing the dragon
You know it runs much faster
Dungeons and dragons

Going to the show
A tune in your heart and soul
Melody lovin'

I don't need no arms around me.
And I don't need no drugs to calm me.
I have seen the writing on the wall.
Don't think I need anything at all.
No! Don't think I'll need anything at all.
All in all it was all just bricks in the wall.
All in all you were all just bricks in the wall.

JG





 

Melody Monday

As I went and witnessed the Aussie Floyd this past Saturday, this song stuck out the most.

JG

I Have Seen the Writing On the Wall

Pink Floyd

The Wall Movie

By Roger Waters

Analysis
 By Bret Urick

JG

Just Another Whimsical Wednesday

   Around and around and around.  I want to see the plan.  I wonder what the shadow of the dancing candlelight on the wall in the dark is really thinking.  Probably too caught up in the moment. Swaying with the air to that tune only heard and played for it exclusively.  To look at and beyond all logical and naturalism of this world.  That is where it starts to get interesting.  Cartoon network.  The solace of my surroundings.  Wandering thoughts on a starlit night.  Such company to keep.  Invited and uninvited.  The days have grown colder and I must be really careful to not let my heart do the same.  It's so easy to internalize situations and let them take the wheel.  Free rides in the circus midway in my mind.  Make sure you stay for the matinee and don't bother to pick up your garbage.  I've got it.  Really, it's under control...every little kernel.  Reprieving the day away on a white sandy beach with turquoise waters that fade into a deep dark blue.  Unlock the prison door, go free and you will reprieve no more.  Some days make sense and other days are bit opaque.  I'm an analytical creature of habit with quite the standard deviation in my data.  Decisions will make or break you without a doubt.  It's never too late though!  Thinking about the two year flu.  The walking dead.  Winter never goes away in that moment.  Living smack dab in the middle of Antarctica.  Fear, anxiety, desperation divided by uncertainty...also known as loss of control.  Borrowed time eclipsing into getting better or getting worse.  Decisions will make or break you!  I was one of those birds that fell out of the nest and bumped my head, repeatedly.  Fortunately, the cat never came along to pick me up.  I'm not cured nor will I ever be.  I'm just like you, however my alleles are a little different.  Bradley, would you and Lou Dog take us up out of here with some west coast lovin'?

To be continued...

JG

Melody Monday

 Ramble On Rose 

[Live at JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, PA July 7, 1989] 

Just like Jack the Ripper
Just like Mojo Hand
Just like Billy Sunday
In a shotgun ragtime band
Just like New York City
Just like Jericho
Pace the halls and climb the walls
Get out when they blow

Did you say your name was
Ramblin' Rose
Ramble on, baby
Settle down easy
Ramble on, Rose

Just like Jack and Jill
Mama told the sailor
One heat up and one cool down
Leave nothin' for the tailor
Just like Jack and Jill
My Papa told the jailer
One go up and one come down

Do yourself a favor

Did you say your name was
Ramblin' Rose
Ramble on, baby
Settle down easy
Ramble on, Rose

I'm gonna sing you a hundred verses in ragtime
I know this song it ain't ever gonna end
I'm gonna march you up and down the local county line
Take you to the leader of the band

Just like Crazy Otto
Just like Wolfman Jack
Sittin' plush with a royal flush

Aces back to back
Just like Mary Shelley
Just like Frankenstein
Clank your chains and count your change
Try to walk the line

Did you say your name was
Ramblin' Rose
Ramble on, baby
Settle down easy
Ramble on, Rose

I'm gonna sing you a hundred verses in ragtime
I know this song it ain't ever gonna end
I'm gonna march you up and down the local county line
Take you to the leader of the band

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

Did you say your name was
Ramblin' Rose?
Ramble on, baby
Settle down easy
Ramble on, Rose

Ramble on Rose

It was introduced on Tuesday, October 19, 1971 at the Northrop Auditorium at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. The show is noteworthy for a number of reasons. First performances at the show, besides "Ramble on Rose," included "Comes a time," "Mexicali Blues," "Saturday Night," (on a Tuesday!), and "Tennessee Jed." It was also Keith Godchaux's first show. "Ramble On Rose" occupied the #2 spot in the second set, following "Truckin'," and preceding "Me and Bobby McGee." Since then, it has remained in the repertoire, placing 38th in frequency of performance as of 1986.  

