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Attics Of My Life Lyrics
In the attics of my life
Full of cloudy dreams unreal
Full of tastes no tongue can know
And lights no eye can see
When there was no ear to hear
You sang to me
I have spent my life
Seeking all that's still unsung
Bent my ear to hear the tune
And closed my eyes to see
When there were no strings to play
You played to me
In the book of love's own dream
Where all the print is blood
Where all the pages are my days
And all my lights grow old
When I had no wings to fly
You flew to me
You
flew
to me
In the secret space of dreams
Where I dreaming lay amazed
When the secrets all are told
And the petals all unfold
When there was no dream of mine
You dreamed of me
Full of cloudy dreams unreal
Full of tastes no tongue can know
And lights no eye can see
When there was no ear to hear
You sang to me
Seeking all that's still unsung
Bent my ear to hear the tune
And closed my eyes to see
When there were no strings to play
You played to me
Where all the print is blood
Where all the pages are my days
And all my lights grow old
When I had no wings to fly
You flew to me
flew
to me
Where I dreaming lay amazed
When the secrets all are told
And the petals all unfold
When there was no dream of mine
You dreamed of me
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Attics is a very spiritual song, almost hymn-like in its presentation, and in its lyrics. I'm not a very spiritual person myself, but nevertheless I've always found the song enthralling. If I'm not mistaken, I've read a Robert Hunter quote that this song dealt with the concept of "grace". My personal interpretation of the lyric is that it's about creation. That God created us from nothing. The closing lines in each stanza (if that is the proper poetic term) seem to signify this:
When there was no ear to hear, you sang to me
When there were no strings to play, you played to me
When I had no wings to fly, you flew to me
When there was no dream of mine, you dreamed of me
Other potential symbols include the book of love (perhaps the bible), and the secret space of dreams, when the secrets all are told.. is that heaven? At any rate, that's how I see the song, kind of a companion to Ripple, another spiritual Hunter lyric. :)
The first performance of the tune was at Meramec Community College, in Kirkwood MO, May 14, 1970.
the poetry of this song amazes me everytime. i just love how the words unfold and paint this beautiful picture. the perfect love song... talking about the one person who is there always... sigh...
wow this is one of my favorite dead songs ever for obvious reasons...the whole american beauty album is ridiculously amazing.
urlostinspacelikeme is right on this one. i agree with him...the song is not my favorite, its very slow unlike more of the deads stuff but the lyrics are AMAZING!
very mellow and dreamy song. Take it as you wish, its great no matter what.
John Pareles used this song in his great eulogy to Jerry in the New York times which made the main editorial page as an obituary. Try to find that one.
In the attics of my life Full of cloudy dreams unreal Full of tastes no tongue can know
Man those first few lines give me chills! so good
Great reflection song. An attic is used to store things, like memories. Good thing for all the hippies that listen to this song, smoking that shit and not remembering things. lol, just kidding...
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.