Here Comes Sunshine

i was at a festival and it was a really sunny day and out of the middle of nowhere there was a torrential downpour. everyone ran for the tents and tried to get away from the stage because it was a lightning storm. the feild flooded, in some places atleast up to your knees, and it went on for atleast an hour. then, as suddenly as it started, it stopped and the sun came out. it was really, really freaky but really cool. Anyways, i guess the soundboard guy put this song on and it came out blasting all around the feild and everyone just came out of wherever they were and started walking around the field, playing in the puddles, and dancing. it was just so surreal like you were in a dream. probably one of my favorite memories.

Robert Hunter's note from a A Box of Rain (lyric book):

"(Remembering the great Vanport, Washington flood of 1949, living in other people's homes, a family abandoned by father; second grade)"

starts off with a reference to the great gold- rush of 1849 - "get out your pans"....when this was written, there was a big old- west fad goin' on....I recall bands like the charlatans, the James gang, the new riders, then later, stuff like the eagle's album desperado.....Hunter loved the whole old- west vibe, and here he combines that ilk with the then- hippie- ethic of being a lazy stoner: " don't stand there dreamin'' and "when you find the floor"....it was (and still is ) a great joke to prank on your your stoner buds, and Hunter loved that prank too.

based on liner notes from Wake of the Flood's 50th Anniversary Edition

Wake of the Flood was the band's 1st album since American Beauty and their 1st to be recorded at The Dead's own studio called The Record Plant.
Prior to recording, the band lost members Pigpen and Mickey Hart.

Thoughtful observers noted wakes followed both floods and deaths and much of what the band recorded August 1973 would also honor their fallen friend Pigpen.

The Wake of the Flood album weaves the fabric of the Dead's history into its themes in ways that highlight its ambition and achievement. There is a sense of hope that permeates the album which took its name from a line in "Here Comes Sunshine".

"Here Comes Sunshine" proclaims optimism is both an obligation and a birthright as the next song "Eyes of the World" later explores. Regarding "Here Comes Sunshine" the Vanport Flood of 1948 made a deep impression on Hunter as a child and he drew on that for lyrics, though he confused the year, writing '49. However, it was a revealing slip: '49 invoked the Gold Rush of 1849 which transformed San Francisco and made California a state. The silt from gold mining prompted the construction of the bay model to study possible solutions. Even if Hunter conflated dates, his lyrics got a deeper set of truths including the sense of promise that followed the great flood in the book of Genesis. God ended the cataclysm with a new covenant and Rick Griffin drew on that story for the cover with not only the water on the front cover but also with the raven on the back cover which symbolized the raven sent out by Noah to see if the flood was receding. The bird also evoked that context; it came from the old card game Rook, marketed as a Christian alternative to traditional playing cards.

I can personally add that in my youth Wake of the Flood was the 1st vinyl rock album I every purchased (most likely in 1974). I was mesmerized by the cover and I initially enjoyed several tracks on the album but I quickly connected to "Here Comes Sunshine". Years later and after getting the remastered 50th Anniversary Edition, the entire Wake of the Flood album has become my favorite Dead album (I also list American Beauty as a favorite too) as I find Wake of the Flood simply flows perfectly from one track to the next. Learning in retrospect where the band was coming from at this time gives an additional layer to their amazingly timeless songs from this period. Adding 10 additional musicians added so much texture to this brilliant album which lives on..........