| Grateful Dead – Rubin And Cherise Lyrics | 6 years ago |
| There are 2 versions of this song. There is the Robert Hunter version, "Reuben and Cerise" that includes the information that Cerise DIES because of Reubens betrayal and that he carries "the ghost of Cerise in his empty arms, and her hair hung gently down", and the Garcia version, "Rubin and Cherise" that ignores this fact. Contrary to what people like "guitargabe" might think, this song has a WHOLE LOT of meaning and symbolism packed into it. Hunter himself would never want to suggest that there is only one correct interpretation of his lyrics, but he does admit to being heavily influenced by archetypal symbols in his "storytelling". Songs like Reuben and Cerise, Althea, Terrapin Station, Scarlet Begonias, and others share MANY symbolic links to the concept of the Anima. | |
| Grateful Dead – Cryptical Envelopment Lyrics | 6 years ago |
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Pretty sure the song is about the process of ego death that must come before the transcendental journey. "The Psychedelic Experience", the guidebook for tripping, was very popular and well regarded back then. Here's the gist of the book (from Wikipedia): The Tibetan Book of the Dead is a Tibetan Buddhist text that was written as a guide for navigating the process of death, the bardo and rebirth. In The Psychedelic Experience the authors discuss the Tibetan Book of the Deadand use the process of death and rebirth presented in it as a metaphor for the experience of ego death or depersonalization that is commonly experienced under the influence of psychedelic drugs. Similar to how the intended function of the Tibetan Book of the Dead is to be used as a guide for death and rebirth, The Psychedelic Experience is meant to be used as a guide on how to properly handle experiences of ego death while undergoing the psychedelic experience. The book discusses the various phases of ego death that can occur on psychedelics and gives specific instructions on how one should regard them and act during each of these different phases. In addition to containing more general advice for the readers on how to use psychedelics, Part of this text was used by The Beatles in the song "Tomorrow Never Knows". A reading from the book was recorded by the authors on an LP under the name The Psychedelic Experience in 1966, and reissued on CD by Folkways in 2003. |
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| Grateful Dead – Cosmic Charlie Lyrics | 7 years ago |
| @[thewohl:18818] I think this line is a criticism of anybody that is more concerned with building their own Stairway to Heaven than the needs of the people around them, particularly those that consider themselves to be Good Christians, but still rejected our movement, our vision, our push for change, from the very start. These "Christians" are more focused on their place in some "deep unreal" after life, than on helping people in their ACTUAL reality. | |
| Grateful Dead – Cosmic Charlie Lyrics | 7 years ago |
| @[ShivaX:18817] BS again. Song is WAY deeper than you think! The line "go on home your mama's calling you" is directed toward those in the way of progress, the line "bought you a paddle for your paper canoe" is directed toward false assumptions and beliefs. The MAN Cosmic Charlie was named after the SONG, the song is NOT about him! | |
| Grateful Dead – Cosmic Charlie Lyrics | 7 years ago |
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@[lisadu:18816] Bullshit. I KNOW Cosmic Charlie, the song came before he was named. |
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| Grateful Dead – Cosmic Charlie Lyrics | 7 years ago |
| 1st off - the lyrics quoted above are wrong, the most obvious being that it's not "Cat on I ?" it's "Kite on Ice since the 1st of February". 2nd - though the actual meaning of the song often depends on it's context within the set, the most common meaning I've experienced is one of being frustrated with the SLOW process of change and the people and circumstances that are blocking the way. Sometimes it seems like Cosmic Charlie might be the hope of reincarnation allowing us to "come back this way again" to witness the change we hope for now, like a realization that the BIG change we visualized at the start can not be achieved within our current life times, but "maybe I'll be back here too, it all depends on what's with you.... New ones coming as the old ones go, and everything is moving much too slowly. A little bit quicker and we might have time to say "how do you do" before the end of time." This song is ultimately about the COSMIC wheel turning, about the evolution of consciousness, the transition between MAJOR paradigms of belief in a constant process of growth, and how LONG the process takes when you look at it from a human point of view. | |
| Pink Floyd – Breathe Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Pure and simple. The whole album is about being born pure, being encouraged to "breathe in the air" of life, and then having that pure energy fragmented and divided by the pressures of society and time, to the point where the pure, sane, spirit of our souls, the essence of our life being, becomes so beaten down that it is repressed and banished to the "Dark Side of the Moon" (the Shadow of our psyche). The genius part is that, at the end, after building everything up to a critical point of harmonic convergence, a point where our ears, our brains, and our souls expect a harmonic resolution, a way out, a path to salvation,,,, what is offered instead is the realization that, since our society is INSANE, those of us that are the most sane, are walking the road "less traveled", "living on the Dark Side of the Moon", and fighting to preserve our individuality. | |
