• https://www.dead.net/features/greatest-stories-ever-told/greatest-stories-ever-told-loose-lucy
    Greatest Stories Ever Told - "Loose Lucy"

    By David Dodd

    Here’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!)

    “Loose Lucy”

    OK—hard to find a Thanksgiving song. For a band with the word “grateful” in their name, there is very little gratitude to be found. BUT: “Loose Lucy” has a chorus that fits the bill, and so, this week, let’s try to puzzle out this funny little song, if we can.

    It is most definitely a story song. But what, exactly, happens here? I’ll put forward a couple of thoughts, and then turn it over to the collective wisdom to weigh in, since that’s usually the best way to get at all the possibilities in any given song, as we’ve seen repeatedly over the past 11 months or so of this blog.

    First, the basics. With lyrics by Robert Hunter, music by Jerry Garcia, “Loose Lucy” was first performed by the band on February 9, 1973, at the Maples Pavilion at Stanford--one of those shows that featured many firsts. Including “China Doll,” “Eyes of the World,” “Here Comes Sunshine,” “They Love Each Other,” “Row Jimmy,” and “Wave That Flag.” Seven new songs in one concert. (That even beats out October 19, 1971, which featured six breakouts! Trivia time: was 2/9/73 the show with the record number of first-time-playeds?)

    The song stayed in the setlist for 1973 and 1974, and then disappeared for 16 years, reappearing on March 14, 1990, after a hiatus of 979 shows. From then on, it was played fairly regularly. The final performance came on July 5, 1995, at the Riverport Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, Missouri.

    “Loose Lucy” appeared on From the Mars Hotel, released on August 7, 1973. It was released as the “B” side of a single with “U.S. Blues” in June 1974.

    I think maybe my favorite, or at least standout live performance of “Loose Lucy” was at the first show by the post-GD incarnation of the band, known as The Dead, at the Warfield Theater in February 2003. Sammy Hagar came onstage to sing lead vocal on “Loose Lucy,” and he hammed it up to the max. Very fun.

    There was something about the way Hagar sang the line “went back home with TWO black eyes,” that made me hear something new about the song. Up until then, it had never occurred to me (perhaps it’s my innate naivete) that the narrator gets his second black eye from the lover he offended by being late—or at least, by having the excuse of being jumped—maybe he wasn’t actually. And then he heads home, to his wife, perhaps, to whom he tries to explain the reason for the two black eyes. Hmmmm. I have a little trouble parsing what has occurred, and, in the course of the narration, who is saying what to whom.

    For instance, these lines could be spoken by one person to another, or each line could be said by one to the other. And which line to which character?

    Is it:

    He: Bebop baby, how can this be?
    She: I know you’ve been out cheatin’ on me.

    Or: her and then him? Or, all her, or all him?

    As sung, the voice is all one narrator and all one character, but something makes me think there could be parts. Hunter’s lyrics are—guess what? Ambiguous.

    If someone can please come up with a good lucid version of the sequence of events in this song, attached to a story, I would really appreciate it! I really hope that more than one person comes forward with a theory, and that several theories wind up sounding plausible. Because that’s my sense of the song—the plot changes and the person at fault shifts and the whole situation come to seem fairly slippery.

    At any rate, someone has had a real good time. Maybe at someone else’s expense, but a good time nonetheless.

    And here we have the part of the song that makes it pretty ding-dang fun to hear in concert: the prompt, “Singing:” comes before “yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah” and before “Thank you for a real good time.” And the audience does tend to sing when prompted on that chorus. Generally, to me, it feels like an opportunity to collectively thank the band “for a real good time.” We get to sing it to them. I wonder, at moments like that, if Hunter had been able to envision, in advance, the effect those words would have and the meaning they would take on?

    I love the music for “Loose Lucy.” Whatever it is by way of leaving out a beat in the measure immediately preceding the “round and round and round and round” lines, it stops the song from seeming “normal.” The rolling rhythm stumbles a bit, and then gets right back into the groove.

