Grateful Dead Blues For Allah Rar Files
By David DoddHere’s the plan—each week, I will blog about a different song, focusing, usually, on the lyrics, but also on some other aspects of the song, including its overall impact—a truly subjective thing. Therefore, the best part, I would hope, would not be anything in particular that I might have to say, but rather, the conversation that may happen via the comments over the course of time—and since all the posts will stay up, you can feel free to weigh in any time on any of the songs! With Grateful Dead lyrics, there’s always a new and different take on what they bring up for each listener, it seems. (I’ll consider requests for particular songs—just private message me!)When the Bush regime invaded Iraq in search of the supposed hidden caches of weapons of mass destruction, I changed the kicker line on the “Annotated Lyrics” website to the line from “Blues for Allah”: “The ships of state sail on mirage and drown in sand.”It has been, what, 11 1/2 years? And despite a regime change here at home, we seem to find ourselves embroiled in an endless war in the Middle East. Once again, the United States is engaged in hostilities that include air strikes and now, boots on the ground, and there is a new enemy, the self-proclaimed Islamic State.The Grateful Dead refrained fairly emphatically from overt political expression, but “Blues for Allah” stands with those very few songs that do make a statement. “Standing on the Moon”; “Ship of Fools”; “My Brother Esau”; “Throwing Stones”—those few songs (you might argue for “U.S.
Blues,” and indeed, several others) stand as the exception.Hunter wrote about the song, in A Box of Rain: 'This lyric is a requiem for King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, a progressive and democratically inclined ruler (and, incidentally, a fan of the Grateful Dead) whose assassination in 1975 shocked us personally. The lyrics were printed in Arabic on the jacket of the Middle Eastern release of the album.' The lyric may be a requiem for a certain King, but it stands as a universal statement about war. “What good is spilling blood?
It will not grow a thing.” It includes an overt acknowledgement of the conflict between Muslims and Jews: “Let’s meet as friends / The flower of Islam / The fruit of Abraham.”. It contains an appeal to reason in the face of opposed beliefs:Let's see with our heartThese things our eyes have seenAnd know the truth must stillLie somewhere in betweenI’ve made the case a number of times for the significance of taking a principled stand for not knowing, with the phrase “I don’t know” becoming a touch-point throughout so many of Hunter’s lyrics. When the truth lies “somewhere in between,” we are open to the state of ambiguity, and that alone can defuse conflict, I believe. It’s when people are sure of themselves, when they buy into a dogma, that they feel it is the right thing to kill someone who believes differently.The lyric includes a number of pointed references, including scriptural (“the needle’s eye is thin”), and literary (“the thousand stories have come round to one again”—a reference to Scheherazade, who also appears in “What’s Become of the Baby?”).Never a staple of live performance, the song uses a freely-flowing, unmetered melodic line (no time signature is given in the printed music) that breaks out of western musical norms. Nothing unusual about breaking out of norms, for the Dead, but there is something unusual about “Blues for Allah,” musically speaking, that is unlike most of the other unusualness in which the band indulged.
It’s a disciplined, planned, and rehearsed weirdness.“Blues for Allah” is a suite that includes the subsequent “Sand Castles and Glass Camels” (attributed to the entire band) and “Unusual Occurrences in the Desert,” which is credited, as is “Blues for Allah,” to Hunter and Garcia. The mesmerizing “Under eternity, under eternity, under eternity blue,” refrain seems to go on for quite awhile (nine repetitions), and then the “Bird of paradise” section of “Blues for Allah” is reprised, followed by Garcia playing the melody once through. It’s worth noting that the motif that opens the suite on the album is the “Under eternity” phrase.I enjoy the lyric linkage to “What’s Become of the Baby?” because of the similar position occupied by the two songs on their respective albums—not attempting to sound like songs, really, but as experimental musical compositions with sung parts.The vocal parts on “Blues for Allah” are varied and complex—great care was taken with the arrangement of the voices so that the various harmonic implications of the melody could be explored, without much in the way of instrumental clues. Donna’s wailing parts over the top of the “under eternity” section are effective and eery and perfect.I always wished to hear the song done live. I’ve played it, by request of my minister, in a church service as an instrumental piano piece. But really, I need to arrange it for choir, mapping out the vocal harmonies, and enlist my drummer friends to do it right—I think it would be a very effective piece done in a very low-tech, acoustic manner.The song has been brought back in several performances.
