Grateful Dead

For the scoop on what this is all about,visit MY G.D. FRIENDS PORTAL on FB, take a poke around, & take in all the riddles & rhymes that Hunter/Garcia have covertly laced, at last count, in 36 songs,,,that's 18 pairings of songs that will change everything you thought you knew about some of your favourite tunes~~ it undoubtedly uncovers where several tunes grew out of...both musically & lyrically. Sure, there are many sites that cover this topic, DAVID DODDS ANNOTATED LYRICS, but no one seems to touch on what I'm getting into, & what Hunter has confirmed to me as being 'real'~ Truly bookworthy!!
kenny (moto) @ kslewitt@gmail.com
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I am a songwriter wanting to honor the dead for the influence they had during my formative years. I will soon be in studio to cut a new album and am seeking out any written works that were never recorded or used in any way, anyone know where I should look??

Greetings, As it seems there is no way to post directly to the 'Annotated Fire On The Mountain' page, I will post here for lack of any other options directly linked to Deadnet. I was recently doing research on the Old Testament of the Bible, and working around the 'fire on the mountain' (exodus 19:18) where Moses speaks and "the voice of God answered him", I stumbled onto an interesting piece of Scripture that may reveal a bit more of the lyrics to FOTM, and possibly bring light to some of Hunter's mixed-metaphor. In chapter 35 of Exodus, Moses assembled the entire Israelite community to elucidate the commands of the Lord regarding the specific construction of the Tabernacle, the moveable temple which would contain the Ark of the Covenant. Unlike most other commands in which choice was not an option, this exceptionally-important decree was to involve a 'Freewill Offering', whereby it reads: [(5)"Take from among you a contribution to the LORD; whoever is of a willing heart, let him bring it as the LORD'S contribution: gold, silver, and bronze, (6)and blue, purple and scarlet material, fine linen, goats' hair, (7)and rams' skins dyed red, and porpoise skins, and acacia wood,…"] These materials, explicitly outlined by God and commanded through Moses, were all very precious possessions and useful daily resources among the nomadic Israelite people. Nowhere in the scripture does it say that ANY materials were bought, traded for, or in any way sourced externally-- all of these items had to come from WITHIN the possessions already owned by the people. The fact that this is coupled with the notion of a 'Freewill offering' means, by design, that in all likelihood not everyone was so eager to give over their treasures for the edification of the Tabernacle at the expense of their pocketbook: "Long distance runner what you standing there for? Get up, get off, get out of the door You're playing cold music on the bar room floor, drowned in your laughter and dead to the core There's a dragon with matches loose on the town Take a whole pail of water just to cool him down" Freedom of choice was permitted here, where an individual might stand reluctant amid throngs of neighbors rushing to sacrifice their own 'water to quench the Lord's fire'...and it may be that in some way what Robert Hunter penned was a view from a house in which someone or some people were confronted with the moral dilemma of self vs. community. The timing and tension is almost palpable, as social pressure mounts, as group conscience intervenes, as (through a mixed metaphor) the 'wood kindling' is close to the desired effect of a 'blaze': "Almost aflame still you don't feel the heat Takes all you got just to stay on the beat You say it's a living, we all gotta eat but you're here alone there's no one to compete If mercy's in business I wish it for you More than just ashes when your dreams come true." Finally, I believe the key to this layout being true lies in a specific lyric: "Long distance runner what you holdin out for? Caught in slow motion in your dash to the door The flame from your stage has now spread to the floor You gave all you got, why you wanta give more?" This seems a bit strange in lyrical context, almost nonsensical. Why would the narrator-witness protagonist contradict themselves by describing a verbal encounter of pressuring the antagonist, and then immediately speak of holding the same antagonist back? The answer lies in the SEQUENCE of these events, not in the concurrent phrasing of them. Chapter 36 of Exodus describes how, once all of the necessary building materials were gathered, all willing Israelite craftsmen were called into duty, but [(36:3)"the people continued to bring freewill offerings morning after morning.(4)So all the skilled workers who were doing all the work on the sanctuary left what they were doing (5) and said to Moses, “The people are bringing more than enough for doing the work the Lord commanded to be done.” (6) Then Moses gave an order and they sent this word throughout the camp: “No man or woman is to make anything else as an offering for the sanctuary.” And so the people were restrained from bringing more, (7) because what they already had was more than enough to do all the work."] "The flame from your stage has now spread to the floor You gave all you got, why you wanta give more?" The preceding line: "Long distance runner what you holdin out for? Caught in slow motion in your dash to the door" is the final push or nudge of the protagonist upon the antagonist, which is directly juxtaposed with the final line of the verse, occurring perhaps an hour or more thereafter, as poetically the antagonist has undergone the right moral action, and the 'flame is ablaze'. At that point Moses calls for a cease-fire of donations in order to allow the craftsmen some room to breathe. Though Hunter likely had other ideas and motifs involved with this song, as all the others, I am confident this portion on ideology and biblical history played a role. It is a joyous song, a meaningful and timeless lyric defining the possibility of moral righteousness with a bit of social boosting, a celebration of the otherness of the supreme Deity, and a tale very much human.

the spam is gone, but the testimonial lingers on. Great work, ddodd!

One of the Greatest Books on Earth.Even the spam knows it, HA! Great thread, xo!

I got the book for a birthday present from my boyfriend after Jerry died. I enjoyed reading about Jerry's birthday and even though I have just about every thing they dead recorded I found the book on the lyrics very injoyable.

glad to hear it!

it's back..sorry for the alarm. "I never meant to cause you any harm" BHIC

Maybe the server is down today 1-16-2011 but I was going to check out the site and it came up like this: Whoops! Page not found. 404 Error - The page that you are looking for cannot be found. Division Home Art Film and Digital Media History of Art and Visual Culture Music Theater Arts David please tell us you have the html coding and info for this site stored somewhere else, so at the least it could be put up online! Even with Facebook today you could do something, or free website hosting. I'm so bummed! WallsTV "I never meant to cause you any harm" BHIC

Just received it from my daughter Sarah who found it in a HMV store in Mtl for CAN$10. Can't wait to discover what I missed when I did'nt really understand english.Share the LOVE! Richard.