    It seems like for nearly every song I’ve blogged about, whenever I present a potential interpretation based on what seems to be a relationship song of some king, there will be someone commenting that the song is really about drugs. About Garcia’s relationship to drugs, or about this or that being a code word for this or that drug. I have to say, while there are similarities in the addictive qualities of both love relationships and substances that alter your consciousness in some way, I have a hard time believing that Hunter would have been interested in writing much about them. I am willing to be wrong on this, but it seems we could speculate endlessly that one band member is “talking” to the other about drugs, where they are seemingly singing a song about love: gone wrong, or never requited, or lost, or fondly remembered.

    Someone might inevitably comment that the use of “Lucy” in the song must be a pointed reference to LSD, which in my day was often referred to as “Lucy.” But maybe that was a simple regionalism here in northern California. Or in my part of northern California. So there—I went and just brought it up myself. Talk amongst yourselves.

    And much gratitude in this Thanksgiving week. I am, indeed, having a real good time. Thank you!

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    arlitosway
    5 years 4 months ago
    mama’s little baby

    Yesterday i was listening to Dec 16, 1994- probably my favorite dead show i’ve heard so far w/ Branford- and (as usual) there’s a really lovely post-He’s Gone jam. Jerry starts playing around with a melody that any deadhead would call a “Loose Lucy Tease”, and then it gets more interesting. The theme basically trails off, then Jerry very deliberately lays down a few notes, and Branford completes the phrase, all but spelling out the melody of ‘Shortnin’ Bread’, which Loose Lucy has always called to mind for me. They fully “jam” shortnin’ bread for a minute or so before it loosens up & transitions into drums... I doubt Jerry consciously quoted it when he wrote that iconically mellow boogie woogie, but i suppose we’ll never know. this was definitely, however, one of those fun moments for me that make listening to Jazz... and the Dead... so fun.

    i just saw Trixie at that “hippie bakery in sonoma county” ;) and my brother-in-law sent me a photo of shortbread cookies w/ my wife’s name on it so i got inspired to share my recent insight!

    i also like how (all?) 90s ‘Lucies’ feature Jerry singing the reversed lyric “i’m her yo yo- she’s my string”, peeling away the obvious heterocentric entendre & “she” gets more credit for making the narrator go up and down & spin around and around.

    12.16.94 had no ‘shortnin bread’ or ‘loose lucy’, but they did play a Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds encore...

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    Vapour
    8 years 3 months ago
    Synched to Loose Lucy
    I think my best GD synch story is with Loose Lucy. I think it was 1991 Feb show in Oakland, maybe 92. I was dancing just inside from the doors that lead out and circle the venue. Something was splashed on me that felt like ice water. I don't know what it was because when I tried to wipe it off with my hand the place where the liquid had splashed on me was dry but it felt like there was some ice water on the spot. I had read that DMSO could be mixed with LSD and that DMSO goes right through your skin but I had only read about this, I had no experience with the substance whatsoever. I didn't even know if this was possible but, given the place I was it was the only thing I could think of that explained how I could have a liquid splash on me but leave my skin dry. A friend, Nancy Turk was dancing by me when I began to feel really weird and confused, she asked me what was wrong and I said "someone just splashed some really cold acid on me". She just grinned like she thought I was making a joke. At this point a feeling of panic was overwhelming me and I thought I might be getting sick so I asked another friend, John Holdaway, if he would come to the bathroom with me because I thought I was going to die and I was having a vision of some stranger seeing my dead body and thinking this body will look really good as a decoration in our living room and taking me/it home and not giving me a proper burial. He said OK and followed me out into the hall at which point I briefly lost consciousness. That person who splashed me was no more than a shadow in an alley, I saw a person splash me but it was dark and they were moving briskly through all the dancing people in the alley behind the seats that is inside the doors of the hall. I was totally laying on the floor, I remember the feel of the floor being cold on my cheek and Jerry's voice in my ear singing "it don't take much to get me on the ground" My friend immediately pulled me off the ground saying "get Up" and sat me down over by the wall next to the bathroom door so as to not make a spectacle, And next thing I knew there was a beautiful girl dressed in a flowing white dress saying "what do you need, what do you want?" It took me about 5 minutes to totally realize I was alive and not in Heaven and the girl was not an angel. I do hope heaven is like that though, a place where angelic looking girls will be totally focused on what I want, what I need. Unlike my Unbroken Chain synch I know the names of 2 witnesses to what happened. Unless I am on the board tape with The Chain synch the only witnesses whose names I know were playing in the band and might not have been paying attention to a voice yelling HEY PHIL!
  • Default Avatar
    Vapour
    8 years 3 months ago
    2 black eyes
    I once gave someone 2 black eyes with one punch to the nose.
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14 years 11 months

By David Dodd

Here’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!)

