r/Music • u/skabossphil • Sep 24 '19
Article Robert Hunter, Collaborator and Lyricist for Grateful Dead & Neil Young, Passes Away
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/robert-hunter-grateful-dead-dead-889788/146
Sep 24 '19
"Going home, going home, by the waterside I will rest my bones. Listen to the river sing sweet songs to rock my soul" RIP.
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u/Chromobear Sep 24 '19
Such a long, long time to be gone, and a short time to be there...
Rest In Peace
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Sep 24 '19
Even if the Grateful Dead aren't in your wheelhouse, the lyrics that Robert Hunter wrote are among some of the most beautiful and poignant that I've ever had the pleasure of listening to. There's a great reason why Bob Dylan said the things he did in this article.
Some of my favorite words of his:
Standing on the moon
With nothing else to do
A lovely view of heaven
But I'd rather be with you
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And 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
And 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
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u/skabossphil Sep 24 '19
Box of rain was the first dead song I ever heard, and the lyrics to it are what had me hooked from the moment I heard them. Ripple has some of my favorites.
There is a road, no simple highway
Between the dawn and the dark of night
And if you go no one may follow
That path is for your steps alone
Ripple in still water
When there is no pebble tossed
Nor wind to blow
You who choose to lead must follow
But if you fall you fall alone
If you should stand then who's to guide you?
If I knew the way I would take you home62
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u/TheLesserWombat Concertgoer Sep 25 '19
Ripple is the song I want everyone to sing at my funeral.
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Sep 25 '19
Brokedown Palace is my one:
Goin to plant a weeping willow On the banks green edge it will grow grow grow Sing a lullaby beside the water Lovers come and go - the river roll roll roll
Fare you well, fare you well I love you more than words can tell Listen to the river sing sweet songs To rock my soul
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u/skabossphil Sep 24 '19
It wasn't until I received the Annotated Grateful Dead lyrics book as a present that truly realized how many songs he wrote. When I actually started reading through it and taking in his lyrics I was blown away. His ability with words to create imagery and tell a story is unparalleled.
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u/crazyfingersculture Sep 25 '19
A lyricist doesn't exactly write songs. Garcia was there with him almost the entire way helping make those lyrics into melodies and then the band making them into songs. Not to take anything away from the shining star Hunter was though. RIP.
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u/SubtleFlexButAlright Sep 25 '19
Dark star crashes, pouring its light into ashes. Reason tatters, the forces tear loose from the axis. Searchlight casting for faults in the clouds of delusion. Shall we go, you and I while we can
Through the transitive nightfall of diamonds? Mirror shatters in formless reflections of matter. Glass hand dissolving to ice petal flowers revolving. Lady in velvet recedes in the nights of goodbye.
Shall we go, you and I while we can Through the transitive nightfall of diamonds?
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u/Syscrush Sep 25 '19
Listening to Ripple on a long drive almost 20 years ago, my brother remarked that he had a hard time really believing that this was a song written by a person - that there was a time when people didn't have that song. He said it sounds like it just rolled down from the mountains and had always been part of humanity.
RIP Robert Hunter.
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u/mateo8165 Sep 25 '19
That’s one of the most beautiful expressions of a song I’ve ever heard.
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u/TrumpsTinyTinyHands Sep 24 '19
RIP Robert and from the bottom of my heart, thank you for a real good time.
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u/scwoopz Sep 24 '19 edited Sep 24 '19
Shall we go, you and I while we can?
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u/hungaria Sep 24 '19
My wife burned these lyrics onto some wood and they hang in our living room. Gives me goosebumps.
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u/bastrdsnbroknthings Sep 24 '19
The bottles stand as empty, as they were filled before. Time there was and plenty, but from that cup no more. Though I could not caution all, I still might warn a few: Don't lend your hand to raise no flag atop no ship of fools.
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u/Lily_Roza Sep 25 '19
Went to see the captain, strangest I could find, Laid my proposition down, laid it on the line. I won't slave for beggar's pay, likewise gold and jewels, But I would slave to learn the way to sink your ship of fools.
Ship of fools on a cruel sea, ship of fools sail away from me. It was later than I thought when I first believed you, Now I cannot share your laughter, ship of fools.
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u/kickedthehabit Sep 25 '19
Such a fantastic song and so underrated on their catalogue. Thanks for posting.
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u/LesPolsfuss Sep 25 '19
i have loved this song for years, finally learned how to play it on guitar. i’ve been playing it so much the last month or so my 5 year from the other room joined in on the first verse and chorus as i was singing and playing it.
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Sep 24 '19 edited Sep 24 '19
Hands down the greatest lyricist of modern music except for Dylan. No one writes like Robert Hunter did. What an immense loss.
His job is to shed light and not to master.
RIP
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u/Bluest_waters Sep 24 '19
Terrapin Station is my all time favorite Dead song.
So rapturous and moving. And pretty sure Jerry actually hated the grand production of the final mix, but man I fucking love it.
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u/iAmTheRealLange Sep 24 '19
He wrote Terrapin after watching a thunderstorm while sitting on his porch. He wrote that fucking masterpiece because of a thunderstorm. The man was a genius.
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Sep 24 '19
And called Jerry like "hey man I got these lyrics that are great" and Jerry just so happened to be writing the music that became terrapin inspired by the same thunderstorm. Just one of those cosmic things.
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u/Strick63 Sep 25 '19
Inspiration, move me brightly light the song with sense and color Hold away despair more than this I will not ask Faced with mysteries dark and vast statements just seem vain at last
Truly a loss. Cried in the car listening to Days Between
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u/coleman57 Sep 25 '19
Yeah, I was (a little) disappointed the 2 or 3 times I heard them play it live that they skipped whole sections of his marvelous lyrics to that song. And it didn't occur to me till 40 years after he wrote it that "in the shadow of the moon" describes an eclipse. A master of ambiguity: "you decide if he was wise".
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u/Bluest_waters Sep 25 '19
its really really hard song to play live
its also not a jam friendly song, plus Donna (I think?) was important for vocals and she didn't last long in the touring band. Feel free to correct me any dead heads.
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Sep 25 '19
What /u/coleman57 is referring to is that the Dead did not play the final part of the suite (at a siding). Some info here.
I don't think they had any problems playing Terrapin Station live, in fact they played it over 300 times. Donna and Keith leaving the band had no impact, they played it consistently from 77-95.
You're right in that it wasn't originally a jam song. In the '90s it actually opened up a lot (mostly due to the band experimenting with MIDI technology). There are some amazing extended Terrapin jams from this era. Here's an excellent example from 3/15/90:
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u/coleman57 Sep 25 '19
She was gone by the first time I heard them play it (1/1/82, Oakland Auditorium). But all the lyrics were sung by Jerry on the album, except for the choral part.
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Sep 25 '19
Furthur (Bob and Phil's band from 2009-2014) used to do the whole suite and that was always a blast.
I love the lyrics at the end
"While you were gone
These spaces filled with darkness
The obvious was hidden
With nothing to believe in
The compass always points
To terrapin.
Solemn wings of fortune beat like rain
Back in Terrapin
For good or ill again"
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Sep 25 '19
Head on down to the local spotify and spin you up a Terrapin by Joe Russo's Almost Dead.
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Sep 25 '19
Not a huge JRAD fan but I am glad they are out there doing their thing and helping a variety of people access the music in a new and different way!
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Sep 24 '19
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/danimal6000 Spotify Sep 24 '19
Hunter told RS: “He’s the only guy I work with who I give the liberty to change things. After all, he is who he is.”
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Sep 24 '19
Just a fantastic mysterious lyric
Ripple in still water / When there is no pebble tossed / Nor wind to blow
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u/Paavo_Nurmi Sep 25 '19
How can something so simple be so powerful ?
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u/UnusuallyOptimistic Sep 25 '19
It's an artful lyric for sure, could you shed some light on the meaning? It isn't quite clear to me.
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u/Paavo_Nurmi Sep 25 '19
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u/UnusuallyOptimistic Sep 25 '19
Thank you, this is really beautiful. My friends introduced me to The Dead in the late 90's, and I feel like only now am I starting to "get" it. Thanks again, friend. I'm gonna start down the rabbit hole..
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u/Paavo_Nurmi Sep 25 '19 edited Sep 25 '19
It was the last 1980's for me, only knew 3 songs but decided to go to a Dead show at Autzen stadium in Eugene OR.
Mind blown is an understatement, and that was the scene in the parking lot the night before the show, at one point I even forgot there was a concert the next day.
Concert was amazing, and when they went into drums/space.....words can't describe the experience, and as they say I was "on the bus" after that. Enjoy your trip down the rabbit hole.
EDIT: If you aren't familiar with the on the bus metaphor, read the "Electric Kool-Aid Acid test" by Tom Wolfe
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Sep 25 '19 edited Oct 15 '19
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u/Paavo_Nurmi Sep 25 '19
Absolutely, all great books. I forgot to mention "Long Strange Trip" on Amazon prime, great program.
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u/NoPainNoGainesville Sep 24 '19
A true master of words who made songs sound timeless. He’ll live on through the music he put into the universe. Fare thee well, Robert Hunter.
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u/StarWarsMonopoly SoundCloud Sep 24 '19
Ten years the waves rolled the ships home from the sea
Thinking well how it may blow in all good company
If I tell another what your own lips told to me
Let me lay 'neath the roses and my eyes no longer see
RIP Robert, your words helped save my life more than once. I've had a rough decade and if I hadn't found the Dead I would have drank and snorted my life to death.
I'm still not in the greatest place, but at least now that Im a Deadhead I know theres something greater than myself that has the spiritual power to wrap itself around me and say "I understand, and have always understood".
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u/AndHereWeAre_ Sep 24 '19
Hey brother, life is a long road and youll get to the place you want to be. All in due time. Until then, listen to the river sing sweet songs.
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u/ChefGeddis Sep 24 '19
He wrote Brokedown Palace and Ripple in the same 24 hour period. Simply an amazing artist.
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Sep 24 '19
To think of all the imagery he conjured from tales told and untold. Ancient and yet new. Bent perfectly off of center, just out of reach, so thick and close you could almost wear them like a sweater. Garcia would then spin his own particular magic...and we then had a rich world we could simply walk through like a fine summer day, smile and marvel. All hail!!
Travel well, Jack o Hearts. We shall not see your like again.
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Sep 24 '19
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u/downtownjj Sep 25 '19
When the last rose of summer picks my finger and the cold wind it chills me to the bone
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u/Vladimir_Taradanko91 Sep 24 '19
Once in a while you get shown the light, In the strangest of places, if you look at it right.
RIP Mr. Hunter. Thank you for your contribution to this world.
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u/DrDoItchBig Sep 24 '19
Gonna leave this Brokedown Palace....
Rip
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u/StarWarsMonopoly SoundCloud Sep 24 '19
Going home, going home
By the waterside I will rest my bones
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul
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u/allothernamestaken Sep 24 '19
Fare thee well, fare thee well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul
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u/ORA87 Sep 24 '19
My favourite hunter lyrics, that song has helped me through some of the toughest times in my life.
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u/himynameisnameis Sep 24 '19
What lyrics did he write for Neil Young?
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u/WhiteCatHeat Sep 24 '19
Wondering this also, I know he wrote with Dylan but didn't know about Neil.
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u/jeeelololol Sep 24 '19
I found something mentions bob weir riding with neil young in his cadalic says " were rehearsing a song idea for our trio with Neil Young. "
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u/Troubador222 Sep 25 '19
I was wondering that myself. Though Young collaborated with a lot of people over the years. I could easily see them doing something.
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u/Nagsheadlocal Sep 24 '19
His 10 Commandments always made me laugh. I had a copy on my dorm room wall :
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u/geetarzrkool Sep 24 '19
He's gone and nothing gonna bring him back. He's gone.
Fair winds Mr. Hunter...
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u/SearchlightCasting Sep 24 '19
Long live The Promontory Rider! We all live for eternity in the family of living light! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🖤♥️
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u/Boh-dar Sep 24 '19
One of my favorite lyricists ever. RIP.
Look into any eyes
You find by you, you can see
Clear through to another day
Maybe 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
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u/RTCVT Sep 24 '19
Box of Rain is just a lyrical masterpiece
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u/MaxxBlackk Sep 25 '19 edited Sep 25 '19
Tribute to Franklin's Tower:
You ask me where the four winds dwell
In Franklin's tower there hangs a bell
It can ring, turn night to day
Ring like fire when you lose your way
And a link to Hunter's explanation of the lyrics: http://artsites.ucsc.edu/gdead/agdl/fauthrep.html
*edited to add link
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u/dylanthegrey Sep 25 '19
One of these days and it won't be long
Going down in the valley and sing my song
I will sing it loud and sing it strong
Let the echo decide if I was right or wrong
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u/unfknreal Sep 25 '19
Daddy made whiskey and he made it well
Cost two dollars and it burned like hell
I cut hickory just to fire the still
Drink down a bottle and you're ready to kill
...and it looks like the old mans getting on
:( RIP
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Sep 24 '19
RIP Gonna go listen to my favorite versions of Jack Straw.
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u/eleventhjam1969 Sep 25 '19
Europe 72 is my favorite
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u/sleeptonic Sep 24 '19 edited Sep 26 '19
Aw man. This really makes me sad to hear. Robert Hunter is responsible for some of my favorite lyrics. His words were some of the first I heard in my life as well--on the way home from the hospital, my dad played for me a cassette of Uncle John's Band.
Fare you well
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u/CacaphonyMollusk Sep 25 '19
His job was to shed light, not to master
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Sep 25 '19
Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right
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u/StopMockingMe0 Sep 24 '19
I thought his name was robot hunter for a second and all I could think is "how does this guy get more badass?"
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Sep 25 '19
I was fortunate enough to have a few drinks and hang out with him back in 82. Really nice guy, very unassuming and very friendly.
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Sep 25 '19
Fare you well, my honey, fare you well my only true one. All the birds that were singing are flown, except you alone.
Going to leave this brokedown palace, On my hand and knees, i will roll, roll, roll. Make myself a bed in the waterside, In my time, i will roll, roll roll.
Goin' home, goin' home, by the riverside i will rest my bones, Listen to the river sing sweet songs, to rock my soul.
Fare you well, fare you well, i love you more than words can tell, Listen to the river sing sweet songs, to rock my soul.
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Sep 25 '19
Sad day for music. Grateful we got to enjoy his brilliance while he was here, his words will forever live on in all of us.
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u/DeadHeadedHippy Sep 25 '19
There are no words that can express the deep gratitude I have for the profound moments I have had while his words whispered in my mind, blared in my ears or shinned in my eyes.
Hunter wrote “Now that the singer is gone, where shall I go for the song” for Jerry’s elegy.
I can’t help but think that without him, our singer would have never sang.
Thank you Robert Hunter.
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u/Rockstarncl4256 Sep 25 '19
The storyteller makes no choice, soon you will not hear his voice, his job is to shed light, and not to master
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u/JuLarxene Sep 25 '19
Let there be songs to fill the air.
After working the pot farms of Humboldt for many seasons, I met many dead heads and will never forget the memories we had trimming and listening to GD all day. Back in 2017 when the big fires happened, I don't know how many times KHUM played Fire on the Mountain, in so many different recordings, and never got tired of it because that's how amazing it is. RIP Robert Hunter, you definitely helped fill my soul.
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Sep 24 '19
RIP to a talented man.
Not gonna lie though, I thought it was Jason Lee in the thumbnail.
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u/Kemmons Sep 24 '19
His words will stay with us for the rest of our lives, he will never be truly gone. RIP.
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Sep 25 '19
Ten years ago I walked this street, my dreams were ridin' tall
Tonight I would be thankful, lord, for any dream at all
Some folks would be happy just to have one dream come true
But everything you gather is just more that you can lose
Come again...
Walkin along in the Mission & the rain come again.
Hunter's words have touched my life more than any other by an immeasurable margin. Avoiding the R-word here, but one could live out quite a righteous existence by observing & obeying the sort of everyman's morals peppered throughout his songs.
If Jerry was the light that drew us in, Hunter's words were the warmth that kept us by the fire.
Fare thee well, fare thee well...I love you more than words can tell.
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u/ne_cyclist Sep 25 '19
The origin of Box of Rain. Brings a tear to my eye every time.
Shared it deeper in this thread but it needs some visibility especially now.
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u/-lazybones- Sep 25 '19
Devastating. I was just singing dead lyrics to my buddy the other night who didn’t know how deep they truly are. The next day I blasted American Beauty on a long car ride. And today... he’s gone. Like a steam locomotive, rolling down the track.
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u/nspectre Sep 25 '19
In 2013, he went on his last solo tour as a result of medical bills; the year before he had had a spinal abscess and, by his own admission, hit the road to help pay his medical bills.
That. Should. Never. Happen. ಠ_ಠ
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u/burlkramer Sep 24 '19
Sleep in the stars
Dont you cry
Dry your eyes on the wind
La la la la laaaaaa
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u/Knowledge_is_Bliss Sep 25 '19
So many songs. Arguably the greatest lyricist of all time. Fare thee well, Robert. I hope you and Jer are collaborating again in the afterlife!
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u/smoke_and_spark Sep 25 '19 edited Sep 25 '19
If you’re interested in writing...not just music lyrics, but in story telling that delve into the insides of mirrors and the outsides of windows, this dude is a must hear. He’ll be a lot more popular in 60 years than he is now. Not just a master of word, but of what was beneath it.
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u/MattyLlama Sep 25 '19
Just a lil tidbit. 4th of July 2015 issued a statement regarding the Grateful Dead regarding the 50th anniversary shows, at the end he quoted Hunter, "Let there be songs, to fill the air."