Furthur played it, as did Warren Haynes in his “Jerry Garcia Symphonic” shows with symphony orchestras. So I think the song will live on.But even without any more live performances, the song stands as a reminder of the hopelessness of war.“Allah—Pray where are you now?”Insh’allah. By David DoddHere’s the plan—each week, I will blog about a different song, focusing, usually, on the lyrics, but also on some other aspects of the song, including its overall impact—a truly subjective thing.
Therefore, the best part, I would hope, would not be anything in particular that I might have to say, but rather, the conversation that may happen via the comments over the course of time—and since all the posts will stay up, you can feel free to weigh in any time on any of the songs! With Grateful Dead lyrics, there’s always a new and different take on what they bring up for each listener, it seems. (I’ll consider requests for particular songs—just private message me!)When the Bush regime invaded Iraq in search of the supposed hidden caches of weapons of mass destruction, I changed the kicker line on the “Annotated Lyrics” website to the line from “Blues for Allah”: “The ships of state sail on mirage and drown in sand.”It has been, what, 11 1/2 years? And despite a regime change here at home, we seem to find ourselves embroiled in an endless war in the Middle East. Once again, the United States is engaged in hostilities that include air strikes and now, boots on the ground, and there is a new enemy, the self-proclaimed Islamic State.The Grateful Dead refrained fairly emphatically from overt political expression, but “Blues for Allah” stands with those very few songs that do make a statement. “Standing on the Moon”; “Ship of Fools”; “My Brother Esau”; “Throwing Stones”—those few songs (you might argue for “U.S. Blues,” and indeed, several others) stand as the exception.Hunter wrote about the song, in A Box of Rain: 'This lyric is a requiem for King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, a progressive and democratically inclined ruler (and, incidentally, a fan of the Grateful Dead) whose assassination in 1975 shocked us personally.
The lyrics were printed in Arabic on the jacket of the Middle Eastern release of the album.' The lyric may be a requiem for a certain King, but it stands as a universal statement about war.
“What good is spilling blood? It will not grow a thing.” It includes an overt acknowledgement of the conflict between Muslims and Jews: “Let’s meet as friends / The flower of Islam / The fruit of Abraham.”. It contains an appeal to reason in the face of opposed beliefs:Let's see with our heartThese things our eyes have seenAnd know the truth must stillLie somewhere in betweenI’ve made the case a number of times for the significance of taking a principled stand for not knowing, with the phrase “I don’t know” becoming a touch-point throughout so many of Hunter’s lyrics. When the truth lies “somewhere in between,” we are open to the state of ambiguity, and that alone can defuse conflict, I believe. It’s when people are sure of themselves, when they buy into a dogma, that they feel it is the right thing to kill someone who believes differently.The lyric includes a number of pointed references, including scriptural (“the needle’s eye is thin”), and literary (“the thousand stories have come round to one again”—a reference to Scheherazade, who also appears in “What’s Become of the Baby?”).Never a staple of live performance, the song uses a freely-flowing, unmetered melodic line (no time signature is given in the printed music) that breaks out of western musical norms. Nothing unusual about breaking out of norms, for the Dead, but there is something unusual about “Blues for Allah,” musically speaking, that is unlike most of the other unusualness in which the band indulged.
It’s a disciplined, planned, and rehearsed weirdness.“Blues for Allah” is a suite that includes the subsequent “Sand Castles and Glass Camels” (attributed to the entire band) and “Unusual Occurrences in the Desert,” which is credited, as is “Blues for Allah,” to Hunter and Garcia. The mesmerizing “Under eternity, under eternity, under eternity blue,” refrain seems to go on for quite awhile (nine repetitions), and then the “Bird of paradise” section of “Blues for Allah” is reprised, followed by Garcia playing the melody once through. It’s worth noting that the motif that opens the suite on the album is the “Under eternity” phrase.I enjoy the lyric linkage to “What’s Become of the Baby?” because of the similar position occupied by the two songs on their respective albums—not attempting to sound like songs, really, but as experimental musical compositions with sung parts.The vocal parts on “Blues for Allah” are varied and complex—great care was taken with the arrangement of the voices so that the various harmonic implications of the melody could be explored, without much in the way of instrumental clues. Donna’s wailing parts over the top of the “under eternity” section are effective and eery and perfect.I always wished to hear the song done live. I’ve played it, by request of my minister, in a church service as an instrumental piano piece.
But really, I need to arrange it for choir, mapping out the vocal harmonies, and enlist my drummer friends to do it right—I think it would be a very effective piece done in a very low-tech, acoustic manner.The song has been brought back in several performances. Furthur played it, as did Warren Haynes in his “Jerry Garcia Symphonic” shows with symphony orchestras. So I think the song will live on.But even without any more live performances, the song stands as a reminder of the hopelessness of war.“Allah—Pray where are you now?”Insh’allah.
