cliff@unmvax.UUCP (04/07/85)
I thought this subject might be a good discussion starter for net.music.gdead. >> = Me, > = Don Stein >> Hmmm... the Dead are also one of the few bands that started in the 60's that >> were decidedly (as a band at least) non-political. Perhaps that is one of >> the reasons they lasted so long. > I wonder about the non-politicalness or apoliticalness of the Dead, even > in their early days. Songs like "Morning Dew", "Cumberland Blues", and > "Throwing Stones" come immediatelly to mind. Also, my memory seems to > recall the Dead being heavily involved in the "Tune In, Turn On, and Drop > Out" philosophy of the late sixties. This seems to me to be an active, if > uneffective, way of protesting the values and actions of society. Quick bit of background ... I saw the dead of my first time on January 15, 1979. Obviously my knowledge is less than direct. The most political actions that I can think of are the benefits that have been played, not the songs that have been sung. Dew, Cumberland and Throwing Stones all depict unfortunate situations that many people have political solutions to, but none of the songs advocates a particular solution. I didn't think the trips festivals were as much of a protest as they were an experience. Politically I don't feel out of place at a dead concert, even though my Libertarianism clashes with the political views of many deadheads I know and have met. --Cliff [Matthews] {purdue, cmcl2, ihnp4}!lanl!unmvax!cliff {csu-cs, pur-ee, convex, gatech, ucbvax}!unmvax!cliff 4744 Trumbull S.E. - Albuquerque NM 87108 - (505) 265-9143
rcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn) (04/09/85)
>, > >> = Cliff Matthews, > > = Don Stein > > >> Hmmm... the Dead are also one of the few bands that started in the 60's that > >> were decidedly (as a band at least) non-political. Perhaps that is one of > >> the reasons they lasted so long. > > > I wonder about the non-politicalness or apoliticalness of the Dead, even > > in their early days. Songs like "Morning Dew", "Cumberland Blues", and > > "Throwing Stones" come immediatelly to mind... Dew and Cumberland are political statements, to be sure...but they're not quite direct political commentary, which may be what Cliff had in mind. Stones is a little bit more direct, but it still lacks a real direct attack on the current political situation. As I'm writing this, the radio is playing the Bruce Cockburn song "If I had a rocket launcher..." in the background. Now THAT'S overtly political--as is a lot of what Cockburn has done recently. The Dead have been comparatively (for a 60's band) apolitical, but they're certainly not amoral. Their music makes a lot of judgment calls on a lot of subjects. Think about "Jack Straw", for example. The fact that they've done things like benefits for Viet Nam vets (at times when the country was trying its hardest to forget the war and ignore the vets) speaks more directly to the moral-vs-political point I'd like to make. It was difficult in the late 60's, early 70's to say something AGAINST the war without having a bunch of people think that you were also AGAINST the country and particularly AGAINST the guys who were over there fighting. -- Dick Dunn {hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd (303)444-5710 x3086 ...At last it's the real thing...or close enough to pretend.
morse@leadsv.UUCP (Terry Morse) (04/10/85)
> > The fact that they've done things like benefits for Viet Nam vets > If you want a political benefit, does anyone remember the Oakland Coliseum benefit (78,79?) to fight the "corporate causes of cancer". That was Jane Fonda's cause. She was there telling us that she was going to go stick it to these evil companies with our ticket money. Bad for the head!! We did get to watch "fun with Dick and Jane" before the concert, but that was little compensation. I think that Bob Weir said then that it was nice to have some fun and do some good at the same time. They probably didn't even know very much about what the cause was about. They were just happy to be doing "some good". These are my observations only, of course. -- Terry Morse UUCP: { (ucbvax!dual!sun!) | (ihnp4!qubix!) } sunncal!leadsv!morse
jtm@syteka.UUCP (Jim McCrae) (04/17/85)
"New Speedway Boogie" always seemed to me to be the epitome
of the Dead's political stance. Of course, we're really talking
about Robert Hunter (they're his words, after all), but the
whole band surely set the mentality, and if Hunter's not part
of the Dead, who is? "Speedway", to me, clearly defines the
Dead's political interests to lie in that netherworld once
called the "counter-culture", the real world where mind-set
is more important than income and life-style dominates to an
extent paralleled only by the starving artist community.
Of course, Jerry's got an ocean front house in Marin and can
afford some nice cars, but the concern for the well-being of
that fringe culture is still there.
Speaking of "New Speedway Boogie", I haven't heard the Dead's
most recent recorded stuff, but I've never heard anything
surpass "Workingman's Dead" or the "first" live album, the
one with the definitive version of "Dark Star". Those two
albums are as good as vinyl gets.
Jim McCrae / Sytek / Mountain View CA / {hplabs,decvax}!sytek!jtmrcd@opus.UUCP (Dick Dunn) (04/25/85)
> "New Speedway Boogie" always seemed to me to be the epitome > of the Dead's political stance... > ... "Speedway", to me, clearly defines the > Dead's political interests to lie in that netherworld once > called the "counter-culture", the real world where mind-set > is more important than income and life-style dominates to an > extent paralleled only by the starving artist community. My understanding of New Speedway Boogie is that it was written because of, and about, the Altamont concert--where the Hell's Angels did the security. It seems to me that it concerns the end of a certain counter-culture phase, when "flower children" started to fade before a much nastier element. The song certainly contains moral judgments, but I'm not convinced that there's all that much political in it...or am I reading it entirely wrong? -- Dick Dunn {hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd (303)444-5710 x3086 ...Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity.
jws@dartvax.UUCP (John W. Scott) (04/29/85)
> > "New Speedway Boogie" always seemed to me to be the epitome > > of the Dead's political stance... > > ... "Speedway", to me, clearly defines the > > Dead's political interests to lie in that netherworld once > > called the "counter-culture", the real world where mind-set > > is more important than income and life-style dominates to an > > extent paralleled only by the starving artist community. > > My understanding of New Speedway Boogie is that it was written because of, > and about, the Altamont concert--where the Hell's Angels did the security. > It seems to me that it concerns the end of a certain counter-culture phase, > when "flower children" started to fade before a much nastier element. > > The song certainly contains moral judgments, but I'm not convinced that > there's all that much political in it...or am I reading it entirely wrong? > -- > Dick Dunn {hao,ucbvax,allegra}!nbires!rcd (303)444-5710 x3086 > ...Never attribute to malice what can be adequately explained by stupidity. I read an interview with Robert Hunter where he described the song pretty much like the above. The song is indeed about Altamont. It is not a particularly political song, just trying to come to terms with the changing times. Although much of the song is devoted to the "wilting" of the years of the flower children, it also points out that there is a spring ahead (to follow the metaphore). OOne One way or another this darkness got to give. NSB is not just about Altamont, but rather a change that had been coming for a while that was dramatized by the concert in question. The rise of the me generation, an egocentricity that had been creeping into the hippie culture (Please don't dominate the rap jp Jack) was the demise. Nice guys finish last... Hunter usually doesn't like to talk about the specifics of his lyrics. It is a pity because I appreciated NSB much more once I "understood" it. "I don't know, but I've been told, if the horse you don't pull, you got to carry the load..." John