From: mattb@ctron.com (Matt Brown)
Newsgroups: rec.music.gdead
Subject: Re: What do the Dead Represent? (was Re: Deadheads)
Date: 27 Aug 92 21:46:04 GMT
Reply-To: mattb@olympus.ctron.com (Matt Brown)
Organization: Cabletron Systems INc.

Well, my newsfeed is so messed up that I am seeing replies to Steve's replies
before I see Steve's replies, but I'd rather say something now rather than
wait to catch up.

(Bill Ralston) writes:
><sjeck@isi.com> writes:
>>Matt says:
>>| But I contend that if the things the Dead represent
>>|(to me and perhaps no one else) are worth spreading, they will have to 
>>|contend with and integrate lots of these elements.  
Steve:
>>I think Matt has hit the root of the problem with this statement.
>>He sees the Grateful Dead as representing something or some values.
>>I see the Grateful Dead as a competent Rock 'N' Roll band which does
>>some small degree of improvisational music.  I have never considered
>>them as representing any political system (well, except maybe capitalism)
>>or moral values.
Bill:
>Although the Grateful Dead are just a band, there has been a lot of 
>culture built around them.  Many deadheads find a sense of community in a 
>shared set of values and political beliefs.  No, the Grateful Dead as a 
>band does not represent these beliefs, but they are linked to them 
>(whether they want to or not).  An analogy that comes to mind is mold 
>growing on bread - the bread is only the food source for the mold, and 
>does not represent the mold. (Sorry to anyone offended by this analogy).
>
Steve:
>>Am I the only one who thinks they are a rock 'n' roll band and 
>>NOT a religion of some kind?  Remember the parodies I wrote about
>>the religious rituals at Dead shows last summer?  They were parodies.
>
Bill:
>To you they are just a rock and roll band, to someone else they Dead may 
>be the face of the God they worship.  Religious fanaticism of any form is 
>dangerous:  it tends to downplay the importance of the agreements we make 
>in the interest of living peacefully together (democratic law) claiming 
>instead an impertive based on absolute truth (morality).  Problem is, 
>there aren't any absolute truths.

coupla points;
1) Represent...values...just a band.
   At base, they are just a band. But, they are more active in world-wide
   socual, political, and cultural issues than they ever were.  They are
   no longer a bunch of hippies living in the Haight.  They are talking
   about legisation, environmental issues, freedom of information, support
   of the arts in the face of censorship, ignorance, and cultural snobbishness.
   And more.  You tryin to tell me Barlow lives and dies Rock and Roll?

   Granted, the music is the central focus, by far. And the people who get
   too mystical about the Dead are overboard. But to say they do not reflect
   (on purpose or by accident) some values beyond mixylodian mode is pretty
   narrow. And after all, Steve was the one who brought up politics on the
   scene in the first place.

2) Mold on bread
   Dave Marsh? Are you out there?  Just kidding. Bill. Dave would have 
   reversed the analogy - wth us as the bread and the Dead are the mold.
   Actually, the analogy works,
   but less today than a few years ago. The band is steering some of the
   energy of the scene through Rex Foundation, Panther Dream, Lithuanian
   T-shirts, etc.  They are picking their issues perhaps more carefully than
   we, but they are getting active, and dragging the scene along.

3) The scene, the politics, the music
   These are the three central things revolving in this thread.  The original
   portrait of a deadhead talked about the scene, the culture, the attitude.
   I noted some ways this has changed.  Steve brought in the politics of the
   scene, then when I commented on the politics and activism, he moved on to
   the music.  Threading with Steve is always interesting.  Kind of r.m.gd
   version of Drumz/Space.  You never know when he will make the next
   thematic transition, and it's different every time, no matter how many
   times you've heard it. And you never know when the rest of the band will
   jump back on stage and add their notes (figuratively speaking).

   
Matt
Ken Nordine's got nothing on you