INTERPRETATION

Perhaps the main point made by this song is that a lyric doesn't need a firm interpretation in order to be evocative. Depending on the listener, this song could be about American music itself, or about a card game, or about a man saying so long to an immature lover. At least three Jacks are invoked: Jack the Ripper, Jack (of Jack and Jill), and Wolfman Jack, which could easily be construed as constituting a poker hand. Tin Pan Alley, the Blues, Ragtime, Spirituals, Folk, Nursery rhymes, Country & Western, and Rock and Roll are all brought into the song, as noted in subsequent links, below. And the narrator seems to be addressing a lover who is determined to leave him on the subject of growing up, of settling down, of not always trying to find greener grass elsewhere.

How could one person be "just like" so many varied characters and situations? Look at any one person's life, and you will find the answer. There is no black and white answer to this song, just as there is no black and white answer to the questions of life itself. Hunter's hyperbolic use of the "just like" simile is a way of granting us the freedom to find our metaphors where we may, depending on the situation.

Most of my information and lyrics come from The Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics website (http://artsites.ucsc.edu/GDead/agdl/gdhome.html) and The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics by David Dodd.

"I can't figure out if it's the end or beginning..."

JG

Mission in the Rain

(~);}

JG

Melody Monday

The Band - The Shape I'm In

Go out yonder, peace in the valley
Come downtown, have to rumble in the alley
Oh, you don't know the shape I'm in

Has anybody seen my lady?
This living alone will drive me crazy
Oh, you don't know the shape I'm in

I'm gonna go down by the water
But I ain't gonna jump in, no, no
I'll just be looking for my neighbor
And I hear that's where she's been? Oh!

Out of nine lives, I spent seven
Now, how in the world do you get to Heaven?
Oh, you don't know the shape I'm in

I just spent 60 days in the jailhouse
For the crime of having no dough
Now here I am back out on the street
For the crime of having nowhere to go

Save your neck or save your brother
Looks like it's one or the other
Oh, you don't know the shape I'm in

Now two young kids might start a ruckus
You know they feel you trying to shuck us
Oh, you don't know the shape I'm in

I would have loved to spent some time at Big Pink

RIP Richard Manuel and Levon Helm...

 

Virgil Kane is the name
And I served on the Danville train
'Till Stoneman's cavalry came
And tore up the tracks again

In the winter of '65
We were hungry, just barely alive
By May the 10th, Richmond had fell
It's a time I remember, oh so well

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singing
They went, "Na, na, la, na, na, la"

Back with my wife in Tennessee
When one day she called to me
"Virgil, quick, come see,
There goes Robert E. Lee!"

Now, I don't mind chopping wood
And I don't care if the money's no good
You take what you need
And you leave the rest
But they should never
Have taken the very best

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singing
They went, "Na, na, la, na, na, la"

Like my father before me
I will work the land
And like my brother above me
Who took a rebel stand

He was just 18, proud and brave
But a Yankee laid him in his grave
I swear by the mud below my feet
You can't raise a Kane back up
When he's in defeat

The night they drove old Dixie down
And the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the people were singing
They went, "Na, na, la, na, na, la"

The night they drove old Dixie down
And all the bells were ringing
The night they drove old Dixie down
And the people were singing
They went, "Na, na, la, na, na, la" 

JG

July 14th, 2012

Further was at MCU Park.  Just a few quick snapshots from around Coney Island.

Have a weird and strange day folks!

JG

¿Cómo se llama Usted?

He said his name was Jeff Goldblum from 1986.  I'm pretty sure I smelt the hard cider...

Have a wild day today!

JG

Melody Monday

 Birds Of A Feather / Back On The Train / Heavy Things

Bader Field in Atlantic City, NJ

6/15/2012

A little morsel from their summer tour this year.  Walk on the wild side this week and do some things that you have never done before or things that you keep saying that you are going to do.  Life is but a whisper with a sense of wonder...

JG

Psychodynamic Whispers

Live in the what if's and your life will be the same.  Tumbleweeds turning with their direction controlled.  No particular destination but I do wonder if they desire one?  The wind as their gas, the dust at their feet...running!   Followers at best.  Mimicking poker hands unbeknownst to the other.  Muck or split it up are the two doorways in that one.  I've said it once and I'll say it again, time is one common denominator that does not stop.  Tick, tick, tick, tick.  There is only One Who knows when your clock will run out of batteries.  Throttle adjustment.  Some people rush and run towards nothing at all.  Some people sit and wait for the same.  Who's to tell what waits and lurks.  As for me, I've got an intuition for the moment.  After that moment is gone, you may or may not feel just what you should've done, and when you should've done it.  That's just it.  A society of imperfect people at large learning their lessons along the way.  Life may become a bad episode of Groundhog Day until the lesson is learned.  Holding patterns with a lot of reflecting time.  Hope deferred makes the heart sick and it's not a past tense word.  One cannot hope for something to happen yesterday.  Creativity knows no boundaries nor should it.  Innate qualities versus personal experiences equals individual differences in physical and behavioral traits.  Does the scales tip toward the "blank slate" or a division of both making the question naive?  I don't think this moment right now cares so much about how we arrived here, but more so what we are going to do with it.  There are however, questions that linger and puzzles to put together.  Tell a child not to do something and you've made their agenda checklist.  It's not that they think you are wrong but as the term is used rather abrasively in this context, curiosity killed the cat.  Life is not easy or a bed of roses at times.  I can confidently say that nobody ever promised that to you...ever.  I can take a bad situation and make it a nuclear disaster, believe me it's just not that hard to do.  I think that everyone can and will define contentment differently.  Painting pictures of those happy little spaces everyone longs to just stay a little longer.  I don't blame you at all.  A little secret for you.  Recondition new and more spaces to stop for awhile.  Not a panic room, just a space for the moment.  Adversity does develop character and you can also recondition that so it does not sucker punch you in the face.  Practice and patience.  Progress not perfection.  First thing first.  Buspirone not Xanax.  Dr. Seuss, is there anything that you would like to add?   

1. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope.

2.  I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind.  But I've bought a big bat.  I'm all ready you see.  Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!

and

3.  So be sure when you step, Step with care and great tact.  And remember that life's A Great Balancing Act.  And will you succeed?  Yes!  You will, indeed! (98 and ¾ percent guaranteed) Kid, you'll move mountains.

Well put Dr. S!

WAIT!  I've got one more thing to bring!

4.  In my world, everyone's a pony and they all eat rainbows and poop butterflies!

 

JG  

The Dark Side of Oz

It was only a matter of "time"

 All of the credit for this video goes to Brian Pugh, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Pink Floyd.

JG

Earthworm Jim

Phish: Dirt - 2009-06-04 - Jones Beach, Wantagh, NY

I'd like to live beneath the dirt
A tiny space to move and breathe
Is all that I would ever need

I wanna live beneath the dirt
Where I'd be free from push and shove
Like all those swarming up above

Beneath their heels I'll spend my time
I'll wriggle in the earth and dew
And sometimes I will think of you

And if you ever think of me
Kneel down and kiss the earth
And show me what this thought is worth...

One of my favorite venues!

Have a stellar day everyone...

JG

Melody Monday

Rusted Root 11-30-96 "Beautiful People"  St. Louis, MO

Come and hear the funeral marching
Maybe this is your suicide
Maybe this is more pure
Pure than simple
Maybe this is all I have for home

Why have all beautiful people
Brushed you on down?
And brushed you on down?

I saw the shame inside your addiction,
Waitin' to see what was passed on by.
I saw the shame and wondered why
I should live, and die.
Leave a note and tell me,
Leave a note and tell me why...

JG

Carl Spackler

Freeze Gopher!

 

Carl Spackler: "License to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations. Man, free to kill gophers at will. To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit - ever. They're like the Viet Cong - Varmint Cong. So you have to fall back on superior intelligence and superior firepower. And that's all she wrote..."

