Grateful dead china cat sunflower lyrics

#Grateful dead china cat sunflower lyrics series

The Grateful DeadВ first performed вЂChina Cat SunflowerвЂ™ on Januand it was recorded on their 1969 studio album Aoxomoxo a, and later released on the triple live album Europe вЂ™72 ,В played as a suite with the John A Lomax & Alan Lomax traditional blues tune вЂI Know You RiderвЂ™. вЂChina Cat SunflowerвЂ™ and вЂThe ElevenвЂ™ were the first lyrics that Robert Hunter wrote for the Grateful Dead and they were composed while he was on LSD. The Grateful Dead were known for never playing the same concert twice and most of their fans really paid attention to which songs they were playing, although a lot of real stoners did go to the shows. Well, at least I didnвЂ™t request that they play вЂFreebirdвЂ™. My most embarrassing moment at a Grateful Dead concert came for me at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, when I yelled out вЂChina CatвЂ™ and all of these Deadheads looked at me and said, вЂњThey already played that song.вЂќ I was humiliated, but I can blame my blunder on the acid that I took. The specific epithet can be interpreted as ( sino) China ( feli) cat ( helianthus) sunflower.Robert Hunter the Grateful Dead lyricist said that the song вЂChina Cat SunflowerвЂ™ came to him when he was visiting MexicoвЂ™s Lake Chapala and a cat decided that his belly looked like a comfortable place to take a nap. Epler named a new species of diving beetle (family Dytiscidae) for the song it is called Uvarus sinofelihelianthus. In the 2009 Ang Lee film Taking Woodstock, the version of the song from Europe '72 is used in the part of the film showing everyone arriving at Woodstock in 1969.

#Grateful dead china cat sunflower lyrics series

The song is featured in the Rock Band video game series as downloadable content, along with 17 other Grateful Dead songs. Anyone out there remember what it was like to be three years old?' In popular culture 'It's about acid' does it less justice than the observation that it's about seeing, sensing, and making connections in a sensuous world. It's one of the very few rock-and-roll lyrics (including Dylan's) that has as much impact on the page as it does sung, if not more. Wybenga described the lyrics as 'acid-drenched', and said, further: 'China Cat Sunflower's lyric-composed, Robert Hunter has said, in a state where contemplation of a cat served as touchstone for an interplanetary journey-is a real masterwork. Wybenga as 'that dodgy little Bobby intro that scratches your brain just behind the ears.' This second riff has been described by author Eric F. The first is played by Jerry Garcia and then a second one played by Bob Weir is interwoven on top of it.

The song begins with distinct guitar riffs. Only twice during this extended period was 'China Cat Sunflower' played without this pairing. Over the next 26 years they would pair these songs together over 500 times, most often as a second set opener. In late 1969 the Grateful Dead began segueing 'China Cat Sunflower' into 'I Know You Rider' during live performances. Four instances of this arrangement have been released on official recordings, the first on the compilation album So Many Roads (1965вЂ“1995), the second on Dick's Picks Volume 22, and the other two on Road Trips Volume 2 Number 2. During the first year after its introduction into the band's set list, the song was played by itself or often in the middle of an extended jam between the songs ' Dark Star' and 'The Eleven'-a position more familiarly (to Deadheads) filled by ' St.

The Grateful Dead first performed 'China Cat Sunflower' on January 17, 1968, at the Carousel Ballroom in San Francisco, CA, and played the song well over 500 times in concert.