The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics: The Collected Lyrics of Robert Hunter and John Barlow - Hardcover

Robert Hunter; John Barlow

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0743277473 ISBN 13: 9780743277471

Publisher: Free Press, 2005

Synopsis

A complete collection of annotated lyrics by the prolific rock bank, published to coincide with their fortieth anniversary, features literary, historical, and cultural references for every original song, in a volume complemented by performance statistics, thematic essays, and numerous illustrations. 200,000 first printing.

About this title

Review:

Do you know the way to Fennario? Or wonder where the Nuthatch winters? What is the "Buck Dancer's Choice?" And where do the four winds dwell? If these are questions that leave you wondering then David Dodd's The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics may just be the skeleton key you've been looking for. Every Deadhead knows there is something profound hidden within their lyrics, even if most of the nuances go by unnoticed. Why are the obscure tales of their characters' (Jack Straw, Black Peter, August West, et al) trials and tribulations on the psychedelic Americana landscape so intriguing? What is the deal with the reoccurring imagery that popped in and out of their songs for decades (the crows, light and darkness, rolling rivers, gambling, playing cards, space, and, of course, roses)? It is clear the Grateful Dead's lyricists Robert Hunter and John Barlow tapped into the well of the collective subconscious for material, but rarely were any explanations provided. Fans were basically on their own to put the pieces together themselves, until now.

The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics began as a research project for David Dodd while he was working at the University of Colorado. Like many fans before him, Dodd spent hours passionately trying to find the deeper meanings in the Dead's songs. In 1994 the Internet may have been in its infancy, but Dodd knew the Web was the perfect to tool to help him annotate the entire Dead catalog. So began the building of his incredibly popular Web site. The fruits of his labors lie within the pages of this encyclopedic book. Where Robert Hunter's A Box of Rain only includes his lyrical contributions to the Dead's catalog, Dodd's book is expanded to include John Barlow's songs, as well as tunes the Dead covered so many times they became their own. It is worth mentioning, this book should not be viewed as a cheat sheet, but a tool giving lots of background and cross-references. The interpretations are still up to you. Be forewarned, this book can be extremely habit forming. --Rob Bracco

About the Author:

David Dodd is the author of The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics. The founder of The Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics website and coeditor of The Grateful Dead Reader and The Grateful Dead and the Deadheads: An Annotated Bibliography, he is the city librarian of San Rafael, California.

About this edition

• Publisher: Free Press
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0743277473
• ISBN 13: 9780743277471
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 480
• Editor: David Dodd, Alan Trist
• Illustrator: Jim Carpenter