key: B mixolydian
mode: B C# D# E F# G# A
melody: s l t d r m
form: verse-chorus
meter: duple
English function names: tonic subtonic
Tagg (modified): home counterpoise (away)
Riemann: T dP
Scale degrees: I VII
Chords: B A
B A
|:/ / / / |/ / / / :| loop
The Grateful Dead is one of those bands you can take or leave. If you take it, it's an all-consuming kind of deal. People are never lukewarm about this band. I definitely fall into the leave it category. I've never understood what the fuss is. I don't know their oeuvre very well, but what I’ve heard has never grabbed me. So upon first listening, my reaction to this particular song is: It's basically 2nd-rate Little Feat.1 The lyrics aren't clever or catchy. There's a basic late-70s white-funk groove. There's a decent guitar solo. I wouldn't start with this song, since B is a barre chord on both uke and guitar.2 It's not terrible by any means, but I don't hear what ignites so many people's deep passion for this band.
Clearly, I am not the right person to advocate for this song. So why include it? Why not? Other than the key, there's nothing else objectionable. This could be one's introduction to barre chords, or to switching from barre to open. If I had a classroom of Orff instruments, I could imagine a bunch of kids putting this together and singing out "Fire! Fire on the mountain!" What the lyrics lack in Little-Feat-esque sophistication, they make up for in positivity, which is always a plus for teaching. Jamming is a big part of Grateful Dead culture, as I understand it, and if I'm trying to advocate for equal emphasis on participatory music practices as much as presentational music practices, well, isn't the Grateful Dead a prime example of participatory music practice?
There's always that one student who is going to connect with that one example. This is why I do like to include avant-garde music in my teaching; most students balk, but there will be that one kid. I was that one kid. But for that same reason, it's important to find that death metal example, that Bollywood example, that jam band example, even when it's not your jam. We all need to be aware of what is out there, so that people can get what they need. Affirm and celebrate.
Then I find out that Lowell George produced the recording. Well, that explains that!
It's simply not a beginner-friendly key on any instrument, so I'm guessing it's a good key for Garcia's voice, which, instrumentalists' complaints aside, is always a valid reason for choosing a particular key.