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    marye
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    So the other week I'm getting my hair cut, and Julie the hairstyling goddess, a young thing of twentysomething who's into tattoos, hair color as art form, and lots of black clothing, hears of the impending tour and my hopes of getting Shoreline tix, and says, "I have a question. What's a Dead Head? How would you define it?"

    You think that's a really easy question till you try to answer it.

    So I hemmed and hawed a bit. I said it was the kind of thing that if you said you were one, no one could say you weren't. I may have mentioned Ann Coulter. 

    I  said that it my experience it meant a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Some were there for the party and that was pretty much it. Some were there for the community. Some were there for the life-changing spiritual experience. Some were there for the tunes. 

    Finally I gave up and told her the story of

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  • Richard Vigeant
    Joined:
    FUN
    Right on G O . Let's share the LOVE!
  • TigerLilly
    Joined:
    bipolar
    am sad about your "not worthy" statement. Is unfortunate that you never saw them live, but heartily disagree about that necessarily being a criteria. Think you just have to love the music, and you said you do, so... hey Deadhead Bipolarbear1968! ********************************** It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine
  • rambelinbearis…
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    IF I HAVE TO EXPLAIN
    YOU WOULD NOT UNDERSTAND
  • Good ol GD
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    Thanks
    Critter, thanks, and hope the research ting was enlightning. Heard same story about the name, as well as many others's but that one I belive to be true. Is all good stuff and relative to each other pretty wild ey.
  • Canyon Critter
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    Beautiful Good Ol Dead!
    How did they get the name?In Blair Jackson's book on the Dead, Garcia is quoted as saying: "One day we were over at Phil's house...He had a big dictionary. I opened it and there was 'Grateful Dead', those words juxtaposed. It was one of those moments, you know, like everything else went blank, diffuse, just sort of oozed away, and there was GRATEFUL DEAD in big, black letters edged all around in gold, man, blasting out at me, such a stunning combination. So I said, 'How about Grateful Dead?' And that was it." The dictionary entry reads along these lines: GRATEFUL DEAD: The motif of a cycle of folk tales which begin with the hero coming upon a group of people ill-treating or refusing to bury the corpse of a man who had died without paying his debts. He gives his last penny, either to pay the man's debts or to give him a decent burial. Within a few hours he meets with a travelling companion who aids him in some impossible task, gets him a fortune or saves his life. The story ends with the companion disclosing himself as the man whose corpse the hero had befriended.(Funk & Wagnall's Dictionary). The name has also been attributed to this quote, though it's generally believed that they came across this one later: "We now return our souls to the creator, as we stand on the edge of eternal darkness. Let our chant fill the void in order that others may know. In the land of the night the ship of the sun is drawn by the grateful dead." -- Egyptian Book of the Dead Grateful_Dead_Folklore ____________________________________________________ Will you come with me? Once in awhile you can get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right!
  • Good ol GD
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    By definition
