Fare you well, my 20 big ones (Grateful Thread)

Input Tune of the Fatman
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Hi the first band i ever knew anything about or loved is the Grateful Dead. They are my dad’s favorite band; he’s a Deadhead in the classic sense, in that he followed them obsessively, recorded bootleg tapes of their shows that he meticulously notated and has strong opinions about, and played them all the time for his kids when they were babies e.g. me, specifically. My first song for this thread is the first song in my life that i could name that wasn’t by Raffi*

ITT im gonna mostly reference studio recordings of these songs even though that is notably not how true music Deadheads do. They are the ur-jam band, and i think live Dead is the ideal way to take them in, preferably over a shitty speaker on a hot summer day while one grills and enjoys a beer + joint. However i am not primarily evaluating them for that, im not a live show expert, i just adore them as a psychedlic folk outfit & a cornerstone of my musical tastes + childhood nostalgia. All that is to say don’t judge me if you’re more of a head than i am, link your favorite shows/performances plz

and with that caveat out the way heres 2 of my other favorite Dead songs specifically from American Beauty which is one of the best, albums? ever??


i actually dunno how many of my 20 big ones to give away right away lol. Here’s another that i doubt is a popular favorite

Shakedown Street is also a fucking great album and i love the couple of songs Donna Godchaux got with the band, it’s nice to hear sweet lady vocals over Dead tunes

Anyway!! i love the Dead talk to me about the Dead

  1. Birdsong
  2. Ripple
  3. Brokedown Palace
  4. From the Heart of Me

*no hate to Raffi i love that guy. i love to ate aepples and banaynays

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bird song is also my favorite grateful dead song and means things which are very personal and embarrassing and painful to me. wish i could find my very favorite live version, but there’s this

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5. “Cassidy”

These are in no particular order except that “Birdsong” and “Ripple” are definitely my top 2. Upon thinking this one is my #3 favorite even though it is also #5 on my list of 20 Big Ones

i just think this is one of the loveliest songs ever written. im not going to be able to say anything smart about its meaning here is a nice (long!) story about it. It’s a concept too big and difficult for me to express yet. and anyway, this song does it for me. RIP Bobby.

  1. Birdsong
  2. Ripple
  3. Brokedown Palace
  4. From the Heart of Me
  5. Cassidy
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what a long strange trip its been

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I know this is technically two songs but as long as I’ve known the two are always stitched together into one.

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When I was in junior high, when Bill Graham died, my best friend’s dad made us drive out with him in his little green Alfa Romeo coupe to the Memorial concert. There were a lot of great acts that day, including Crosby Stills Nash & Young for the first time in who knows how long; what I’ll always remember the Dead set, including a DC3 flying over the crowd and dropping roses on everybody.

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