| Pink Floyd – Breathe Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Perfectly said. | |
| Pink Floyd – Breathe Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| So right!!! | |
| Pink Floyd – Breathe Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Yes, Yes, Yes!!!! | |
| Grateful Dead – Box Of Rain Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| Unlike most GD songs, especially those with Hunter lyrics, the meaning of this song has always been pretty clear. The Box of Rain is life itself. The song is told from the perspective of the enlightened mind of a son trying to comfort his father on his death bed (in reality Phil with his own father). The lyrics describe the opportunity available to us all to "look out of any window, any morning, any evening, any day" and find a world of inspiration and miracles waiting to greet us if we have open eyes, open minds, and open hearts. It describes how the meaning of life is created only through living it, by accepting the GIFT of a FULL awareness of life, all of the seasons, the ups and downs. But it also describes the frustration experienced by "spiritually inspired" individuals, like Phil, that wanted to share this epiphany with loved ones, to reveal the "unhidden truth" to them, only to find that they didn't want to learn anything new, that they only wanted somebody to "watch for them while (they) are sleeping." This is a song from Phil to his father about how he wishes that his father could've fully accepted the gift of life presented to him in the moment. It is also a song from the GD to us reminding us to, not only receive the gift of the box of rain (life), but to BELIEVE in it as well. | |
| Phish – Brian And Robert Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| TOTALLY agree | |
| Phish – Brian And Robert Lyrics | 10 years ago |
| This song most certainly describes the experience of deep depression, REAL depression, not just sadness, but hopelessness, numbness, a complete lack of inspiration and motivation, going through the motions, and hating all of the reminders around you of the opportunities for joy that you are simply NOT able to appreciate, and, because they remind you of your deformity, just sound annoying. It is completely believable that the name of the song refers to Brian Eno and Robert Fripp, two of the pioneers of the early blend of existential goth rock that also described the experience of real depression, rather than just the dramatic, romantic vision of the tortured existential artist. The title certainly does not seem to represent the experience of a gay couple, since it really describes becoming comfortably numb with depression, so I don't really understand why it has become the "song" to represent the LGBTQ Phish community. However, I think we create our own meanings and symbols, so I'm open to information. To me, the song is a genius description of depression, just like the work of Brian and Robert. On the same album, the song "Frankie Says" is reminiscent of the big white t-shirts in the early 80's reminding us that "Frankie Says Relax", yet the chorus in the Phish song seems to be more about giving up and letting the world spin around you, rather than trying to gain control over an ecstatic explosion. Also a depressing thought, one that Brian Eno explored at length. One of the things I LOVE about Phish.... they make you think!! | |
| Grateful Dead – Eyes Of The World Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I love this song because it actually DESCRIBES the process of projection that Hunter and Garcia relied upon to simultaneously tap into the depths of the individual psyches of everybody listening with "open" ears AND create a synergistic focus of energy among the collective. The title says it all, "you are the eyes of the world". What you perceive, creates your own reality (certainly), but also contributes to the creation of the socially constructed reality we all live in. Robert Hunter intentionally used symbolic images in his lyrics so that they could be interpreted on many different levels. Eyes reminds us that even our individual interpretations of the song rely on the individual "Eyes" (really all levels of perception) that we use to perceive the song in the moment. There is also an implication in the song that there are natural cycles to creative energy and that we should be accepting and sharing of each other's perceptions of reality, aka, their "countries" and "homes". I also think the song is intended to be reassuring in a way, a reminder that we CAN manifest what we believe, that we CAN achieve our dreams. |
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| Cocteau Twins – Pearly-Dewdrops' Drops Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I've always had the feeling that the song is about hooking up with some serious opiate type drug, most likely china white H, hence the "pearly dewdrops drops" that are injected. First off, the feeling of the melody is so trance-like, like you're floating down a rabbit hole, but with this deep, distorted, heavy bass and guitar line using minors and inverted 4ths to reflect a shadow side - like that tunnel scene in Willy Wonka, punctuated by high trills (during "lucky..."). I think the lyrics suggest a drug theme too. "Roddy" may be a friend that stayed for a few weeks and has "the lucky lucky penny penny penny (that) Buys the pearly dew drips soaks" that get them all "soaked and ruddy" I don't know, what do others think? |