    By definition a DEADHEAD is one without ticket. look it up is in the dictionary, as is Grateful Dead. Really. funny ey. Which also creates the ? where did the name of the band come from. Some turn on, some don't. And yes there is the getting in touch with the music, the soul, americana and life past present and future. There are many HEADS as a term, METALHEADS, GRANOLAHEADS, Mushroomheads. Acidheads, pot, pan, knuckle. flat, shovel, the Deathhead? (AFFA) what about Phishheads, Creekfreaks. motorhead, point is the term "HEAD" can be related to anyone with a special interest and liking to, either it be be music, motorcycles, cars etc. Deadhead as we know is not to easily defined, WE are DEADICATED and have slept in the cold, rain and snow only for the next show. Some things about Grateful Dead we can not explain in words, and only in actions and smiles. (a song is always playing in my head, and always seems to relate to all I live) As times and the world changes, and where we have trekked before, now and into the unknown future there will be always one thing that brings happiness, love, pain, frustration, anismosity, anxeiety, and satisfaction, peace. brotherhood and a common goal of FUN! the Grateful Dead. Where else can you live a thousand lifetimes in a day. live to see another thousand. Travel the world over and still return home. Sittin back with a royal flush, I am a Deadehead, oh no theres the song, listen to the thunder shout. have FUN see the show, ride the rainbow and don't forget to share!
  • bipolarbear1968
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    Hmmm...
    I don't consider myself worthy of being a Deadhead because I never saw them live. I do, however, listen to their studios and live CDs and mp3s 24/7. I can't get enough GD!!!
  • marye
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    From the blog of Jackie Greene
    I was just editing an article about Jackie Greene that referred to a recent post he made on his blog, concerning a time he and P&F almost got rained out. I strongly recommend reading the whole thing, because the epiphany just bursts forth from it. But here's a taste: "I mean, here’s a band (the grateful dead) who’s body of work is SO important, SO revered that fans are willing to wait for hours in the rain to go to the show!!! And there wasn’t any definitive call on weather or not there would be a show that night! They waited just for the CHANCE of a show…. "…it was as if the storm NEVER happened. ... "Honestly, I’ve never seen such dedication before in my life. Most bands are lucky if they have fans that will go to two shows a year. The deadheads are unprecedented in their passion and unmatched in their appreciation and kindness. "Halfway through the first tune, it all clicked: 'The love you take is equal to the love you make'. Of COURSE we had to go on. How could I have doubted it? These fans have been coming to shows for decades. Probably not the first storm they waited through either!!"
  • deadheadjac
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    the only way i can answer that
    is to say, a dead head is a state of mind, or a puppy with unconditional love.everyone is a dead head, they just don't know it yet
  • starsleeper
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    the audacity of hope
    Before I'd even listened to the Dead I'd seen Yes, Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, Led Zepplin, Lynrd Skinrd?, Supertramp, Jethro Tull, and a few others and had no desire to play an instrument. Then, when I heard the Dead, think Terrapin, I saw someone with a magical gift and told myself, "dude, I'm gonna learn how to play guitar! " 32 years later I'm still playin, totally grateful. Don't play much in public, not yet, have a 15 year old dogg I have to take care of and love and that's not touristically feasible, but I been practicing. So here's the lesson, music is the fabric of the universe and love's evolution knows no bounds. May your light shine forever!
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So the other week I'm getting my hair cut, and Julie the hairstyling goddess, a young thing of twentysomething who's into tattoos, hair color as art form, and lots of black clothing, hears of the impending tour and my hopes of getting Shoreline tix, and says, "I have a question. What's a Dead Head? How would you define it?"

You think that's a really easy question till you try to answer it.

So I hemmed and hawed a bit. I said it was the kind of thing that if you said you were one, no one could say you weren't. I may have mentioned Ann Coulter. 

I  said that it my experience it meant a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Some were there for the party and that was pretty much it. Some were there for the community. Some were there for the life-changing spiritual experience. Some were there for the tunes. 

Finally I gave up and told her the story of

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A hashness I sense ,a mean streak ,indifference ,cruaulty ,a neutered political correctness ,a spiritual quest not visible in the younger deadheads about forty years old ,a callousness, all of it considered as normal ,laughted about ,as if the only dimension worth consideration is now the numbers of shows ,titles of songs ,one knows about . Most other deadheads web sites where women never really speak anymore and that's very revealing ! Dear Marye , I wish I as wrong on all this ,but, sincerely I'd be worried to just go hang outon a dead parkinglot late night ,nowadays !
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I can see why Phil and Bobby would want to play with someone who sounds a lot like Jerry. If it inspires them and makes them happy I'm all for it. I don't know if it sets a good example for young musicians and I'm very grateful fo Jerry and Billy telling us to follow our own muse. My guitar is an indispensible part of my life and for that I'm thankful. Yesterday is gone But tomorrow is forever
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I'm not going to worry about it anymore, I've seen the Dead at the Gorge and two Ratdog shows plus 3 live shows on Sirius this year, my cup is full. God bless Phil and Bobby and the new guy John. We will survive!
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Deadheads are all of the wonderfully kind souls who contributed to making Johnman's Portland Further Miracle happen!!!!!********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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If someone had let me know I'd been happy to contribute!
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all you Deadheads have fun at the shows!
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I suppose one of the sucky things about the internet is you can have some hate-filled cowards hiding in the shadows. That's why I never go in the chatroom and only post here in the forums because I prefer to walk in the light where everyone can see what I'm doing. I see when people come and when they go and have seen some good people leave and not come back. I'm not saying that anyone who goes in the chatroom is like that, probably just a couple, but if you see people saying bad things about other people behind their backs they are NOT Deadheads, pathetic losers yes, Deadheads no!
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so we add another factor that disbars you from being a deadhead. Talking about others behind their backs..like none of use has ever done that! Seems that the club of you real deadheads is getting smaller and smaller. When all 6 of you are sitting in a room discussing the relative merits of 605 versions of 'Me and My Uncle' you might eventually miss the rest of us who fell by the wayside. :-)
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CB! If the rules for being a proper Deadhead get so nit-pickey, maybe will become a Gaga Head instead. Might be fun. She gives a lot of room for in depth discussion-like about her outfit du jour.********************************** By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity -- another man's I mean. Mark Twain
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Its impossible too discribe ive sat with people and put on deadset they simply cannot hear it.Being a Deadhead we have the ability too listen without our ears.
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now I know it was someone inside the organization. They should have just come to me and asked me what happened, it would have made a funny story I would have happily told, instead it seems they sent a couple young girls a pack of lies that scared the crap out of the them so bad they never came back. I won't put up with that. Marye,please close my account, this time I mean it. Thank you, and many blessings to you all.
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Deadheads are music and life -loving folks who know how to have a good time and deplore senseless acts of violence. They are mostly caring and compassionate people prone to random acts of kindness. We send our heart-felt prayers to Gabby Gifford and her family as well as the others who were wounded and our sincere condolences go out to the families of those whose lives were cut short by such an unspeakable tragedy. We pray for our country and believe that Love will heal the wounds left behind by this act of evil.
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you listen to the band more than any otheror while listening it takes about one note to spot which song they just started or just can't wait to hear another show
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"Our audience is like people who like licorice. Not everybody likes licorice, but the people who like licorice really like licorice," described Garcia.
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being able to tell which song from the first note? how about knowing which song it will be just from the vibe before they even begin playing it? ;) some people give me shit for calling myself a deadhead even though I've never been to a show and as far as i know they don't even dig on the dead so fuck 'em, they just don't know :) --- http://www.last.fm/user/PinkFloydrulez
