The Grateful Dead...Relevant Lyrics

[LeftyFingerPop]

This song "Throwing Stones" keeps running through my head today. written in 1987....there are a few key lines in here.


Picture a bright blue ball just spinning, spinning free
Dizzy with eternity.
Paint it with a skin of sky, brush in some clouds and sea
Call it home for you and me.
A peaceful place or so it looks from space
A closer look reveals the human race.
Full of hope, full of grace, is the human face.
But afraid, we may our home to waste.

There’s a fear down here we can’t forget hasn’t got a name just yet
Always awake, always around singing ashes to ashes all fall down.

Now watch as the ball revolves and the nighttime calls
And again the hunt begins and again the bloodwind calls
By and by again, the morning sun will rise
But the darkness never goes from some men’s eyes.

It strolls the sidewalks and it rolls the streets
Stalking turf, dividing up meat.
Nightmare spook, piece of heat, you and me, you and me.

Click, flashblade in ghetto night. rudie’s looking for a fight.
Rat cat alley roll them bones. need that cash to feed that jones
And the politicians throwing stones
Singing ashes, ashes all fall down.

Commissars and pin-striped bosses role the dice
Any way they fall guess who gets to pay the price.
Money green or proletarian gray, selling guns instead of food today.

So the kids they dance, they shake their bones
While the politicians throwing stones
Singing ashes, ashes all fall down.

Heartless powers try to tell us what to think
If the spirit’s sleeping, then the flesh is ink.
History’s page, it is thusly carved in stone
The future’s here, we are it, we are on our own.

If the game is lost then we’re all the same
No one left to place or take the blame.
We will leave this place an empty stone
Or this shinning ball of blue we can call our home

So the kids they dance, they shake their bones
While the politicians are throwing stones
Singing ashes, ashes all fall down.

Shipping powders back and forth
Singing black goes south while white comes north
And the whole world full of petty wars
Singing I got mine and you got yours.

And the current fashions set the pace.
Lose your step, fall out of grace.
And the radical he rant and rage, singing someone got to turn the page

And the rich man in his summer home,
Singing just leave well enough alone
But his pants are down, his cover’s blown
And the politicians are throwing stones

So the kids they dance they shake their bones
Cause it’s all too clear we’re on our own

Picture a bright blue ball just spinning, spinning free
It’s dizzying, the possibilities. ashes, ashes all fall down.

[Tace]

1. Yeah, Lyrics By John Perry Barlow

One of the founders of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

And music by Bob Weir. Yo Bob!

[Must_B_Free]

8. and he was recently busted for pot and mushrooms

trying to take it on a plane with him or something....

[WilliamPitt]

2. Weird

I was *just* listening to that.

[ClayZ]

3. "Cause it’s all too clear we’re on our own"

:kick:

[meganmonkey]

4. The future’s here, we are it, we are on our own.

Yeah, I may have to listen to some Dead today.

My SO will just have to put up with it :)

[Old and In the Way]

5. The music video reinforces the point of these lyrics.

Wierd that the last real "hit" the Dead had was such a dark tune....

[Warren DeMontague]

11. Actually, the last real hit the Dead had

was Touch of Grey- and despite all that particular rigamarole engendered, the song does have a pretty uplifting message.

(Throwing Stones has a positive side, too, although it is stark in presenting the dichotomy facing us: Death, or a future "dizzyin' with possibilities")

Fuckit, I'm not particularly religious, but I think Jesus had it right; the meek shall inherit the Earth... because the stone-cold bastards are going to all kill each other off over who gets more money... or whose dick, car, gun or god is bigger.

It's entirely possible that We Will Survive, in which case someone's gonna need to be here to pick up the pieces and try to do things right on (and by) this planet.

[eridani]

6. Ripple

If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine
And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung,
Would you hear my voice come thru the music,
Would you hold it near as it were your own?

It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken,
Perhaps they're better left unsung.
I don't know, don't really care
Let there be songs to fill the air.

Ripple in still water,
When there is no pebble tossed,
Nor wind to blow.

Reach out your hand if your cup be empty,
If your cup is full may it be again,
Let it be known there is a fountain,
That was not made by the hands of men.

There is a road, no simple highway,
Between the dawn and the dark of night,
And if you go no one may follow,
That path is for your steps alone.

Ripple in still water,
When there is no pebble tossed,
Nor wind to blow.

You who choose to lead must follow,
But if you fall you fall alone,
If you should stand then who's to guide you?
If I knew the way I would take you home.

[MissMarple]

7. Way too weird. As I read the lyrics I could hear Sugarland singing.

What can I say, I listen to CMT. :Shrug:

But the song was still QUITE effective. Celtic music rules, guys.

[Warren DeMontague]

9. I'm as big a Deadhead as they come, but this is what I've been cranking:

(A simple song - that manages to work on a lot of different levels)


Hello, I saw you, I know you, I knew you
I think I can remember your name...name
Hello, I'm sorry, I lost myself
I think I thought you were someone else

Should we talk about the weather? (Hi...hi, hi)
Should we talk about the government? (Hi...hi, hi, hi)

Hello, how are you? I know you, I knew you
I think I can remember your name...name
Hello, I'm sorry I lost myself
I think I thought you were someone else

Should we talk about the weather? (Hi...hi, hi)
Should we talk about the government? (Hi...hi, hi, hi)

Hello my friend, are you visible today?
You know I never knew that it could be so strange...strange
Hello, I'm sorry, I lost myself
I think I thought you were someone else

Should we talk about the weather? (Hi...hi, hi)
Should we talk about the government? (Hi...hi, hi, hi)

[Warren DeMontague]

10. Welcome to DU, Philboy!

:hi: :hippie: :hi: