My interpretation is that this song is set during the civil war. Someone comes across the body of a woman killed while tending a rose garden. As other people pointed out, no one alive would choose to lie down in a rose bed. This kind of story telling through hints and allusions is typical of GD lyrics. The body has been there long enough for the ribbons to be faded but presumably not long enough to spoil the woman's beauty - perhaps it was late fall and she was bringing in the last of the season's roses and the cold preserved her body.
The narrator seems to be explaining why he is taking the time and effort to bury presumably an enemy woman - likely a rebel soldier burying a union woman as the Dead seem to favour southern and western stories. Again, between the lines this is in a war zone where burying the enemy dead would not be a priority.
@gary103677 Just to add a couple of things: it seems clear that the house had been ravaged by war, which would explain how the body stayed outside,
@gary103677 Just to add a couple of things: it seems clear that the house had been ravaged by war, which would explain how the body stayed outside,
I think that he is telling the story ten years after the event, after being away and coming home. Also, he knew her name which was not uncommon during the civil war where relatives and friends found themselves on the opposite side. Annie may have been considered as a missing person if no one else knew how she died. Thus the song is explaining to Annie's friends and relatives that he buried Annie's body, allowing people to grieve her death.
My interpretation is that this song is set during the civil war. Someone comes across the body of a woman killed while tending a rose garden. As other people pointed out, no one alive would choose to lie down in a rose bed. This kind of story telling through hints and allusions is typical of GD lyrics. The body has been there long enough for the ribbons to be faded but presumably not long enough to spoil the woman's beauty - perhaps it was late fall and she was bringing in the last of the season's roses and the cold preserved her body.
The narrator seems to be explaining why he is taking the time and effort to bury presumably an enemy woman - likely a rebel soldier burying a union woman as the Dead seem to favour southern and western stories. Again, between the lines this is in a war zone where burying the enemy dead would not be a priority.
@gary103677 Just to add a couple of things: it seems clear that the house had been ravaged by war, which would explain how the body stayed outside,
@gary103677 Just to add a couple of things: it seems clear that the house had been ravaged by war, which would explain how the body stayed outside,
I think that he is telling the story ten years after the event, after being away and coming home. Also, he knew her name which was not uncommon during the civil war where relatives and friends found themselves on the opposite side. Annie may have been considered as a missing person if no one else knew how she died. Thus the song is explaining to Annie's friends and relatives that he buried Annie's body, allowing people to grieve her death.
This is the actual meaning of the term "grateful dead" - gratitude for someone who follows the religious requirements of burial for a stranger.
This is the actual meaning of the term "grateful dead" - gratitude for someone who follows the religious requirements of burial for a stranger.