“Loose Lucy”

OK—hard to find a Thanksgiving song. For a band with the word “grateful” in their name, there is very little gratitude to be found. BUT: “Loose Lucy” has a chorus that fits the bill, and so, this week, let’s try to puzzle out this funny little song, if we can.

It is most definitely a story song. But what, exactly, happens here? I’ll put forward a couple of thoughts, and then turn it over to the collective wisdom to weigh in, since that’s usually the best way to get at all the possibilities in any given song, as we’ve seen repeatedly over the past 11 months or so of this blog.

First, the basics. With lyrics by Robert Hunter, music by Jerry Garcia, “Loose Lucy” was first performed by the band on February 9, 1973, at the Maples Pavilion at Stanford--one of those shows that featured many firsts. Including “China Doll,” “Eyes of the World,” “Here Comes Sunshine,” “They Love Each Other,” “Row Jimmy,” and “Wave That Flag.” Seven new songs in one concert. (That even beats out October 19, 1971, which featured six breakouts! Trivia time: was 2/9/73 the show with the record number of first-time-playeds?)

The song stayed in the setlist for 1973 and 1974, and then disappeared for 16 years, reappearing on March 14, 1990, after a hiatus of 979 shows. From then on, it was played fairly regularly. The final performance came on July 5, 1995, at the Riverport Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, Missouri.

“Loose Lucy” appeared on From the Mars Hotel, released on August 7, 1973. It was released as the “B” side of a single with “U.S. Blues” in June 1974.

I think maybe my favorite, or at least standout live performance of “Loose Lucy” was at the first show by the post-GD incarnation of the band, known as The Dead, at the Warfield Theater in February 2003. Sammy Hagar came onstage to sing lead vocal on “Loose Lucy,” and he hammed it up to the max. Very fun.

There was something about the way Hagar sang the line “went back home with TWO black eyes,” that made me hear something new about the song. Up until then, it had never occurred to me (perhaps it’s my innate naivete) that the narrator gets his second black eye from the lover he offended by being late—or at least, by having the excuse of being jumped—maybe he wasn’t actually. And then he heads home, to his wife, perhaps, to whom he tries to explain the reason for the two black eyes. Hmmmm. I have a little trouble parsing what has occurred, and, in the course of the narration, who is saying what to whom.

For instance, these lines could be spoken by one person to another, or each line could be said by one to the other. And which line to which character?

Is it:

He: Bebop baby, how can this be?
She: I know you’ve been out cheatin’ on me.

Or: her and then him? Or, all her, or all him?

As sung, the voice is all one narrator and all one character, but something makes me think there could be parts. Hunter’s lyrics are—guess what? Ambiguous.

If someone can please come up with a good lucid version of the sequence of events in this song, attached to a story, I would really appreciate it! I really hope that more than one person comes forward with a theory, and that several theories wind up sounding plausible. Because that’s my sense of the song—the plot changes and the person at fault shifts and the whole situation come to seem fairly slippery.

At any rate, someone has had a real good time. Maybe at someone else’s expense, but a good time nonetheless.

And here we have the part of the song that makes it pretty ding-dang fun to hear in concert: the prompt, “Singing:” comes before “yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah” and before “Thank you for a real good time.” And the audience does tend to sing when prompted on that chorus. Generally, to me, it feels like an opportunity to collectively thank the band “for a real good time.” We get to sing it to them. I wonder, at moments like that, if Hunter had been able to envision, in advance, the effect those words would have and the meaning they would take on?

