Grateful Daze

Jerry Garcia of The Grateful Dead

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Cruisin Down Memory Lane
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I recently ran into an old friend of mine, and we started talking about old times. We went to Grateful Dead shows together back in the day, so naturally the subject came up.
Talking about those days brought back old memories of piling in my buddies bus and heading off to some far away city to see a show. I spent one of the best summers of my life traveling around the country chasing the band, and becoming part of the circus of fans called Dead Heads who lived for this. Our entire lives revolved around going to Dead shows, it became our way of life. The groove and our way of life came to an abrupt end on Aug.9, 1995, when we found out Jerry died at the age of 53, in a Northern California residential drug treatment center, a victim of a heart attack. The Grateful Dead blended blues, rock, country and folk music with a dash of the psychedelic sound of the sixties counter-culture that grew out of their home base of San Francisco. Over three decades, the dead became one of the most popular concert draws in the world... Well, needless to say our lives were shattered, but his memory will live on forever in the hearts of the dedicated fans that lived for the music and the lifestyle that was created as a result. The day i found out, me and my local Dead Head friends gathered around the campfire to share stories of life on the road, and the amazing, life changing music that guided us through our lives. I wrote this poem the day Jerry died~

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I Was But A Child

I was but a child then,
so i did not feel the loss,

from Jimi, Janis, Pigpen,
i did not pay the cost.

When we lost brother Brent,
it made me weep for years,

but Jerry was ever there to
guide me through my tears.

Now even he is gone,
i feel lost and alone,

i think of what is lost,
and i am frozen to the bone.

How long will i weep now,
will i ever quit?

I drop into the abyss,
black and bottomless pit.

Now i am torn down,
far below how low i can go,

and all of this because,
there will never be
another show....

This work by mysticdave is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.


Over the years the pain has subsided, and the remaining members of the band, carry on, and continue to play music. Here is a glimpse into the fascinating, magical world of The Grateful Dead :)
The Grateful Dead~1965

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The Grateful Dead~1995
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Jerry Garcia~Ripple~My Favorite Jerry Song :)

Grateful Dead - 6-26-94 - So Many Roads~Las Vegas Show~I was there!!
This is one of the monumental Jerry ballads from the later years. Enjoy this one folks... it will definitely ease your soul. Anyone who knows Jerry's music will understand what this song meant to him. An affirmation and definition of his life and travels....

Grateful Dead - Peggy O - 6-26-94~
A magic moment in time captured in Las Vegas in 1994. This one is pure Jerry, frail yet strong and full of emotion. In my opinion, the solo alone is possibly one of the most poetic and heartfelt of Jerry's later years...

Grateful Dead-Eyes Of The World (3-27-88)
From Hampton, Virginia.... And on and on and on they go!!!!!


Grateful Dead - Iko Iko - Anaheim 1987


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