The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics Summary and Reviews

The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics

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Book Summary Information

Commentary: David Dodd
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-05-08
ISBN: 074327749X
Number of pages: 512
Publisher: Free Press

Book Reviews of The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics

Book Review: 30 Years of tapping into the Collective Consciousness
Summary: 5 Stars

I was a fairly late bloomer as a Dead aficionado. Notice I didn't say "Deadhead". Sadly, that term carries a negative connotation. Most people instantly associate the term with dilated pupiled kids traveling from town to town in a beat up VW van.

To paraphrase The Who, ...those kids are alright...

As many know, this book was David Dodd's website for years before he compiled it into a book. I consulted his website many a time over the years, and marveled at the depth of descriptions and associations between the Dead's songs, other musicians' songs, the Bible, literary and historical figures throughout history, and on and on and on.

Some people will always dismiss the Dead and their listeners as nothing more than a bunch of druggies. While Garcia, et. al were heavily influenced by psychedelics, there is so much more going on in their music if you'll just take a little more careful listen.

The Grateful Dead's principal lyricist, Robert Hunter, is unquestionably one of the better read people on the planet. For starters, he has near encyclopedic knowledge of the Bible, not to mention American cultural history, world history, etc.

One soon realizes, however, that no one person can possibly hold this much information in his or her head. The interaction between Hunter and Garcia and the rest of the band, and the band with its followers, is a phenomenon that can only be described as being analagous to a massive flood of the larger Collective Consciousness that we all experience a little drop of from time to time.

This phenomenon really defies description. It's a cliche to say that music can take you to a different place. In the example of the Grateful Dead's music, though, it can literally take you to a different reality.

I could ramble on here, but maybe the best way to summarize it is to quote the band themselves:

"Once in a while you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right."

Thanks, Mr. Dodd, for a book I'll be going back to again and again for a lifetime.

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