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As a middle school teacher, with lots of Dead stuff in my classroom and stickers on my Jeep, I get asked this question often. A Dead Head is ....... me! The music speaks to me. My brother and sister Heads are more of a family than my real one. We are activists, lovers, naturalists, environmentalists, lawyers, doctors, educators, wives, husbands, and so much more. We are the children of the world and will do what we can to spread the word. We will survive!
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we r bikers, judges, pimps, strippers, we r freaking everywhere! i just know how i feel about the band and have no time to hate and sit around pointing fingers but we do until the music plays and then we all become one big smile :) love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Some are mathematiciansSome are carpenters’ wives Don’t know how it all got started I don’t know what they’re doin’ with their lives But me, I’m still on the road Headin’ for another joint We always did feel the same We just saw it from a different point of view
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I Love licorice.. especially salty licorice and of course i love the grateful dead...does that make me hardcore..
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I love salty licorice too!********************************** I am not young enough to know everything. Oscar Wilde
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I've been reading the comments on the 'Europe 72' page, and wondering about what it says about us.Then stumbled upon this forum, and it's like being in the forest after a month stuck in the city. Growing up in the 80s, I thought I might be a hippy, but I was listening to heavy metal, not Donovan (or whoever). Finding the Dead, and then finally getting to a gig at the Shoreline, I knew I was a Deadhead. Every Dead/Furthur gig 've been to has cemented that. It's about music taking hold of you and re-aligning your attitude, and it's about being part of an extended family whose first question is would you like '...to take my 3rd row ticket' / '...a toke of this' / '...a swig of that' / '...some of my food' / '...a lift' / '..a tape of tonight' / '...a CD from my collection'? (all true) And families have rows, and occasionally Aunty Flo won't talk to Aunty Bea for 5 years because of "what she said about our Gladys", but it passes. That said, I'm pretty sure being family isn't about profiting out of another member of the family - it's about helping every member of the family get what they need. And it's not about bitching and whining because you didn't get what you want, when you didn't even know you wanted it a week ago. Is being a Deadhead now about trying to own an official release of every song of every show? Stuck in amber, rather than moving on to the next jam, the next gig, the next festival, the next band that blows you away and makes you want to share them with every single person you meet? If it is, then I'm handing in my tie-dye t-shirts, 'cos the bus that I got on is still driving through those tapping foothills.
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glad to have you here! I think it's also true that anyone who's be in the scene for any length of time can attest to some doozies when it comes to bad vibes, and on that level I don't find this so surprising. I mean, New Year's Eve tix got to be a pretty big shoving match after a while there... But as you say, that isn't what defines us. Or it better not be!
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Ant Flo won'uldn't speak to Aunt Bea for five years because of Gladys? Well, I think them and their men have to take a trip out to 3rd Mesa, chill with the Hopi till they gt excepted as for whatever they use for that word for white people (Belliganna), then go into the kiva and start he peyote ritual. That'll stop the feuding an start the dancing!!
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and Flo's always tried to protect her...this old fat tattooed longhaired Deadhead agrees...I've been helped out by too many people to have time for hate, though it's easy to get frustrated when a system doesn't work (mail order, computers, etc., etc.) ya jus' smile, take a breath, and love what you have.......and play another song!!
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A Deadhead hears the group play and hears the music in his or her soul. You know the message is one of love and aceptance. No matter where you come from, your race, age,nationality the Dead head is a member of a large family that you might never meet everyone but everyone hears the message in their heart and soul.
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stardancer the ability to dance on stars helps as well!!
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=`/`/HY HIT TIZ JOY ASS CHILL IN HELD EARS[}=-=-==-= I'm standing on the AXIS Guitar reef -7- magic wheel - varios strata - with an old electric fiddle ...=-=[Calurid grin an vale~up stoolHo`treen]}-=-==-= This is where the DEAD st*ART it ^up!' -primo'
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I'm a deadhead! Even though I never got to see the original band... The Dead were pretty damn close, though! I was only in 6th grade when Jerry passed... :(
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Hi everyone, I'm a college student and Grateful Dead lover working on an in depth research project on Deadheads. I want to know peoples' personal relationships to the music and the culture to understand why the Deadheads have existed and endured so prominently for so long. I would DEEPLY appreciate an interview with anyone who feels that they have something to say about the Dead and their personal history with them! It's easy, anonymous (when integrated into the paper) and a nice way to reflect upon and appreciate how the Dead and their community have affected your life. It'll also help me out a lot :) Please send me a message if you're interested! Thanks, Jackie
