I have been looking at song meanings discussions for months. It wasnt until today, when I made it to the Dead song sites, that I got insulted enough to realize how little people understand about the sixties and seventies music. It seems that people are trying to make Casey Jones about drugs OR a historical RR engineer. That misses the point. By miles.
So many people argueing about Hippies and Drug use! WTF are you thinking? I am one of the "Over 50" Hippies and I would like to tell you how I understand these songs. I would like to let you know that I used to smoke pot about every chance I got. I have taken many Hallucinogens over the years, also, just like a LARGE number of people in my generation, and I SHOWER BEFORE I START TO STINK!
These songs have blended the drug, historical, fantasy, and humanitarianism so beautifully, that they can never be separated. It would be like seperating the "left" and "right" sides of your brain surgically and expecting to survive and prosper in society using only one side. It would be like never using more than one finger to play a piano. Stop making it so "cut and dry" and "black and white".
My generation used the drugs, sex, and rock n roll so that our brains could better integrate ALL of those ideas and think "outside the box". We partied and played a lot, but when we woke up the next morning we started dialing up our engineer peers and worked out ways to improve the electronic amps with them so that we could Have sex, drugs & rocknroll even better the next night.
So: everybody is right! the songs were written by evolutionary geniuses who combined words to make a drug experience to night so awesome that, when you learned all the lyrics, you learned something about the past, and then used the lessons to make it a better world tomorrow.
It couldnt have been as sucessful without all three components. 'Cause the rock and roll demanded synthesizers, the engineers gave them the FIRST PERSONAL COMPUTERS EVER INVENTED!!!!
Are you starting to understand the importance of the hippies who loved, supported, and FINANCED the artists and engineers of of the world into the prosperous, modern societies of the future? Yeah, we may not be the brain surgeons and rocket scientists, but we play our part as the lovers and nurturors that keep the universe together. We are basically Duct Tape!!
@groovylee I came upon your comment for Dark Star imploring us to read this comment. But I couldn't find THAT comment when I looked for it later. There were so many comments under Dylan's All Along The Watchtower I had to go back to find your name. It completely disappeared from my iPhone search. I became obsessed with finding it. Maybe it was under the comments for St. Stephen? Box of Rain? No luck there, either (I had been there earlier, too). Finally found your comment under Dark Star when I got to my home computer. And now I'm here....
@groovylee I came upon your comment for Dark Star imploring us to read this comment. But I couldn't find THAT comment when I looked for it later. There were so many comments under Dylan's All Along The Watchtower I had to go back to find your name. It completely disappeared from my iPhone search. I became obsessed with finding it. Maybe it was under the comments for St. Stephen? Box of Rain? No luck there, either (I had been there earlier, too). Finally found your comment under Dark Star when I got to my home computer. And now I'm here. Just wanted to tell you, in case you ever find this, that I appreciated your comment here. It was worth the search!
I have been looking at song meanings discussions for months. It wasnt until today, when I made it to the Dead song sites, that I got insulted enough to realize how little people understand about the sixties and seventies music. It seems that people are trying to make Casey Jones about drugs OR a historical RR engineer. That misses the point. By miles. So many people argueing about Hippies and Drug use! WTF are you thinking? I am one of the "Over 50" Hippies and I would like to tell you how I understand these songs. I would like to let you know that I used to smoke pot about every chance I got. I have taken many Hallucinogens over the years, also, just like a LARGE number of people in my generation, and I SHOWER BEFORE I START TO STINK! These songs have blended the drug, historical, fantasy, and humanitarianism so beautifully, that they can never be separated. It would be like seperating the "left" and "right" sides of your brain surgically and expecting to survive and prosper in society using only one side. It would be like never using more than one finger to play a piano. Stop making it so "cut and dry" and "black and white". My generation used the drugs, sex, and rock n roll so that our brains could better integrate ALL of those ideas and think "outside the box". We partied and played a lot, but when we woke up the next morning we started dialing up our engineer peers and worked out ways to improve the electronic amps with them so that we could Have sex, drugs & rocknroll even better the next night. So: everybody is right! the songs were written by evolutionary geniuses who combined words to make a drug experience to night so awesome that, when you learned all the lyrics, you learned something about the past, and then used the lessons to make it a better world tomorrow. It couldnt have been as sucessful without all three components. 'Cause the rock and roll demanded synthesizers, the engineers gave them the FIRST PERSONAL COMPUTERS EVER INVENTED!!!! Are you starting to understand the importance of the hippies who loved, supported, and FINANCED the artists and engineers of of the world into the prosperous, modern societies of the future? Yeah, we may not be the brain surgeons and rocket scientists, but we play our part as the lovers and nurturors that keep the universe together. We are basically Duct Tape!!
@groovylee I came upon your comment for Dark Star imploring us to read this comment. But I couldn't find THAT comment when I looked for it later. There were so many comments under Dylan's All Along The Watchtower I had to go back to find your name. It completely disappeared from my iPhone search. I became obsessed with finding it. Maybe it was under the comments for St. Stephen? Box of Rain? No luck there, either (I had been there earlier, too). Finally found your comment under Dark Star when I got to my home computer. And now I'm here....
@groovylee I came upon your comment for Dark Star imploring us to read this comment. But I couldn't find THAT comment when I looked for it later. There were so many comments under Dylan's All Along The Watchtower I had to go back to find your name. It completely disappeared from my iPhone search. I became obsessed with finding it. Maybe it was under the comments for St. Stephen? Box of Rain? No luck there, either (I had been there earlier, too). Finally found your comment under Dark Star when I got to my home computer. And now I'm here. Just wanted to tell you, in case you ever find this, that I appreciated your comment here. It was worth the search!