By David DoddHere’s the plan—each week, I will blog about a different song, focusing, usually, on the lyrics, but also on some other aspects of the song, including its overall impact—a truly subjective thing. Therefore, the best part, I would hope, would not be anything in particular that I might have to say, but rather, the conversation that may happen via the comments over the course of time—and since all the posts will stay up, you can feel free to weigh in any time on any of the songs! With Grateful Dead lyrics, there’s always a new and different take on what they bring up for each listener, it seems. (I’ll consider requests for particular songs—just private message me!)When the Bush regime invaded Iraq in search of the supposed hidden caches of weapons of mass destruction, I changed the kicker line on the “Annotated Lyrics” website to the line from “Blues for Allah”: “The ships of state sail on mirage and drown in sand.”It has been, what, 11 1/2 years? And despite a regime change here at home, we seem to find ourselves embroiled in an endless war in the Middle East. Once again, the United States is engaged in hostilities that include air strikes and now, boots on the ground, and there is a new enemy, the self-proclaimed Islamic State.The Grateful Dead refrained fairly emphatically from overt political expression, but “Blues for Allah” stands with those very few songs that do make a statement.
“Standing on the Moon”; “Ship of Fools”; “My Brother Esau”; “Throwing Stones”—those few songs (you might argue for “U.S. Blues,” and indeed, several others) stand as the exception.Hunter wrote about the song, in A Box of Rain: 'This lyric is a requiem for King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, a progressive and democratically inclined ruler (and, incidentally, a fan of the Grateful Dead) whose assassination in 1975 shocked us personally. The lyrics were printed in Arabic on the jacket of the Middle Eastern release of the album.'
The lyric may be a requiem for a certain King, but it stands as a universal statement about war. “What good is spilling blood? It will not grow a thing.” It includes an overt acknowledgement of the conflict between Muslims and Jews: “Let’s meet as friends / The flower of Islam / The fruit of Abraham.”. It contains an appeal to reason in the face of opposed beliefs:Let's see with our heartThese things our eyes have seenAnd know the truth must stillLie somewhere in betweenI’ve made the case a number of times for the significance of taking a principled stand for not knowing, with the phrase “I don’t know” becoming a touch-point throughout so many of Hunter’s lyrics.
When the truth lies “somewhere in between,” we are open to the state of ambiguity, and that alone can defuse conflict, I believe. It’s when people are sure of themselves, when they buy into a dogma, that they feel it is the right thing to kill someone who believes differently.The lyric includes a number of pointed references, including scriptural (“the needle’s eye is thin”), and literary (“the thousand stories have come round to one again”—a reference to Scheherazade, who also appears in “What’s Become of the Baby?”).Never a staple of live performance, the song uses a freely-flowing, unmetered melodic line (no time signature is given in the printed music) that breaks out of western musical norms. Nothing unusual about breaking out of norms, for the Dead, but there is something unusual about “Blues for Allah,” musically speaking, that is unlike most of the other unusualness in which the band indulged.
It’s a disciplined, planned, and rehearsed weirdness.“Blues for Allah” is a suite that includes the subsequent “Sand Castles and Glass Camels” (attributed to the entire band) and “Unusual Occurrences in the Desert,” which is credited, as is “Blues for Allah,” to Hunter and Garcia. The mesmerizing “Under eternity, under eternity, under eternity blue,” refrain seems to go on for quite awhile (nine repetitions), and then the “Bird of paradise” section of “Blues for Allah” is reprised, followed by Garcia playing the melody once through. It’s worth noting that the motif that opens the suite on the album is the “Under eternity” phrase.I enjoy the lyric linkage to “What’s Become of the Baby?” because of the similar position occupied by the two songs on their respective albums—not attempting to sound like songs, really, but as experimental musical compositions with sung parts.The vocal parts on “Blues for Allah” are varied and complex—great care was taken with the arrangement of the voices so that the various harmonic implications of the melody could be explored, without much in the way of instrumental clues. Donna’s wailing parts over the top of the “under eternity” section are effective and eery and perfect.I always wished to hear the song done live.
I’ve played it, by request of my minister, in a church service as an instrumental piano piece. But really, I need to arrange it for choir, mapping out the vocal harmonies, and enlist my drummer friends to do it right—I think it would be a very effective piece done in a very low-tech, acoustic manner.The song has been brought back in several performances. Furthur played it, as did Warren Haynes in his “Jerry Garcia Symphonic” shows with symphony orchestras. So I think the song will live on.But even without any more live performances, the song stands as a reminder of the hopelessness of war.“Allah—Pray where are you now?”Insh’allah.
