Loose Leaf Notes

Cosmic Charlie set some “fire on the mountain” Saturday night at Chantilly Farm in Floyd.

For me, going to Grateful Dead concerts – whether an actual show with Jerry Garcia and the rest or a great tribute band like Cosmic Charlie or The Kind –  is something like going to church.

There is a following that knows all the words to the songs and sings out loud together.  It’s not like a sit down quiet church, but more like a revival or an African American gospel service of release and praise.  

The light shows are transcendent. The lyrics range from good fun story-telling to philosophically Zen.

The set list is always a surprise and feels as if it was channeled: Ripple in still water / When there is no pebble tossed / Nor wind to blow / Reach out your hand if your cup be empty / If your cup is full may it be again / Let it be known there is a fountain / That was not made by the hands of men / There is a road, no simple highway / Between the dawn and the dark of night / And if you go no one may follow / That path is for your steps alone…

There is a bond of fellowship that Dead Heads share and no one ever “feels like a stranger.”

Dancing together is like a language that stirs the spirit.  I always feel moved and uplifted … Keep on dancin’ through the daylight … Greet the mornin’ air with song … No ones’s noticed, but the band’s all pack and gone … Was it ever there at all? … But they keep on dancin’

Nature is my kind of church and so is good music that speaks to my soul.

_______Our World Tuesday