Interview with Phil Lesh and Robert Hunter

This clip is an interview with Phil Lesh and Robert Hunter. Lesh describes how the lyrics relate to his personal life at the time, just after his dad had died. The background music is "Box of Rain," the first track of the album.

American Beauty Tracks

1) Box of Rain

2) Friend of the Devil

3) Sugar Magnolia

4) Operator

5) Candyman

6) Ripple

7) Brokedown Palace

8) Till the Morning Comes

9) Attics of My Life

10) Truckin'

American Beauty Mp3 Files

Robert Hunter's Take

Robert Hunter, a lyricist for the Dead and an early friend of Jerry Garcia, shares his view of American Beauty in Skeleton Key: A Dictionary for Deadheads by David Shenk and Steve Silberman. 

   Hunter notes that there is an "underlying tone of sadness" throughout he album, as manifested in the tracks "Box Of Rain," "Brokedown Palace," "Attics of My Life" and "Ripple."The melancholy tone is due to the coinciding events of the Dead members' personal lives. Phil's, the bass guitarist's, father had just died, and Jerry', the lead band member's, mother was dying in the hospital after a car accident. The work still boasts some more upbeat tunes, however, such as in the form of "Sugar Magnolia," which Hunter describes as re-affirming the important business of just getting stupid and being in love. Finally, "Truckin" served to symbolize the rock and roll departure.

Backstage Pass

Above is a copy of a backstage pass from one of the Grateful Dead's late concerts, as can be seen by the July 1995 date. The Grateful Dead played for so many years after their inception because of their cult-like following, often referred to as the"most dedicated group of fans ever to bind themselves to a musical group, the so-called Dead Heads" (McQuail).

The Album Cover

American Beauty

The wording on the front cover the album is an ambigram.  An ambigram is a style of wording that can be read as one or more words not only in the form presented but also from other viewpoints.  The ambigram creates a psychedelic experience which remains true to the genre of much of the Grateful Dead's music.

Box of Rain

BOX OF RAIN
Look out of any window
any morning, any evening, any day
Maybe the sun is shining
birds are winging or
rain is falling from a heavy sky -
What do you want me to do,
to do for you to see you through?
this is all a dream we dreamed 
one afternoon long ago 
Walk out of any doorway
feel your way, feel your way
like the day before
Maybe you'll find direction
around some corner
where it's been waiting to meet you -
What do you want me to do,
to watch for you while you're sleeping?
Well please don't be surprised
when you find me dreaming too

Look into any eyes
you find by you, you can see 
clear through to another day
I know it's been seen before 
through other eyes on other days 
while going home --
What do you want me to do,
to do for you to see you through?
It's all a dream we dreamed 
one afternoon long ago

Walk into splintered sunlight
Inch your way through dead dreams
to another land
Maybe you're tired and broken
Your tongue is twisted
with words half spoken 
and thoughts unclear
What do you want me to do
to do for you to see you through
A box of rain will ease the pain 
and love will see you through

Just a box of rain -
wind and water -
Believe it if you need it,
if you don't just pass it on
Sun and shower -
Wind and rain -
in and out the window
like a moth before a flame

It's just a box of rain
I don't know who put it there
Believe it if you need it
or leave it if you dare
But it's just a box of rain
or a ribbon for your hair
Such a long long time to be gone 
and a short time to be there 

"Box of Rain" is the first track on American Beauty by The Grateful Dead.  The song was composed by Phil Lesh and the lyrics were written by Robert Hunter.  "Box of Rain" is an acoustic song and has folk and country roots.  This is the first Grateful Dead song produced to feature Phil Lesh as the lead vocalist.


Lesh directed Hunter to write a song that he could sing to his father who was dying.  Once "Box of Rain" was written, Hunter drove to the nursing home where he sung the song for his father who was dying of terminal cancer.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4SqDx1vi4c

One with the Fans

"By the mid-1960s, America's "counterculture" blossomed, centered in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. Young people 'dropped out' by using marijuana and LSD, living communally, and resisting materialism. Two major bands—Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead—played local venues for this new counterculture. The Dead participated in a series of "Acid Tests," organized by Ken Kesey, where audiences dropped acid (which was still legal) and danced to music and light shows, trying to build off the energy of the bands. Films of these events depict the audience and performers evenly, showing that both mattered. This relationship between performer and audience became a trademark for the Grateful Dead, who continued to tour up into the 1990s. The Dead performed audience requests and reported a spiritual connection with their audiences, who performed a variety of rituals, including gathering in parking lots before shows, trading tapes of performances, and tripping on acid."-Kevin Mattson describes in the article "Rock Concert Audiences" in the Encyclopedia of Recreation and Leisure in America.

As we read in Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test Ken Kesey organized large gatherings where hippies would experiment with drugs such as acid. The Grateful Dead served as a band that united with the people, fostering a sense of community that was quintessential to the hippies' way of life.