In other news:

 [standing in an ornamental flowerbed] "What an incredible Cinderella story! This unknown, comes out of nowhere, to lead the pack at Augusta. He's at the final hole. He's about 455 yards away, he's gonna hit about a 2-iron, I think. [swings, pulverizes a flower] Oh, he got all of that. The crowd is standing on its feet here at Augusta. The normally reserved crowd is going wild... [pauses] for this young Cinderella who's come out of nowhere. He's got about 350 yards left, he's going to hit about a 5-iron, it looks like, don't you think? He's got a beautiful backswing... [swings, pulverizes another flower] that's- oh, he got all of that one! He's gotta be pleased with that! The crowd is just on its feet here. He's a Cinderella boy. Tears in his eyes, I guess, as he lines up this last shot. He's got about 195 yards left, and he's got a, looks like he's got about an 8-iron. This crowd has gone deadly silent... Cinderella story, out of nowhere, former greenskeeper, now about to become the Masters champion. [swings, pulverizes yet another flower] It looks like a mirac- it's in the hole! It's in the hole!"

Have a great day people!

JG

Recreational Chemistry Gone Wrong (Unplugged)

Just like the Wizard of Oz.  A meander through the field of poppies into a deep sleep.  Floating.  Dreaming.  No boundaries and not a care in the world that would suck you back from this state of mind.  A momentary lapse of reasoning that the stop signs were missed.  Oblong, rectangles, circles, white, blue, orange...jagged little morsels.  Highways and thruways become different routes.  They are a bit tricky ya know!  The door locks behind you upon entering.  Invitations all over so enticing and dressed to impress.  Dancing for weeks into months into years that seem just like minutes.  Long conversations with strangers.  "The shoulder that I leaned on was carved out of stone."  Just when you think that you couldn't get much higher, you look down to see that you really cannot get much lower.  Some look so low that they are looking up through a wooden box with dirt all around it.  Melancholia and the infinite sadness will walk hand in hand with you.  Silent whispers.  Fight or flight.  The fork in the road.  Temporary status until your name turns into desperation.  You'll be so busy you won't even notice, I promise!  When you can stop you don't want to.  When you wanna stop, you can't.  The walls are closing in and they are not cushioned!  Taunted and tormented, and the only thing that makes it go away is the very thing that makes it come back.  I wouldn't say it is so much a win win situation by any means.  Early departures and we are not at the airport, the bus station, train station, or flagging down a taxi.    

A thought from "The Salton Sea":  

"So that's where I found myself.  No, I should choose my words more wisely.  This is the world I sought out.  The land of the perpetual night party.  Day swallowing night and night swallowing day. The crank compressing time like some divine piston on its awesome down stroke.  We've been at this for three days...or is it four?  Tweakers, lokers, slammers, coming and going, swearing eternal allegiance and undying love for one another, only to wake up after the binge and realize you wouldn't walk across the street to piss on one of them if their head was on fire.  Three days.  Or is it four?  I know what you're thinking, but don't give up on me just yet.  Just wait 'til I've told my whole story. And keep your eyes open.  Nothing is as it seems...For the people who don't do drugs, or just do them occasionally, it's something that becomes your life, and you belong.  You finally hit bottom and you know who you are, because you can't go any lower.  When you find...a friendship that you wouldn't have found anywhere else.  Still and all, there's a kind of intimacy with those that can go the distance. Sometimes you see the world so clearly...and you know just what to do, and just when to do it.  Just what you should've done, and when you should've done it." 

Let's straighten this out.  I don't promote nor use.  I'm around it at certain venues and if I wasn't certain that I could say no, I have no business there to begin with.  I get high on the music itself.  We have choices.  It's a part of my story, my voyage and my struggles.  My tale as it unfolds for all to see.  There are a lot of acquaintances that we have in this world and not many true friends.  I've had some true friends leave this world with a piece of me with them.  They never asked if they could take it, they just left with it.  I also have some friends that are still with me and I want to say with the utmost sincerity from my heart...I LOVE YOU!  Please take a step back from the cliff, you never know when the wind will pick up and push you further than you ever wanted to go.

JG

Skipping Rocks in my Sleep

I'll put a couple of tear drops in my pocket to embed them into my clothing.  It helps.  Thoughts of yesterdays moments are over and done.  It's the haunting ones that linger that you want to deal with and the pleasant ones you embrace.  It's a new moment in time, which stops for nothing.  A brief outline of tomorrow is what I go on.  A silhouette of a blueprint surrounded by fog once and awhile.  I stand amazed at times of the broken green light, always on green.  For all of you that take the time to fix it so that it cycles again, my hats off to you.  Consistency.  A term that floats in and out of my life like the Autumn leaves dancing in circles and landing in a different place.  "Novocaine for the soul, before I sputter out."  Sounds good?  There is a tug inside of me that I can't quite put my index on it, but I know that I know that I know.  Mundane vision.  Empty warehouse.  Stale crackers and orange peels.  Let's just vacuum the floor up and keep it moving.  You reap what you sow.  Harvest time comin'.  Existing and engaging are on opposite sides of the fence.  I've seen both of their backyards and existing doesn't mow it's lawn.  Paint your perfect picture and tell me what it looks like.  After all, do we not make choices?  Let's saddle up in a horse and buggy.  We can stroll through sleepy hollow and invite the headless horseman to come on board for a pleasant conversation over tea.  It knows the great mysteries of this place and what a humble guide to have along for the ride.  "The wind in the willows played tea for two, the sky was yellow and the sun was blue."  I'm catching the next wave back to shore to rest awhile and I'm also a bit anxious of these waters.  The aquatic life is somewhat restless and I'm a three course meal.  They can pick and choose, they have it like that.  The water is somber as are the surprises below.  It all started when the bus came by and I got on...  

JG 

“We're all bozos on the bus,
so might as well sit back
and enjoy the ride.”
~Wavy Gravy~

Ripple

If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine
And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung
Would you hear my voice come through the music?
Would you hold it near, as it were your own?

It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken
Perhaps they're better left unsung
I don't know, don't really care
Let there be songs to fill the air 

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
Let it be known there is a fountain
That was not made by the hands of man

There is a road, no simple highway
Between the dawn and the dark of night
And if you go, no one may follow
That path is for your steps alone

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

You who choose to lead must follow
But if you fall, you fall alone
If you should stand, then who's to guide you?
If I knew the way, I would take you home...

 

JG

 

ll

First performed on August 18, 1970, at the Fillmore West in San Francisco. "Ripple" appeared in the middle of the first set, an acoustic set, between "Dark Hollow" and "Brokedown Palace."  The "Brokedown Palace" was also a premiere, as was the show's "Operator," and "Truckin."'

  Several lines in this lyric conjure up the 23rd Psalm, which for many listeners will be an evocation of peace and reassurance. In particular, the lines referring to "still water," the filling of an empty cup, and the walking on a path in the shadow of the dark of night are strong references.

Hunter invokes the psalm associations in the first verse, with his mention of the traditional psalmist's accompaniment, the harp.

Melody Monday

So Many Roads

Soldier Field 7-9-95

Thought I heard a blackbird singin'
up on Bluebird Hill
Call me a whinin' boy if you will
Born where the sun don't shine
and I don't deny my name
Got no place to go, ain't that a shame?

Thought I heard that KC whistle
moanin' sweet & low
Thought I heard that KC when she blow
Down where the sun don't shine
Underneath the Kokomo
Whinin' boy -- got no place else to go

So many roads I tell you
So many roads I know
So many roads --
so many roads --
Mountain high, river wide
So many roads to ride
So many roads
So many roads

Thought I heard a jug band playin'
"If you don't -- who else will?"
from over on the far side of the hill
All I know the sun don't shine
the rain refuse to fall
and you don't seem to hear me when I call

Wind inside & the wind outside
Tangled in the window blind
Tell me why you treat me so unkind
Down where the sun don't shine
Lonely and I call your name
No place left to go, ain't that a shame?

So many roads I tell you
New York to San Francisco
All I want is one
to take me home
From the high road to the low
So many roads I know
So many roads - So many roads

From the land of the midnight sun
where ice blue roses grow
'long those roads of gold and silver snow
Howlin' wide or moanin low
So many roads I know
So many roads to ease my soul...

First performance: Sunday, Februady 22, 1992 at the Coliseum Arena, Oakland, California. "So Many Roads" appeared in the first set, following "Wang Dang Doodle" and preceding "Queen Jane Approximately." The other first in the show was "Wave to the Wind."

This was the last time Jerry sang this song being it was last show the Grateful Dead ever did.  Jerry passed away exactly a month later on August 9th, 1995 at 4:23 am due to a heart attack.  I don't think anyone can put into words the void that rippled the planet on that day.  The void is still felt today.

 

I feel your silent laughter
at sentiments so bold
that dare to step across the line
to tell what must be told,
so I'll just say I love you,
which I never said before
and let it go at that old friend
the rest you may ignore...

~R. Hunter~

JG