I love the music for “Loose Lucy.” Whatever it is by way of leaving out a beat in the measure immediately preceding the “round and round and round and round” lines, it stops the song from seeming “normal.” The rolling rhythm stumbles a bit, and then gets right back into the groove.

It seems like for nearly every song I’ve blogged about, whenever I present a potential interpretation based on what seems to be a relationship song of some king, there will be someone commenting that the song is really about drugs. About Garcia’s relationship to drugs, or about this or that being a code word for this or that drug. I have to say, while there are similarities in the addictive qualities of both love relationships and substances that alter your consciousness in some way, I have a hard time believing that Hunter would have been interested in writing much about them. I am willing to be wrong on this, but it seems we could speculate endlessly that one band member is “talking” to the other about drugs, where they are seemingly singing a song about love: gone wrong, or never requited, or lost, or fondly remembered.

Someone might inevitably comment that the use of “Lucy” in the song must be a pointed reference to LSD, which in my day was often referred to as “Lucy.” But maybe that was a simple regionalism here in northern California. Or in my part of northern California. So there—I went and just brought it up myself. Talk amongst yourselves.

And much gratitude in this Thanksgiving week. I am, indeed, having a real good time. Thank you!

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OK—hard to find a Thanksgiving song. For a band with the word “grateful” in their name, there is very little gratitude to be found. BUT: “Loose Lucy” has a chorus that fits the bill, and so, this week, let’s try to puzzle out this funny little song, if we can.
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Greatest Stories Ever Told - "Loose Lucy"
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OK—hard to find a Thanksgiving song. For a band with the word “grateful” in their name, there is very little gratitude to be found. BUT: “Loose Lucy” has a chorus that fits the bill, and so, this week, let’s try to puzzle out this funny little song, if we can.
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OK—hard to find a Thanksgiving song. For a band with the word “grateful” in their name, there is very little gratitude to be found. BUT: “Loose Lucy” has a chorus that fits the bill, and so, this week, let’s try to puzzle out this funny little song, if we can.

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Naturally, years ago I asked a barista at Starbucks for a "Loose Lucy." He had no idea what (drink) that was. I explained...well, if a "Black-eye" is a coffee plus 2 shots of espresso, then, of course, a "LL" must be a coffee plus 4 shots. Indeed, I went back home with, essentially, 2 black-eyes. And the birth of a new Starbucks drink. Now the local baristas are 'in the know......'
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"She's my yo-yo, I'm her string"This is a love song, any drug references are incidental. It always reminds me of They love each other" A love song. Of course, then we get to: "I like your smile but I ain't your type"
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Funny..always thought this was just a good time song. Experienced it post 1990, so there you go. Much more here to consider. I will order a Loose Lucy next time I'm at the bar and see what it brings.Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
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in the Grateful Dead canon, maybe - except "Eyes of the World" is one (though, looking back now in these blogs, I see it's been given its week, back in May)
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I believe that it could be argued that the show with the most "first-time-playeds" would be 8/13/75. Which featured the entire Blues For Allah album...counting all the sub-songs, that would be 11. Am I on the right track here? As far as Loose Lucy goes, I think its pretty straight forward. Loose Lucy...the name implies a lot about the song. She's loose, she cheats and she'll take any excuse to get out. The two black eyes, to me, is more of a metaphor...he's been told twice that the fruit ain't ripe, but he'll love her till the day he dies. I will say that reading the lyrics to this song after reading this entry does make me wonder how much of my mind is filling in the gap left in the story. Probably just my personal experiences but it still makes sense to me, i dont know. Happy Thanksgiving!
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...when the fruit ain't ripe. This line suggests to me that Lucy might be underage...?? Perhaps the two black eyes were courtesy of her father. I was always intrigued by the title of the Blues for Allah cut 'Milking the Turkey'. Just how does one milk a turkey? It certainly makes for a rather bizarre mental image. One can only hope that the turkey enjoys it...
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MARS HOTEL wasn't released August 7, 1973. It was released June 27, 1974. In August 1973 the Dead were busy recording WAKE OF THE FLOOD. The sessions came following two great shows at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City. And of course the famous Watkins Glen Summer Jam. By the way, at Watkins Glen on 7/28/73 the Dead opened their second set with "Loose Lucy."
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I always have and always will associate "Loose Lucy" with a vivid, late 8th grade memory. In 1979, my friend Jeff and myself were in 8th grade and walking home from school one spring day and across the street from us were walking Anna and Suzy T. - two slightly older twin sisters with a strong reputation - when we got about even with them, Suzy looks over at us and yells out, "Hey Jeff, if you go out with me I'll (fill in the blank)!" We were speechless, wide-eyed and smiling ear-to-ear and that was my introduction at almost 15 that there really are sexually aggressive girls who didn't mind calling the shots. I didn't think about the other ways this could have been taken but have always thought, imo, "bebop baby, how can this be/ I know you've been out a cheating on me" as the narrator saying this to himself - in his head - not out loud, kind of like "are you kidding me?", from her saying to him "I know you can't want my love no more" and the "cross my heart and hope to die/ I was just..." as his out loud explanation to her for being late or not showing up. She doesn't buy it and socks him, leaving the narrator with - I'll always love her, it was fun but she ain't my type (too hot tempered) - the lesson taken - "don't shake the tree if the fruit ain't ripe" - don't mess with immature lovers. When I saw this song for a family-oriented Thanksgiving Day topic and the memory that it triggered, I gotta say I got quite a kick out of this, David. So I want to thank you!! for a...... :))))))))))
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To belabor the obvious, the "Don't shake the tree" line must be a play on the line, "If you don't want my peaches don't shake my tree," which is in most covers of Sitting On Top Of the World (not the Dead's though), in many other songs, and is deep in the catalog of true blues lyrics. I always thought there was something wrong about another line in this song though. Isn't *he* the yo-yo and *she* the string rather than the way it's sung? Doesn't she keep him hanging on her whim and pull him back when she wants him? Maybe yes, maybe no. She comes running and they ball all night, but maybe she's hurrying because she's got such a busy dance card to fill. I saw Sammy Hagar do this a few months ago on Weir Here and loved it. This is another Garcia-Hunter song like FOTD, Scarlet, Brown-Eyed Women, etc. that leaves immense room for artistic interpretation and should be covered. Gee, I find myself agreeing with David on this one! :) And BTW, one thing I'm really grateful for is the chance to share facts(?), notes, and feelings related to some of my favorite songs of all time. Thanks everyone!
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The black eyes are meant for the "Other Woman", from the perspective of each of the respective women in the story. And he's caught right in the middle. He seems fine with that cycle. round and round and round and round
