The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics: The Collected Lyrics of Robert Hunter and John Barlow

It came just in time for my grandaughter and I to go to a Dead and Co. show. It was the final tour and she wants to see where the songs came from. This book is perfect for exactly that. I got to inscribe it for her.We love it!JD

If you are a fan of the Grateful Dead, this book is a must. If you are not that familiar with the Grateful Dead, I recommend any of the following books about them to give you some background: "This is All A Dream We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead" by Blair Jackson and David Gans; No Simple Highway: A Cultural History of the Grateful Dead by Peter Richardson; "A Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead by Dennis McNally."The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics, 50th Anniversary Edition" is a well organized and very attractive book. All of the original songs by the Grateful Dead are presented chronologically. The complete lyrics are provided as well as commentary about the lyrics that include: references to factors influencing the lyrics and what certain words in the lyrics refer to. The foreword to this book is written by Robert Hunter who wrote the lyrics to most of their songs.If you don't know, the Grateful Dead is the most iconic of American rock bands and one of the top earning bands in our music history. They are a true American rock band and their song lyrics typically tell a story.The approach to the book that I took is this. I would read the lyrics and commentary of three to four songs each day. Then I would sit down at my work station and play the songs I just read about with the book open so I could follow the lyrics and see how the lyrics related to the music. I found this to be a very interesting and education approach to the book. When you hear the songs and follow the written lyrics, it all makes sense and demonstrates how versatile the Grateful Dead were.Five stars for this beautifully put together book. It is a real collector's piece that should be in any library of American Rock & Roll Music.

Loving the backstories behind some of my favorite songs. A great addition to my bookshelf.

Great printed copy of lyrics, and the annotations are really interesting…most of the time.

Contains all of the lyrics. The annotations are brief and the style of organization is not a narrative one per se, although it is arranged in chronological order of when they were performed. There are over 500 pages but it's not a "read". Robert Hunter shines through nicely throughout as a writer and person, and of course some Jerry quotes are there and these both help to warm the book. I just thought that the annotations would be a lot more interesting with quotes from people who knew or played with the Dead during the tours and studio sets as opposed to literary annotations, such as where Chico, CA is or what the Mission district neighborhood in San Francisco is, and soooo many references to traditional American songs, but with little information beyond that. Nice to read a few lyrics over coffee, but I didn't feel like devouring it after reading through a few songs. It's likely not the fault of the author, but more that the era of the songs' (even the traditional songs) creation and inspiration is a blur and not easy or even necessary to try to nail down. In the end, it's all bigger than a factual thing and that's the beauty and magnetism of the Dead's music anyway, an easy four stars, just not quite a bong hit.

Love this book but it came in damaged. A little disappointed as it is a Christmas gift and have no time to return and order another one. Shipping box was in perfect condition so it was shipped already damaged.

Walk into splintered sunlightInch your way through dead dreams to another landMaybe you're tired and brokenYour tongue is twisted with words half spoken and thoughts unclear

The book is beautiful, as expected, and even arrived early!

Any Dead Head would love this book, super interesting and tons of information you may not know.

great source for all the lyrics, and some background too

Awesome.

While this book is amazing I was not happy with how it was delivered. It was in a box with other items that must have rubbed and ripped the book jacket . Not happy as this was a present for my husband

I bought this sight unseen and - knowing its origin in a web page - wasn't necessarily expecting that much in terms of quality. In fact, though, this is a lavish publication which contains everything that you could ask for and a little bit more.In addition to the lyrics written by The Dead's poet-in-residence, Robert Hunter, there are also those to all the other Grateful Dead songs, including a handful of songs that they often recorded but didn't write, such as "Not Fade Away". Each song appears in chronological order with details of first recording & performance, making this a useful reference tome from the get-go.Next up: you get copious B&W illustrations (effectively cartoons) by Jim Carpenter, set sympathetically into the page, plus a handful of full-page colour illustrations by various hands. To be honest, the Carpenter illustrations don't do much for me, but they do add browsing interest.Finally, the annotations. Not every song is annotated, but some (e.g. "Stagger Lee") get several pages of notes. Some songs get a full essay of explanation (e.g. John Barlow's note on "Cassidy") while others make do with curious or irrelevant details. For example, we are told the population of Mexicali in 2005 and in 1993, but not in the year that "Mexicali Blues" was written.Picking on these details only reminds us, though, that this work is the result of a long process involving many contributors bound together solely by a shared love of the subject. It isn't an academic treatise, and doesn't pretend to be.In production terms, the volume has been expertly typeset in order to keep all the information clear and distinct. The square page means that lyrics and annotation can be closely interrelated, and the binding and paper used are of coffee-table quality.This is a book that fans will find frequent reasons to revisit, and casual listeners will admire for its clarity and completeness. Lyrics books are a fairly nerdy thing, and this one is more so than many, but its outstanding quality and lack of pretentiousness make this one a model that others would do well to emulate.