Grateful Dead Blues For Allah Rar Files Download
When the were great, they were great indeed. They were perhaps the most formidable improvisers in rock’n’roll, and at the turn of the seventies they turned out a pair of LPs—I’m talking, of course, about Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty—that established them as tunesmiths capable of churning out marvelously concise and musically expansive songs that evoked, better than almost anybody else, both America’s mythical past and its weird and wild present.What a long strange trip indeed. Alas, the trip ended badly, as prolonged trips tend to do, with a series of albums that just got worse and worse. 1975’s Blues for Allah was far from the worst of them—I’d give that award to either 1977’s Terrapin Station or 1978’s truly fetid Shakedown Street—but it was the first of the Grateful Dead’s LPs that truly had no reason for being, other than as a demonstration that an object in motion tends to stay in motion long after the sputtering demise of the inspiration that put it in motion in the first place. Unfortunately for us all, the Grateful Dead were not equipped with a dead man’s switch.The Village Voice’s Robert Christgau hit the nail on the head when he said, in his typically cryptic way, “I find the arch aimlessness of their musical approach neurasthenic and their general muddleheadedness worthy of Yes or the Strawbs.” And Christgau was a champion of the band. Even yours truly—a heavy-duty stoner at the time—found Blues for Allah tedious, irksome even. Where were the songs?
Whatever was the band mucking and meandering on about? And why was the long and abysmal title track so utterly annoying that even I—a clueless kid who actually owned and paid serious attention to the monumentally shitty Shakedown Street—had to give it a pass? Stoned out of my gourd yet?Even the LP’s half-decent tracks are cloying, and if they’re cloying can they really be half-decent? I’m talking about the overly pretty instrumental “Sage & Spirit,” which boasts a flute that makes me want to break flutes. Blues for Allah’s only real keeper is the percolating “Franklin’s Tower,” on which Jerry Garcia sings and plays guitar while the band—which is otherwise dead in the water—shows some real propulsive power. “King Solomon’s Marbles” is composed of two parts; “Stronger than Dirt” is Latin flavored and makes me want to cha-cha-cha, and wanders about lost like Spinal Tap through the labyrinthine corridors beneath that stadium in Cleveland before the band goes into a lame repetition of the old “stronger than dirt” television jingo. On “Milkin’ the Turkey” the band jams to no great effect; Keith Godchaux’s keyboard noodling is every bit annoying as Garcia’s jazzy musings, and who cares if the band is tight?
I don’t.About the best I can say about opening track “Help on the Way/Slipknot!” is that it could be worse; the backing vocals annoy, and the tune has a smooth jazz veneer that reminds me of the smooth jazz veneer that Steely Dan were slapping on their songs at the time. Garcia, who even at his best was incapable of abusing his impressive guitar gifts, plays well and even sounds a mite pissed, but I will never listen to “Help on the Way/Slipknot!” for pleasure, or for any other reason for that matter. Bob Weir and John Barlow’s “The Music Never Stopped” is a subpar take on “Playing in the Band,” but at least it’s a decent parody of a Grateful Dead song, rather than so much vacuous futzing about.
Only the interplay between Garcia and the saxophone holds one’s attention, but once again this is not a Dead song I’d ever bother to pull out and play.“Blues for Allah” is actually made up of three parts. “Blues for Allah,” a Garcia/Robert Hunter composition, is a boring night in the desert. “Sand Castles and Glass Camels” is attributed to the entire band and is yet another instrumental that goes nowhere and unfortunately takes its good old time getting there. I wish “Strange Occurrences in the Desert” was a mirage but it isn’t; when it comes to making spacy stoner mood music, one need only compare this palaver to what Pink Floyd were producing at the same time to realize the Grateful Dead were as good as done when it came to producing memorable music in the studio.Blues for Allah is more experimental than the studio LPs that preceded it, and I suppose I should support the Grateful Dead’s dedication to stretching out.
Grateful Dead Blues For Allah Rar Files Download
But the results are so god awful I can’t. I can listen to its predecessor, 1974’s From the Mars Hotel.
I can even listen to 1973’s moribund Wake of the Flood, although I don’t. But when push comes to shove about the only thing positive I have to say about Blues for Allah is, “Groovy cover!” Pity the album in the slip sleeve is about as welcome as a long day in the sweltering Sahara, with nary an oasis in sight. I’m dying of thirst here, people!GRADED ON A CURVE:D.