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A man does not go home to his mistress a man goes home to his wife. "Loose Lucy she was sore Says I know you don't want my love no more" Perhaps the shadow in the alley was Loose Lucy "Bebop baby, how can this be I know you've been out a cheating on me" Lucy believes that there is another mistress "Went back home with two black eyes You know I'll love her till the day I die" Home beaten and battered but still in love with Lucy
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This little song, somewhat analogous to "Money, Money" in its subtle, or maybe not so subtle tongue-in-cheek imagery, tells of a running encounter between the Great Narrator and Loose Lucy. We're not really told how she got that name, deserved or not, but then we might want to take a little closer look at this offered love that she knows we "...don't want no more...!" Must be a reason in there somewhere. So we basically have a battle, or maybe even something so simple as a misunderstanding between two opposites: male and female (opposites or compliments, jury?), yin and yang, good and evil, God and Lucifer, and we find the singer with his heart crossed (from the back?), hoping to die - and this is Hunter at his true best - and "...just hanging out with the other guys, singin' yeah, yeah, yeah..." Wow. Shades of Calvary! Did manage to make it back home though, two black-eyes notwithstanding! "So you know I'll love her 'till the day I die." Maybe I'll even give an "Amen" to that, knowing that yo-yo's finally back on a string, but one nagging identity question yet remains: The shadow in the alley who "...turned out all my lights." Hint: It's the same jerkwad who tore down the jukebox. But not to worry: Chasing shadows is something tiggers do best! When the Big Set-List in the Sky is finally compiled, I imagine this will be the last song played before the break. Peace.
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I have always loved this tune, but I agree with the sentiments of a previous poster that this has always seemed like a goodtime song and not necessarily one that begs for, nor needs, close scrutiny of its lyrics. I feel like Hunter does a fine job communicating an overall idea - that in spite of troubles, Lucy is the singer's delight, whoever she may be. That being said, I adore this blog and love all of the work that goes into it. Keep it up! Musically, this is one of the rare songs that I prefer in its slower, (some would say plodding) forms. While the uptempo version makes me happy, I always seem to really come back to the slower 73 versions I have... there is something about the main riff that just seems so much funkier that way. Also, I like the way they build up the background vocals. While I prefer my FOTD and TLEO faster, (Particularly FOTD!) give me Lucy nice and slow...
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The narrator is some LotharioLucy is an easy woman with her charms. Though casual their love rises to the point of jealousy She suspects him of cheating on her She sets him up for a beating, including 2 black eyes He concludes: "I like your smile but I ain't your type Don't shake the tree when the fruit ain't ripe" Which, in typical Hunter style, directly contradicts a previous line "You know I'll love you till the day I die" All-in-all a fun tune that became a way to thank the band for "A real good time!"
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Agree with Anna; Just two people Loose Lucy and her lover. Most First times, i think this is a trick question but I will go with Sullivan Stadium 7/4/87 12 first time tunes; be it with Dylan. First thing you know, you're gonna pull that trigger And it's no wonder your reason goes bad Jelly roll will drive you stone mad
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dilated pupils. remember those? she's my yo-yo, i'm her string...giggity. lovely imagery there. good memories of listening to 5/19/74's LL. round and round and round and round and round...remember seeing THAT?
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I think Anna nailed it. And Thats_Otis read my mind with his preferences on this and FOTD. But I do like the slower TLEOs with the bridge part. But back to LL. I heard it first when in high school, and it seemed mildly dangerous while also sounding fun. I still prefer those qualities in music I listen to. It spoke to me and hit me where it counts. Today it is more difficult to summon up that thrill but I can do it if I really pay attention. So many Hunter/Garcia songs evoke that mix of drama and adventure. This one is a bit more silly than some others, but it has been a steady favorite.
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Just as I suspected! The potential story lines are many and varied. Several persuasive ones here, particularly Anna's--very interesting. I also really like the back and forth around whether the narrator is married or single, how he got the black eyes, whether they are a metaphor...very fun! I apologize for the error in the release date year for Mars Hotel. And wow--some amazing nominees for the most breakout tunes in one show. Although I have to confess that the Dylan idea seems a little like cheating. And I don't see a show in Deadbase with all the Blues for Allah songs being played together for the first time--there seem to be several shows over the course of that 1975 period. Thanks, everyone! Keep 'em coming!
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I also agree with Anna on this one, but suspect Lucy did the deed herself with a blind-side rolling pin under the chin. Out cold with two black-eyes! Once happened to a girl I knew on the diving team when we were kids - hit the board with her chin on an inward somersault. Knocked her out cold and left her with twin shiners! Same week we took swim team pictures.
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On the day that I was born Daddy sat down and criedI had the mark just as plain as day, I could not be denied They say that Cain caught Abel rolling loaded dice Ace of spades behind his ear and him not thinking twice Me never ;>
