Posted by Cam W. on May 3, 2000, at 10:17:19
In reply to Re: Cam W. Garcia, posted by Mark H. on May 3, 2000, at 1:39:07
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> Did you hear what the deadhead said who ran out of dope for a week? "This music sucks, man."Todd - I know that much of the Grateful Dead's music is made for chemically modified people, but this is not why I listen to it. Contrary to popular opinion, the music is far more challenging and complex than much other rock music. I listen to the Dead because of the complexity and innovative styles they used.
The Dead stretched the limits of what music "should be". You do not hear many other bands playing their music that often because of it's complexity. For example they use different beats than the usual (11/4 in a song called "The Eleven" and a 7/4 beat in a song called "The Seven". They often used complex chord changes as in "Box of Rain". The "Drums and Space" portion of their live shows many times consists of atonality that Debussy, or an early Strauss, would have envied. Frank Zappa also employed many of these same techniques and he claimed not to have been an imbiber. Zappa also ended his career orchestrating classical music.
The more you listen to the Dead, the more familiar all of these factors become. You realize each of the band members are playing their own music, but when taken as a whole, it sounds completely different. This is probably what users of LSD and marijuana find the music so compeling, they just don't realize it.
The heightening of the senses with LSD probably makes it easier to hear the composition (song) as a whole and understand what the band is saying musically. One does not need to take drugs to understand and appreciate the complexity of the music. One just needs to appreciate music.
This is why I like the Grateful Dead. It is not the easiest music to comprehend, but once one does, it is rather enjoyable, much like listening to Stravinsky. Sincerely - Cam W.
poster:Cam W.
thread:31827
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000429/msgs/32038.html