Speaking of Jerry . . .
Yes, I know that traditional Dead Heads are divided by this song. But so far as I can tell it really is in keeping with the Dead’s eclectic open-mindedness about not only music but artistic endeavor in general. I mean Jerry’s guitar at about 12:14 is a fantastic blend of jazz, rock, and going into gospely-operatic-monkish-cult chant as things unfold into the symphonic. The lyrics seem as they might fall apart each verse and then they are reined in again. The song is DEEPLY philosophical/religious without ever being ham-fisted . . . a rarity.
Lyrics by Robert Hunter. The song annotated here.
Hold away despair, more than this I will not ask.
Faced with mysteries dark and vast, statements just seem vain at last.
Some rise, some fall, some climb, to get to terrapin.
manwithoutqualities 