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One from the vault has the entire Blues for Allah, but you're right, it wasnt the first time all the songs were played...somehow that slipped my mind.
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hunter's knack for creating double, triple, quadruple, infinite layers of meaning are what make his lyrics appealing for so many people. their ambiguity makes this possible, allowing people to fill in the blanks with their own meaning. i believe we can distill hunter's infinitely ambiguous lyrics into a few meanings here: one is this narrator, wife/girlfriend, mistress merry-go-round that is perpetuated with the contradicting "love you til the day i die" and "like your smile but I ain't your type." that's level one... i don't think hunter is above writing about lsd, in fact i think his respect for the drug might be the reason he addresses it mostly in metaphor. he will never come flat out and tell you it's an acid song. i believe stoltzfus is getting close, and he was the first to hit me with the "two black eyes" as a link to those big black pupils trademarked by the acid trip. the great thing about acid is that it does kind of beat you up, kick you around and say "hey! what're you doing with yourself?" it can be a real ballbuster that way... "hanging out with the other guys" could be the narrator saying well, no big deal, i was just messing around with the other illicit substances. but when the "shadow in the alley," perhaps your local dealer, comes by you're right back to getting beat up. it kicks you in the face and says, don't waste your time with the other guys, we've got much bigger fish to fry
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I once gave someone 2 black eyes with one punch to the nose.
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I think my best GD synch story is with Loose Lucy. I think it was 1991 Feb show in Oakland, maybe 92. I was dancing just inside from the doors that lead out and circle the venue. Something was splashed on me that felt like ice water. I don't know what it was because when I tried to wipe it off with my hand the place where the liquid had splashed on me was dry but it felt like there was some ice water on the spot. I had read that DMSO could be mixed with LSD and that DMSO goes right through your skin but I had only read about this, I had no experience with the substance whatsoever. I didn't even know if this was possible but, given the place I was it was the only thing I could think of that explained how I could have a liquid splash on me but leave my skin dry. A friend, Nancy Turk was dancing by me when I began to feel really weird and confused, she asked me what was wrong and I said "someone just splashed some really cold acid on me". She just grinned like she thought I was making a joke. At this point a feeling of panic was overwhelming me and I thought I might be getting sick so I asked another friend, John Holdaway, if he would come to the bathroom with me because I thought I was going to die and I was having a vision of some stranger seeing my dead body and thinking this body will look really good as a decoration in our living room and taking me/it home and not giving me a proper burial. He said OK and followed me out into the hall at which point I briefly lost consciousness. That person who splashed me was no more than a shadow in an alley, I saw a person splash me but it was dark and they were moving briskly through all the dancing people in the alley behind the seats that is inside the doors of the hall. I was totally laying on the floor, I remember the feel of the floor being cold on my cheek and Jerry's voice in my ear singing "it don't take much to get me on the ground" My friend immediately pulled me off the ground saying "get Up" and sat me down over by the wall next to the bathroom door so as to not make a spectacle, And next thing I knew there was a beautiful girl dressed in a flowing white dress saying "what do you need, what do you want?" It took me about 5 minutes to totally realize I was alive and not in Heaven and the girl was not an angel. I do hope heaven is like that though, a place where angelic looking girls will be totally focused on what I want, what I need. Unlike my Unbroken Chain synch I know the names of 2 witnesses to what happened. Unless I am on the board tape with The Chain synch the only witnesses whose names I know were playing in the band and might not have been paying attention to a voice yelling HEY PHIL!
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Yesterday i was listening to Dec 16, 1994- probably my favorite dead show i’ve heard so far w/ Branford- and (as usual) there’s a really lovely post-He’s Gone jam. Jerry starts playing around with a melody that any deadhead would call a “Loose Lucy Tease”, and then it gets more interesting. The theme basically trails off, then Jerry very deliberately lays down a few notes, and Branford completes the phrase, all but spelling out the melody of ‘Shortnin’ Bread’, which Loose Lucy has always called to mind for me. They fully “jam” shortnin’ bread for a minute or so before it loosens up & transitions into drums... I doubt Jerry consciously quoted it when he wrote that iconically mellow boogie woogie, but i suppose we’ll never know. this was definitely, however, one of those fun moments for me that make listening to Jazz... and the Dead... so fun.

i just saw Trixie at that “hippie bakery in sonoma county” ;) and my brother-in-law sent me a photo of shortbread cookies w/ my wife’s name on it so i got inspired to share my recent insight!

i also like how (all?) 90s ‘Lucies’ feature Jerry singing the reversed lyric “i’m her yo yo- she’s my string”, peeling away the obvious heterocentric entendre & “she” gets more credit for making the narrator go up and down & spin around and around.

12.16.94 had no ‘shortnin bread’ or ‘loose lucy’, but they did play a Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds encore...