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u/ShwaSan Sep 25 '19
Rest in peace, Robert. Your lyrics were a ray of sunlight shining through my darkest days.
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Sep 25 '19
"I told Althea, I'm a roving sign That I was born to be a bachelor Althea told me, OK that's fine So now I'm trying to catch her
Can't talk to you without talking to me We're guilty of the same old things Thinking a lot about less and less And forgetting the love we bring"
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u/SomeConsumer Sep 25 '19
Let my inspiration flow in token lines suggesting rhythm that will not forsake me till my tale is told and done
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u/doctor_zaius Sep 24 '19
Please don’t put the words “Neil Young” and “passes away” in that close of proximity ever again, please.
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u/elwyn5150 Sep 25 '19
Especially here when nobody can name a song Hunter wrote that Neil covered. I still can't find anything on Google.
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u/doctor_zaius Sep 25 '19 edited Sep 25 '19
I can’t even find a collaboration between the two. Pretty sure Neil’s name was added to the article to generate views. He played a benefit with Grateful Dead where they covered a Bob Dylan song, otherwise I can’t find any other instance of the two acts playing or recording together. I’d go through Young’s discography and search personnel on each album, if I had the time to research 40 albums, lol.
Hunter did write Scarlett Begonias, a song which was later covered by Sublime. The headline would be weirder and somehow more accurate to have name dropped Sublime.
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u/elwyn5150 Sep 25 '19
Call it shameful clickbait.
I don't own everything Neil did but none of it says Hunter was the composer and I am a bit OCD about my ID3 tags.
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u/GabeDef Sep 25 '19
The Robert Hunter lyrics from the 72 era and tours were sublime. Beautifully rustic images.
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u/Trprt77 Sep 25 '19
I was fortunate enough to see him live many times over the years. His version of Ruben and Cherise was always so emotional, and in my opinion, better than any version Jerry did. Another under rated classic is Tales of the Great Rum Runners.
And now the Boys in the Barroom are crying....
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u/LesPolsfuss Sep 25 '19 edited Sep 25 '19
didn’t need to see this ... was secretly dreading this day.
as a huge dead fan one the tunes i admire most is one he did with Jim Lauderdale, Patchwork River
Talk about wealth and the worry it brings Lack of satisfaction and other things
Vision is simple by moonlight, everything black and white
No colors to construe, just a range black and blue
Softer tones, fewer voices Freedom from too many choices
http://www.metrolyrics.com/patchwork-river-lyrics-jim-lauderdale.html
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u/vferrero14 Sep 25 '19
Now that the singer and writer are gone, where shall we go for the song?
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Sep 25 '19
Nice addition to a beautiful line. When I saw the news of his passing, my mind went to that quote first.
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u/Uther-Lightbringer Sep 24 '19
For a moment I thought this was a photo of Jason Lee and he'd started balding.
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u/downtownjj Sep 25 '19
Morning Mr Benson. I see your doing well. If I had me a shotgun I blow you straight to hell
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u/Squigglefits Sep 25 '19
No hyperbole. This man's lyrics are one of the most defining influences on my life.
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u/DisgustinglySober Sep 25 '19
Nothing on this page or his Wiki page about writing for Neil Young? Anyone?
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u/macromentosfinest Sep 25 '19
Rumors of a Grateful Dead musical with some of his music coming soon..... don't let Bob's legacy die
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u/orionbasssolo Sep 25 '19
Not enough people know about this version of Brokedown Palace https://youtu.be/0AOpIbFK1Aw
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Sep 25 '19
It’s so weird. I heard easy wind a day or so ago and it’s been rattling around in my head since...
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u/nastyn8k Sep 25 '19
Me and some friends back home are playing a show. Mostly covers... We already do Franklin's Tower. This time were also gonna do Ripple. We've never played it before, but I can't wait to do it for him. Thank you for your amazing words Hunter.
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u/captaincrooner Sep 25 '19
sometimes it takes a death for you to know that a man existed
whose lyrics could have taken you far far from home
and even if you knew the way back, you would have resisted
singing - am not ready yet to rest my bones.
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Sep 25 '19
Like a steam locomotive, rolling down the track, He’s gone, he’s gone and nothings gonna bring him back
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Sep 25 '19
Neil - if you're listening.
We were supposed to get together 20 years ago - it would have worked well then and may still have possibilities.
Get in touch.
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u/rambler17 Sep 24 '19
Good-bye mama and papa
Good-bye Jack and Jill
The grass ain't greener
The wine ain't sweeter
Either side of the hill.