Customer Reviews

The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What an amazing compilation of Lyrics, anecdotes, art and commentary

This book has every Grateful dead song lyric and splits them up in order of the year that they where recorded or played live from 1966 to 1994. There are several hundred songs in all. Everything you can think of from Can't come down 1965 to 1994's Childhood's end and in between Candyman, Truckin, Casey Jones, Alabama getaway, China cat garden, Down the road and a few hundred more songs. Some of the cover songs are also in the book.

There is a lengthy forward in the book by Robert Hunter that goes into song writing and the spirit that goes into it that is very nicely written and gave me some insight to Mr. Hunter that I had not seen before.

The book is thoughtfully and beautifully laid out. Almost every page has artwork that is outstanding in its own right and very appropriate for a book involving the Dead. Most of the art work is black and white but there is some color artwork as well. There are also some well placed Biblical quotes. On most songs there are notes that give you the recording date and the first date of performance. The notes, artwork commentary and Biblical passages all provide a nice insight to the songs and how they took shape.


Dead head or passive follower, even if you know all the lyrics and are familiar with the Grateful Dead story this is a great book to look at and read.

Taken from the back cover "This book is great I will never have to explain myself -Bob Weir"
I feel like I'm Truckin got my chips cashed in, truckin like the Doodah man when I pick up this book.

10 stars in a 5 star limitation.

The Grateful Dead were always known for their eclectic influences, from Phil Lesh's unperformable classical compositions to Pigpen's deep understanding of the blues to Jerry's formidable old-time country and bluegrass credentials. The music they made together was a unique blend of the many threads that run through American music. This book offers a new perspective on those threads by examining the lyrics of Dead songs. Many of their songs were filled with references and allusions to American history, pop culture from many different eras, literature, other music genres, other songs, world religions, current events, and so on. This book identifies those references and creates a clear and rich picture of the context of the Dead's unique contributions to American music. It is well-researched, well-written, and a fascinating read.

Beautifully and lovingly done book, with complete lyrics of all the songs they performed regularly (including recent post-Garcia songs) along with helpful annotation (some terse, some indepth- 6 pages for Ramble on Rose!-), covering possible, hypothetical and actual references, it is scholarly and thorough but not too ponderous or silly.

The Dead's main lyricists frame the body of the book with essays about their craft, their role and creative process. Hunter's forward is inspiring - playful, serious, insightful and educational all in one. Barlow's afterward is grounding and tender making a fitting tribute to the band and an era and a fine gift to us all.

This beautifully and logically presented compendium of all the Grateful Dead's own songs, and many of the tunes they covered regularly, already sits at the very top ranks of the vast and growing Grateful Dead literature.

The illustrations, especially those drawn from the original Grateful Dead Songbook (which documents tunes from the Workingman's Dead and Amercian Beauty albums) are fantastic and often thought provoking illustrations of aspects of the band's huge repertoire.

The Grateful Dead was all about the music. This book will enrich anyone's understanding of American music. It is an absolute must for Deadheads.

And it provides tantalising insights into the creative processes of the Grateful Deads great lyricists, Robert Hunter and John Perry Barlow.

If you want to know what The Boys are singing and why, then you've got to get this essential lyrics book! I honestly got tired of correcting my boyfriend on the words he was singing, so I got him this book as a gift and now we're singing in harmony! It also has some great inside notes to what certain words mean or where they came from. Essential Dead Head book!

This book is real nice. It has lot's of interesting trivia and Americana. Reminds you how deep the Deads' roots go. Very nicely bound and printed, many great illustrations. Insightful, gives a good look into the context of the songs, and of course it's got all of the lyrics! This book was given to me when my brother died (look up Tennessee Jed)and I can attest that it makes a meaningful gift.

Any fan of the Grateful Dead needs this book. Although it may not have every Dead song in it (how can it, it'd be huge), it's comprehensive for 90% of their songs and provides lyrics when the notes aren't available.

Again, if you're a Dead fan, get it.

A 'must' for Grateful Dead fans is the new COMPLETE ANNOTATED GRATEFUL DEAD LYRICS, providing standard versions of all the original songs. Robert Hunter himself has provided a foreword to a book which offers songs even avid fans have probably never heard or heard right. And this offers more than just lyric recaps: slang is explained, annotations on sources provide insights into the lyrics and their many cultural roots, and comparisons to quotes and literature make for a detailed, in-depth survey unparalleled in its scope.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I always enjoyed the "Annotated" web site and purchased the book when it first came out. I still enjoy picking it up and thumbing through it or looking up a song I have just heard for the first time in a while. Anyone who likes the music of the Grateful Dead should have this book to probe into the lyrics. Don't think this is only for scholars! All fans will have fun with this volume.

I love this book! This gives insider knowledge to most of the Dead's song catalog. I wish there were more direct quotes from Robert Hunter & John Barlow, themselves, but I understand they aren't going to explain everything. Dodd does a great job of researching each possible connection & reference to what certain lyrics could stand for. I read a song every night before I go to bed:)