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
dead comment
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 have spent my life
Seeking all that's still unsung
Bent my ear to hear the tune
And closed my eyes to see
When there were no strings to play
You played to me
Our departed friend, if he proved anything to us, he proved that good music can make sad times better. We’ve got our work cut out for us this evening, so we’ll just get started.
https://archive.org/details/rd1995-08-09.dsbd.flaschner.flac16
Gonna Leave That Brokedown Palace
Orpheus requires no tomb.
The god himself shines from the flower;
in his mortal stead behold the rose in bloom,
resurrected in one thing and another beyond our
power to name. In the short and long,
suffice it that though he comes and goes:
'tis Orpheus singing wherever there's song.
Give thanks should he sometime outlive the rose.