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| Grateful Dead – Althea Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| BTW - there are a BUNCH of errors in the above lyrics. Check out the book "Box of Rain" by Robert Hunter for the real ones. | |
| Grateful Dead – Althea Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| sandpitlake - it's the "wisdom of the feminine" which is the inspired "yin" part of EVERYBODY's psyche. In archetypal terms, this is called the "Anima" and provides the "big picture", the meaning for the journey and the inspiration to take it. | |
| Grateful Dead – Althea Lyrics | 13 years ago |
| Think about the classic bell-curve that describes norms. 50 Cent is a studio created product that ad execs use to sell merchandise and ad time. Everything about him was sculpted to appeal to as many people as possible, "the norm", "the masses". Just like those with genius IQs, the further you move to the higher end of the scale, the fewer people there are. It takes an advanced ear to appreciate the music of the Grateful Dead and an advanced mind to appreciate Hunter's lyrics. They are at the genius level of the curve - so, obviously there will be far less people that "get it". These days, I take a bit of pride in the fact that, for almost 25 years, my musical tastes have been so selective that most people have never heard of the bands I like. | |
| Pink Floyd – Outside the Wall Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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I disagree Dojindog - I actually think it makes more sense on the album than in the movie. On the album it represents the moment of exhale following all of the trauma, the moment of realization and awareness that it was HIS problems with reaching out emotionally that CAUSED the hurtful reactions in others due to their efforts to protect themselves. It was HIS narcissism and rejection of those that loved him so much that they even beat their hearts against his wall to the point of exhaustion (I believe these "people" could also be interpreted as internalized ego objects, especially the young boy at the end of the film that looks like the young Pink). The sad part is that either Pink, or those that come after him (us), are destined to use the leftover bricks to start to build another wall, which is why the album clearly creates a conceptual circle with the "isn't this we....re we come in" to end and start the album and the film shows children reassembling the bricks. I also think you are missing the significance of the mental illness and psychological decay represented in the concept. This is not just an individual suffering from growing up without a father or an over protective mother, or any of the other "bricks" that end up forming his wall. This is a description of a person sinking into true mental illness and psychosis. This is a person that can not cope with common life stressors due to mental illness. A person regressing into a schizoid state of paranoia and craziness is unable to stop his desent. Normal people reach for help, crazy people isolate. Everything he tries to fight against the loss of ego, sense of self and identity he is experiencing, as a result of cutting himself off from the ONLY way that humans know those things - i.e. reflected in the eyes of others, doesn't work. Every attempt he makes to escape or gain control fails and pulls him further into his own madness. Outside the wall - you are completely correct in that the song is about death, but also rebirth. Pink the rag doll, the non-human, is exposed and killed, but the real Pink ("Which one's Pink?") has a chance to emerge and heal in the light. |
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| Grateful Dead – Althea Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| sugaree - thank you for posting the poem, it gives further evidence of my interpretation. Althea, to the singer of the GD version, is like Ophelia to Hamlet, and Althea to Lovelace. Althea (probably related to "alethea", Greek for "the unhidden truth" represents the promise of joining with the Anima, the feminine within, the inspiration that guides the hero's quest. Hamlet goes crazy and kills everybody he loves because he becomes obsessed with his father's death rather than focusing on his future with Ophelia. He misses the chance to join with his anima, to become inspired, and this choice on the path of life results in tragedy. Lovelace knows that joining with Althea will bring freedom and liberty. The singer in the GD version comes to Lovelace's realization too late. He missed his chance. Contrast this with Terrapin Station, where the hero actually wins the "lady with the fan" (another manifestation of the Anima, or Althea). | |
| Grateful Dead – Aiko Aiko Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| Samba is right about everything, except one point: It's not Indians that dress up in Indian costumes for Mardi Gras, it's African Americans. Many slaves in the South found protection by escaping to Indian reservations. Today, African Americans commemorate the safety the reservations provided by dressing as Indians for Marti Gras. A "big chief" is selected to wear the big head-dress, a flag boy to carry the colors, and at least one spy-boy to check on the movements of the other tribes. Mock battles are performed through dancing and costume display. | |
