![]() I always think of theboxes of Joseph Cornell, which evoke the same fleeting sense of loss as this song. On other days while going homeThe title of a book by Michelle Carter (Morrow, 1987).īox of rainA perfect phrase, and perfectly resistant to firm interpretation. (See Steve Silberman's interview with Hunter.)Another resonance between the two songs is the watery imagery of rain and ripples. It's a distinction that gets lost in the world of compact discs, but one of which Hunter was always aware. "Box of Rain" starts side one, "Ripple" starts sidetwo. Seen beforeMuch of this song, for me, resonates with "Ripple." In particular, the two lines: "I know it's been seen before through other eyes," and "words half spoken andthoughts unclear," bring to mind the line from "Ripple": "It's a hand-me-down, the thoughtsare broken." The two songs serve to set each other off in a number of ways, not least of whichis by their very placement on the album. This is all a dream we dreamed one afternoon long agoCompare to the line in "Stella Blue" Look out of any windowThis note from Ives Chor: Date: Thu, 5 Oct 95 16:03:35 TZīruce Hornsby recorded a song called "Look Out Any Window" on his Scenes From the Southside album. 51.ĭeadlit topic #221 on the WELL is about the song, and containssome wonderful insights.Ĭarl Hiaasen's book Stormy Weather (1995) has a wonderful passage in which the lead character,Skink, sings "Box of Rain" to a child in a shelter for people left homeless by a hurricane. There is a short essay about the song in Rock Voices: the Best Lyrics of an Era,edited by Matt Damsker. I felt like singing it in other situations similar to that since then. It was very moving, very moving for me to experience that during the period of my dad's passing. The lyrics that he produced were so apt, so perfect. I sort of identified that song with my dad and his approaching death. ![]() Lesh: And at that time, my dad was dying of cancer, and I would drive out to visit with him, in the hospital, and also at the nursing home he spent his final days in, and after Bob gave me the lyrics, on the way out there I would practice singing the song. I guess it was written for a young man whose father was dying. Hunter: He'd just written these lovely changes and put 'em on a tape on a tape for me, and he sang along (scat singing of melody)-so the phrasing was all there, I think I went through it two or three times, writing as fast as I could, and that song was written. This was the first time I had written a song in a long time, and I had worked out the melody and the chords, and in fact the whole song, from beginning to end-introduction, coda, and everything-and I put it on a tape and gave it to Hunter. If ever a lyric 'wrote itself,' this did-as fast as thepen would pull."įrom Classic Albums: American Beauty, a film by Jeremy Marre: Lesh (On "Box of Rain"): The lyrics came about in an unusual way. Hunter notes in his anthology of lyrics, named for this song, "Phil Lesh wanted a song to sing to his dying father and had composed a piece complete withevery vocal nuance but the words. It has remained in the repertoire ever since, often being sung in response to a chant from Deadheads of "We Want Phil!" It appeared inthe first set, following "El Paso" and preceding "China Cat Sunflower."Disappeared from the repertoire less than a year later, but was brought back on March 20, 1986, at the Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia. Classic Grateful Dead: Selections from 'American Beauty'įirst performance: October 9, 1972, at the Winterland Arena, San Francisco.Chords used: A, Bm7/A, Asus4, D, Am, Em, C, G, Bm.Time signature: 4/4 (with an occasional 2/4 measure).Words by Robert Hunter music by Phil LeshĬopyright Ice Nine Publishing used by permission. Library, University of Colorado at Colorado Springs The Annotated "Box of Rain" "I know it's been seen before through other eyes on other days." The Annotated "Box of Rain"An installment in The Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics.
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