Music: New Appreciation for The Dead

Okay, Grateful Dead. To me, they are all about PEACE, about loving community. Not sure about physical health, but certainly they embody personal freedom, an ecstatic and natural way of being. I know you're thinking, "People still listen to them after all these years?!?" (That thought perplexed me back in 1977 when I was in college, and look how long their appeal keeps lasting). Yes, people still listen. Teens, happily, have discovered The Dead because their music is COOL. It's authentic. It rocks. It's funky... The deep bass of Phil Lesh. Those spacey jam sessions.

I treated myself recently to an Amazon.com purchase, the soundtrack to "The Grateful Dead Movie," a 5-CD set of live performances from 1974 and MAN, it's good stuff. You can drive to it and it's really enjoyable when the sun hits you in the eyes as you're cruising down the parkway, the music and the bright glow making you feel so ALIVE. You can work to it, sitting at the computer and bopping along, singing along while you work, "Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world... Wake to discover that you are the song that the morning brings..." A special treat is hearing Donna Godchaux, the only female vocalist with the Grateful Dead for 7 years. Her voice isn't spectacular, but neither are the guys in the band such stellar singers. They are simply a group of musicians who are literally "in harmony."

"Sometimes we live no particular way but our own. Sometimes the songs that we hear are the songs of our own." Is Jerry Garcia a prophet? Actually, I think Robert Hunter was their lyricist. I love the way The Dead's music is on melody and then veers off into distraction and improvisation, sort of like life; it builds and gets back to the melody again before it segues into another melody and train of thought. It is joyous, it is meditative, it is sensuous, it is colorful. The music blends into the background and also tickles the foreground. It makes you want to MOVE!

Dive in and discover. They left behind a treasure trove of music. I am grateful for The Dead. Ha ha!

Music speaks to my soul. Perhaps there is music that speaks to your soul. I say, indulge your soul! Hear the songs of your own...