| Grateful Dead – Terrapin Station Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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This song was truely "inspired" from the start, written during a lightening storm at the same time Jerry came up with the tune. It is the archetypal story of the first part of the hero's quest. Because it is such an important story and the storyteller's responsibility to spin the tale correctly to create the alchemy, the magic, to convey the essential meaning, he begins with a prayer to the muses to tell the story well, filled with image and meaning, in order to bring life and purpose to the characters and make them real to us, so we can relate and find meaning in their universal story. The tale begins with the storyteller sitting around a fire as the winds whip the images he describes into form. Two figures appear. One is a sailor, a symbol of one that can navigate the waters of the unconscious. Just like the guy in Althea, or Simple Twist of Fate, this sailor had a chance at love and inspiration and didn't take it. He knows better now. The soldier stands next to him, too "wise" (aka "cautious") to take the chance to save the lady with the fan. The lady, of course, is the Anima. She showers the brave sailor with her gift of vision, purpose, and "inspiration". This sets him on his path to "terrapin station", the point of enlightenment, which all reach in their own way, on their own path, and in their own time. The Terrapin turtle is somewhat unique and can live on land and in water. Also, Venus has long been a symbol of the meeting point between heaven and earth, between the spiritual and profane. But then the hero discovers that Terrapin Station is not a stopping point, but a starting point, and there are endless cycles to enlightenment. However, at least his eyes are open and he is on the right path. |
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| Bob Dylan – All Along the Watchtower Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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Just like most Dylan songs, the layers of meaning in this song are constructed with just enough of a reference to current political and philisophical movements, and just enough of a reference to emotionally charged images and stories from our collective history (including the Bible), that it allows for different interpretations based on the projections of meanings by the individual listener. There is no one "right" meaning. That being said, there IS a specific theme. The song describes the moment before the crash of modern values that give the rich power. The Joker and the Thief know what is going on, they are symbols of the change in power, the least will be first. The women and servents seemed confused about what side to be on and how to prepare. The princes are ignorant of any danger. The riders on the horses are certainly bringing on "a storm" of death. The wind "howling" could be a reference to the poem "howl" that inspired the beat generation to embrace the existential truths of authentic living, or just a nice metephor for how the noise of the chaos will drown out everything else (a point that Jimi's version seems to emphasize). The Joker and the Thief are both trickster archetypes, wise souls that are not recognized as such by the unenlightened. It is easy to link Jesus to this archetype, for he was not recognized as the messiah even by the very people he was sent to save. Also, he always spoke in parables (jokes), "so that those who have ears will hear" and was crucified next to a thief. The riders on the horses also seems to touch on the apocolypic meaning in the bible. |
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| Grateful Dead – Attics Of My Life Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| To me, this song is a love song, like Snow White or Sleeping Beauty. The harmonies are complex and dissonent throughout the verses but resolve on the last lines to imply salvation. I get the image of a person lost in exploring the mysteries of life, and, in his own mind everything starts to seem unreal, un-tangible, and lacking in substance. Just at the point when this soul lacks the ability to create, to act in the world, when the ego is being abandoned so completely that the Self might be lost as well, someone or something else acts for him, saves him, replaces the ego with something greater, love. The last verse is the most powerful. given that the idea at the time was that all reality was "just a dream we dreamed one afternoon long ago", losing the ability to dream, which is the ability to call yourself into existence, would represent a point on the edge of nothingness. But, right at this point, when the ego leaves, when it can no longer even dream, the realization that something greater than the self occurs, the realization that it is through the vision and the dreams of that which surrounds you that creates reality. | |
| Grateful Dead – Althea Lyrics | 14 years ago |