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Deadheads are a fan club that never grew out of being a fan club. Most of them are not completely wasted and they do lead normal lives. Many Deadheads even appreciate REAL music and not just 4 hours of jam session hogwash. If you'll excuse me now, I must get back to playing the same two guitar chords. The drum solo is almost over and I've got another hour to waste before the buzz wears off completely.
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my husband (of 19 years) is from Liverpool, Englanda punk rock drummer (in the 80's) he was punk & I was a dead head he didn't have a clue what that was, thought I was into BAD drugs... the music didn't translate...he just didn't know, hadn't exerienced it or heard it so I had to learn 'im & as I showed him my world, he learned that the knowledge & the attitude & mood & experience comes with the music and is enhanced by it its all part of bein a head!! I bought him a ticket for the Dead concert in T.O. yes the one that didn't happen I then took him to Further... it still translated & started the learning curve now he gets it & its a regular thing for him to say to me... we need to listen to the dead tonight!! I have learned that the translation of music no matter what genre builds a character that continues & carries you on & can translate & meld into other tunes & other worlds.. to quote my husband quoting John Miles, "Music is my first love & it will be my last" now I think that we could put better dead instrumentals to this one but it works!! I really don't believe I just used that quote... but it is such a great line! It gets better, Freddie's nephew (20 years our junior) thinks I'm the cool aunt cause I'm a "Dead Head" & he's muso (guitarist) in Liverpool too!! Q p.s. I wore beads the other day that I used to make & sell to pay for my tickets & guess what, they are still more important to me than any piece of jewelery you could buy in a shop!!
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Me.
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I am a loser, yes Sir. Just checked a previous post by jcpacini and it said the same thing. "ME!". Just to let everyone know though, that in my defense (better make sure i have enough concrete evidence, eh lamagonzo?) i wrote a quite childishly, cynical piece, nay character assassination!, of the typical Deadhead; all smug, self-congratulatory comments about "seeing them as The Warlocks, consider the only years worth a shit to be the '60's and '70's, seen over 200 hundreds (at the very LEAST, man), vegetarian, own all the Betty-Boards, first-in-line for the Europe '72 box set (and i have proof of that too mate, as the date on the cheque was the earliest they could find - yeah, i have a friend in the organisation, obviously; i'm, like, SO in there....). But....i thought "No"; take off the cynical hat Mr. Jonapi and introduce a little levity. A shake of the hands with Mrs. Joker. How i laughed at the witty conciseness of my description. And now look at me; a total buffoon! Don't worry, i'll take myself seriously tomorrow, though.....................
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welcome to our merry band...
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Bop, Bop.....BOP BOP! ♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥~♥ Twirly Banner
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while the politicians are throwing stones saying ashes to ashes we all fall down
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every since my first show in 1976 the Dead have had an up-front place in my mind and heart. Almost every minute of every day there's a dead song in my head. The music of the dead is the song track of my life. I get goosebumps during certain songs, feelings that well up and burst out. Concerts are still a wonder. Even without Jerry, although something is missing. Festivals are the best with people of all ages there to honor the music that just speaks to certain ones. We're all there together feeling it run through ourselves, each other and back again. You look at a fellow dead head at a show and smile and you just KNOW. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox
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Hi Everyone!!! Love this thread. I'm currently looking for Dead Heads to interview for Online Publication this year.

If anyone is interested in being interviewed, please reach out to jessdfiedler@gmail.com. Here is the breakdown on the shakedown. :)

Growing up Dead Head Series

Premise:
I’ll gather Grateful Dead stories from a number of people. I’ll compile the stories into one webpage, with multiple links to each interview. The interview questions will be the same across the board for all guest stars. This will appear online and be shareable via social media.

I’d like to do this on Zoom. It’ll record both video and audio.
I plan and publishing the transcript of the interview for sure.
Audio post (podcast style)

Optional: These stories can be anonymous, with only name and town printed or you can include your full name. 

1. How did you first become interested in the Grateful Dead’s music?
2. How many GD shows have you attended?
3. Tell me your favorite GD story
4. Tell me your least favorite GD story
5. Where were you when you heard that Jerry Garcia died?
a. Tell me that story
6. Did you ever hitchhike to attend a show(s)?
7. Tell me about the ‘outside of the venue’ experience
8. Would you do it all again?
9. What types of music do you listen to nowadays?
a. Top 5 songs or artists