The 10 Greatest Grateful Dead Songs (Part 3)

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5) Scarlet Begonias

This song is Hunter and Garcia firing on all cylinders. An awesome guitar riff (he wrote some of the most original ever) interspersed with Robert Hunter's bursts of genius. "I knew without asking she was into the blues", "She wore scarlet begonia's tucked into her curls" and "Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right". And at the end of the song the band finally gets to the promised land,

"The sky was yellow and the sun was blue,
Strangers stoppin' strangers just to shake their hand,
Everybody's playing in the heart of gold band, heart of gold band".

This was one of the first songs that made me realize how good they were. I originally heard the cover of it by Sublime, which is really good and easy to like; you don't have to be into 22 minutes of jamming on a 3 minute song to hear that it's great. I wasn't into long jams at the time and I'm still not. But once you see that at the core of what their playing is a great rock song it all makes a lot more sense. Strip it down boys, there's something at the bottom worth seeing.








6) Uncle John's Band

They could write hooks, this should have been a hit. Even in highschool when I didn't like them I still liked this song. The melody is so pretty you can lose track of how the words are, once again, tinged with Robert Hunter's saddness and sense of fate.


"Cause when life looks like Easy Street, there is danger at your door"

"I live in a silver mine and I call it Beggar's Tomb;
I got me a violin and I beg you call the tune"

"Goddamn, well I declare, have you seen the like?
Their wall are built of cannonballs, their motto is "Don't tread on me".
Come hear Uncle John'n Band playing to the tide,
Come with me, or go alone, he's come to take his children home"

"It's the same story the crow told me; it's the only one he knows.
Like the morning sun you come and like the wind you go.
Ain't no time to hate, barely time to wait,
Wo, oh, what I want to know, where does the time go?"

It's like all along the watchtower the hour was getting late, but when the two riders who were approaching got there the place was empty; and the children all gone home.



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