| The story of Althea always struck me as being similar to other stories about missing an opportunity at the critical chance that it presents itself due to ignorance about the significance of the situation. It expresses the regret felt when one realizes too late that everything they wanted was right in front of them and the despair when one realizes that the opportunity can most likely never be regained. In this sense the meaning for "Alethea" (the unhidden truth - or the truth that was always there, but you couldn't see it due to psychic blindness) fits very well. I think the song also uses the image of the mystical woman as a symbol of the Anima, so that the missed opportunity is not just for love, but for joining with the spiritual feminine inside that provides inspiration, vision and passion for the work of our lives. | |
| Bob Dylan – Maggie's Farm Lyrics | 14 years ago |
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While I agree that Dylan worked to promote change, even within his own folk community, I strongly disagree that this was because he was feeding his own "narcissitic ego" or because "he is not anything that normal people (can) relate to". Rather than being a true narcissist himself or trying to alienate people through his complex themes, I believe he was actually reflecting the narcissist attitude of his generation and community and using (easy to see through) layers of meaning to confirm their own narcissistic need to feel "more in touch" and "more enlightened than" others. He reflected and validated their belief that only THEY knew what what REALLY going on and what to do about it, and their anger that "old value systems" were holding them back in MOST of his most popular songs (e.g. "the times they are a changin'", "Ballad of a thin man", etc.) HOWEVER, the above is well known and not really the reason for my reply. I am replying to you personally because I am concerned about your own "narcissistic ego injury" and how this is obviously (to me) leading to you filter information in a distorted manner to confirm why YOU feel unappreciated by, disconnected and misunderstood by and, maybe even hopeless about ever TRUELY being accepted and loved by, others in your life. I think YOU (not Dylan) feel "pressure to conform" and "constrained by third parties." This is typical for enlightened people and, unless resolved by finding purpose in life, often ends up in depression, drug addiction, "dangerous" behavior and suicide. I am writing to you personally because I can see that you were born with the gift of being extremely sensitive to the world around you, and I suspect that you, like most modern intellectuals with spiritual sensitivity, may be struggling with how this ultimately alienates you from others as well as the predictable depression that this high level of awareness causes. I write to give you hope, to tell you that there are others like you (some say "2 percent"), and to warn you that the way past this challenge is NOT to value being a "superman" that is "independent and self-sufficient" (which just makes you feel more disconnected from others, more alienated and more misunderstood), but rather to find a way to SERVE and GIVE BACK to the community around you, to create "ripples in still waters" and to, ultimately, accept the offer and challenge to be a modern hero in the TRUE moral sense - without promise of fame, fortune, reward or success - and to find ultimate joy and peace in fighting for change you believe in, and even more so when the cause seems hopeless. You seem to like the existentialists... are you able to see how they, like Dylan, even though they express hopelessness about current conditions, are able to create passion in their lives by devoting themselves to a cause? Are you able to see that people like them, like you, like me, people born "aware", people unable to retreat back into Plato's cave once they have seen the sun, must FIRST try to get past (accept) their OWN narcissistic injuries and STOP trying to prove their worth to others (be real) in order to form the connections with others that are essential for further progress on "THE path", and THEN find courage to walk the path regardless of an expectation of success, while at last giving all they have to give to fight for their cause. Are you aware of the fact that you live in a CRITICAL age of change and that people with awareness like yours are in great demand in this time of HUGE transition? Are you aware that people like you are the "seed of change to the opposite", as illustrated by the Yin/Yang symbol of change, and that those of us currently fighting on the front lines in an effort to turn "the wheel" are praying and hopeing that people like you can make it past the intitial tests of doubt, self-involvement, depression and self-medication to find inspiration and passion in your life by devoting yourself to the cause of fostering change on ALL levels, rather than just soothing the need of your ego to be recognized. As Dylan said, "let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late". If you look past your own anger and frustration with not having your OWN ego validated and recognized, you will see that there is a "fire on the mountain" right now, that you were PRIVILEGED to be born in this age, and that the anger, cynicism and hopelessness you feel are really just growing pains. We await and welcome your graduation into mature awareness, the point when you stop worrying about promoting the need of your advanced mind and ego to be recognized and join us in the ulitimate fight, the fight to turn a VERY large wheel of human evolution, and create the ONLY chance we have to survive on this planet. Please contact me at trpnstn1@aol.com if you would like more info. |
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