Fare you well, Mr. Hunter. We love you more than words can tell...
For a man who provided us with so many meaningful words, the soundtrack to our lives, he's left us a bit speechless with his passing. For more than 50 years, since his first lyrical contributions to the Grateful Dead in 1967, Robert Hunter has been just as integral a part of the legacy of the Grateful Dead as those who recorded the music to accompany his words, those who walked out on stage to bring his words to life. More than 2,000 times 1967-1995, these six (or five or seven) proud walkers on the jingle bell rainbow, plus countless thousands of times since then by other performers, the Grateful Dead have brought Hunter's words to life in front of all of us as their witness. Not a single day has gone by since 1984 that Hunter's words haven't been a part of my world; I've heard Jerry, Bob and others sing his words literally every day for the past 35 years.
When the final Fare Thee Well show ended in Chicago in 2015, Mickey Hart famously sent us on our way by asking us to "please, be kind," and that lesson along with its lyrical brethren written by Hunter, "ain't no time to hate," and "are you kind?" are some of the truest words to live by. No matter what meaning, solace, lesson you find in Hunter's lyrics, please go out and do some good with them.
David Lemieux
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Robert Hunter RIP
Sleep in the stars Mr. Hunter and thank you for your wonderful words of wisdom. Those words will last many lifetimes.
I met this news with choking sobs and a brief torrent of tears that I am unable to fully explain. Perhaps it's that Garcia's emotive play and Hunter's indelible writing are intertwined visceral threads of my enduring attachment the Dead. I believe Hunter authored the preeminent national songbook through a profoundly unprecedented expression of the pathos, humour, violence, optimism, greed, and grace native to the quintessential Americana tradition.
I once heard that you don't die when you draw your last breath,you die when your name is last mentioned.Robert Hunter will live on for a mighty long time!
Thank you Mr Hunter,you made my life better.
May God bless and keep you always.
After my first clueless exposure 9-15-67 and on through an almost gradual evolutionary immersion in the experience that was the combined musical explorations of the band in all incarnations merged with the lyrical gems that Robert Hunter pulled from the universe, I still discover new nuances in what he wrote even to this day.
It would be hard to pin down an absolute favorite or even a top 10 from the massive collection of his writings that mixed deep thoughts, word images, stories & an occasional bit of the whimsical silly. Very few other great songwriters even come close.
I do recall a performance he did with the '97 Furthur Fest of Box of Rain shortly after my own father's passing that was quite poignant.
Robert will be sorely missed as are all the others in the band that have moved on to their next stages. Enjoy these music performances while they are still here to experience live. Ain't nothin' like it anywhere else.
Thank you Robert Hunter.