Truckin'

All I have to say is.... WOW! You people have absolutely no heart for the Grateful Dead. the stereotypical OOOh, "DRUGS, HOOKERS, DRUGS, DRUGS"... You people need to learn how to listen to music and stop assuming its about gettin all f*cked up. Now, I'll set this straight... The song "Truckin'" is about life on the road, as you've said, and the realization that you only live once, so you should take risky chances...

"What in the world ever became of sweet Jane? She lost her sparkle, you know she isn't the same Living on reds, vitamin C and cocaine all a friend can say is "ain't it a shame"

This is simply about a girl named Jane who lives on "Marlboro Full-Flavored" cigarettes (marb reds), Vitamin C, and Cocaine. NOTHING ABOUT MARY JANE! ps: JAYMAN... you suck for sayin that sh*t

Alright. Honestly, I cannot believe that nobody has yet mentioned what this song is actually supposed to be about. In a way, it is about drugs, and it's also about traveling, but it's not the Dead alone who are doing the traveling, it's also Owsley "Bear" Stanley, the Dead's early sound guy who was arrested for manufacturing and attempting to transport LSD. They were all arrested for real in New Orleans, (which is where Bourbon St. is), but the charges were dropped for everyone but Owsley who already had past manufacturing charges against him. It's a great song, and plenty of the Dead's songs have little to do with drugs, but this is not one of them. It's also foolish to say that LSD did not have a massive influence on their music--it did. On the cover of Aoxomoxoa "The Greatful Dead" can also be read "WE ATE THE ACID."

Also, the line with "reds, vitamin C, and cocaine" is very clearly about drugs. "Reds" (as anyone who were actually alive in the era, or an active drug user at any time, would know) are any drugs that are depressants and have sedative effects. This includes various barbiturates and opiates. The term originates from opium poppies, which are red. "Vitamin C and cocaine" is referring not to ketamine (known as vitamin K) which may not have even existed, and certainly was not yet popular, at the time this song was written (it certainly was not called vitamin K yet, as it was first called that in a book written in the early-mid eighties, where it was used as an altered states therapy drug, but not identified in order to prevent what the writer of the book considered to be "abuse"), but rather, it is referring to cut cocaine, more specifically cocaine that has been cut with vitamin C, a very common white-powder drug adulterant.

Anyway, you guys should try to get your facts straight before you get all holier than now, and act like you know exactly what the song was about.

This song is not about drugs or women. It's a nice wholesome song about the weariness of constant travel and how Jesus can save you from a life of confusion.

at the high school i went to the graduating class always got tshirts at the end of the year. well one year they had "what a long strange trip it's been" printed in huge spiraling letters on the front. i thought it was so funny that someone talked their oblivious class advisor to make shirts with a blantant drug reference from the grateful dead. i have always loved this song and now it reminds me of major mile stones in life (ie graduation) and silly high school traditions, oh and dumb people who don't know a dead reference when they hear it.

yea this song is about touring.. but i think its more just about drug addiction.. i mean it comes out and says it

What in the world ever became of sweet Jane? She lost her sparkle, you know she isn't the same Living on reds, vitamin C and cocaine all a friend can say is "ain't it a shame"

There it says that pot just doesnt do it for him anymore. So he turns to harder drugs like reds which is a barbituate called Seconal, vitamin C is Ketamine and coke..

Then i think there are just a lot of things that can either be interpreted as touring or drug addiction so the rest is up to you

i read a book called the car by gary paulsen and they used the term truckin in it, it means to travel without knowing where u r going and possibly be on drugs at the time

kamyatek is on the target. Robert Hunter wrote many other verses as well. He jotted down lines as the band did their tour, and culled a lot of them from the final draft. It's discussed in a documentary called, I believe, "Anthem To Beauty," an excellent work which focuses on the recordings and surrounding times of the Anthem Of The Sun" & "American Beauty" albums. Highly recommended and featuring footage of an awesome early Sugar Mag.

The New Orleans setup bust is an interesting story in its own right, but only warrants that small part of the song.

I'm not sure if it was Hunter or not, but someone in the Dead's touring circle said Sweet Jane was inspired, at least in part, by Janis Joplin, and they said "cocaine" instead of "heroin," (her drug of choice) because it fit better.

IN 1983 or so, Bobby changed the lyrics a few times to "What in the world ever became of sweet Jane? She lost her sparkle; y,know, she isn't the same Ever since she went and had a sexchange All a friend can say: "It's a f#$kin' shame . . . she just AIN'T the same"

What are all GD songs about?...cmon now. "what a long strange trip its been". lol u know its about drugs. GD's music will never die man.

I think what this song is about is traveling, but I also think there's a hidden meaning in the word "trip".

thats not a hidden meaning. Its an obvious meaning. anyway, I think this song is about touring and all the crazy crap the dead did.