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Robert Hunter, the poet and writer who provided the Grateful Dead with many of their vivid and enduring lyrics, died Monday night. He was 78. No cause of death was provided.
“It is with great sadness we confirm our beloved Robert passed away yesterday night,” Hunter’s family announced in a statement. “He died peacefully at home in his bed, surrounded by love. His wife Maureen was by his side holding his hand. For his fans that have loved and supported him all these years, take comfort in knowing that his words are all around us, and in that way his is never truly gone. In this time of grief please celebrate him the way you all know how, by being together and listening to the music. Let there be songs to fill the air.”
Considered one of rock’s most ambitious and dazzling lyricists, Hunter was the literary counterpoint to the band’s musical experimentation. His lyrics — heard in everything from early Dead classics like “Dark Star” and “China Cat Sunflower” and proceeding through “Uncle John’s Band,” “Box of Rain,” “Scarlet Begonias,” and “Touch of Gray”— were as much a part of the band as Jerry Garcia’s singing and guitar. […]
Hunter’s work didn’t end with Garcia’s death. In the years after, he wrote songs with Elvis Costello, Bruce Hornsby, country singer Jim Lauderdale and Dead drummer Mickey Hart. His best-known collaborator after Garcia, though, was Bob Dylan. Starting with “Silvio,” the two co-wrote many songs on Dylan’s Together Through Life in 2009.
* He deserves a much better sendoff than this, but I’m just so distracted with breaking news and other stuff right now, so this will have to do for today…
Fare you well, fare you well, I love you more than words can tell
posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 2:06 pm
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Hunter’s lyrics are poignant and rich with the remarkable effect of hearing something new - a turn of phrase, an interpretation - every time you listen to them. A perfect compliment to Garcia to produce music that continues to impact the world.
Comment by Joe Bidenopolous Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 2:13 pm
Thanks for posting, Rich. This is weighing heavily on my mind. With all of the negativity in this world, I’m glad we had someone like Robert Hunter to put it in perspective.
Comment by Dancing Bears Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 2:18 pm
Second what Joe said. One of a kind.
RIP.
Comment by A State Employee Guy Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 2:20 pm
Our generation’s Whitman has walked into splintered sunlight.
Comment by Mugs Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 2:22 pm
I wish I could write well enough to adequately explain Robert Hunter’s greatness. I can’t so I leave it to one my favorite lyrics from Franklin’s Tower;
Wildflower seed in the sand and wind
May the four winds blow you home again
God bless him.
Comment by Paddyrollingstone Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 2:27 pm
will have to go home and re-listen to Ripple, my favorite Dead song
Comment by jim Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 3:08 pm
“Let it be known there is a fountain that was not made by the hands of men.”
I saw Hunter at the Quiet Knight (Belmont and Sheffield at what is now the Red Line) around 1978. I also saw the Dead on more than a few occasions. I am listening to American Beauty for the second time since the news broke. I like this version of Ripple (with the Chicago Children’s Choir) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHo1fNnXFVU
Comment by George Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 3:09 pm
Nice choice, Rich. I just heard a Dead cover band play Brokedown Palace on Saturday, before this bad news arrived.
Comment by cover Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 3:12 pm
Sadly I no longer have this album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEoUNwPChig
Its really fantastic
Comment by Paddyrollingstone Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 3:19 pm
He was also a principal in starting up the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocated early and often for privacy and rights of individuals on the internet.
Comment by Excessively Rabid Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 3:21 pm
Ugh, this one hurts. GOAT.
Comment by So_Ill Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 3:35 pm
I hope he went easy.
Comment by Dotnonymous Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 3:37 pm
“He was also a principal in starting up the Electronic Frontier Foundation”
You’re thinking of John Perry Barlow who died in 2018.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 3:39 pm
Excessively Rabid - Actually it was the other songwriter, John Perry Barlow, who was active in the EFF. Barlow died in Feb 2018.
Comment by George Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 3:44 pm
Sorry just one more:
Hunter quoted from the rolling stone interview:
“OK, to get very egotistical about it, way back when I thought we were making music for the ages. I thought that’s what we were doing and it’s what I tried to do. It’s what Jerry was trying to do. That’s one of the reasons we based our stuff very heavily on traditional music as a continuity with that tradition. That it worked out that way and continued to survive was not a big surprise…. I look back and I’ve realized what marvelous good luck I’ve had and a lot of it has it do with the persistent loyalty of fans. That’s a blessing! I won’t play for a couple of years and I forget. Playing Grateful Dead songs to Grateful Dead fans — there’s nothing to compare to that, being up onstage and doing “Ripple” in front of people who’ve grown up with that song. They love it, and I’m able to give it to them as close to the source as you’re going to get.
Comment by Paddyrollingstone Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 3:47 pm
what a life. I’m twirling in honor of all that.
Comment by Amalia Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 3:52 pm
I’m no Deadhead, but Friend of the Devil and Truckin’ are stone-cold classics.
– MrJM
Comment by @misterjayem Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 3:54 pm
MRJM - yeah, I am. Duh.
Comment by Excessively Rabid Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 3:59 pm
Great choice, Rich! he was anA wonderful lyricist who turned many a marvelous phrase that have touched me and millions of others many times. Fare the well! (That being said was one of the worst concerts I’ve ever seen)
Comment by Mark Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 4:05 pm
Robert Hunter made the Dead one of the most American bands. His writings had such depth and references to American history, literature, religion, music, politics. So many allusions to the West, gunfights, horses, open spaces, railroads, rivers, roads, roses…such thick imagery.
Ramble on baby, settle down easy.
Comment by Senator Clay Davis Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 4:35 pm
Millions of people that don’t know his name know the phrase “what a long strange trip its been” as if it was always there. But he wrote it.
Comment by Jake Jacobs Tuesday, Sep 24, 19 @ 4:35 pm
Standing on the moon
Where talk is cheap and vision true
Standing on the moon
But I would rather be with you
Somewhere in San Francisco
On a back porch in July
Just looking up to heaven
At this crescent in the sky
Comment by Kayak Wednesday, Sep 25, 19 @ 9:49 am