Post by Deleted on Feb 24, 2021 9:49:30 GMT -5
Bob Weir tells of the creation of "Estimated Prophet" in the Poughkeepsie
Journal:
Performed live, "Estimated Prophet" captured all of Weir's onstage ego but
also gave Garcia a set of chord progressions against which he could deliver
the goods as the signature soloist he was. The genesis of this song can be
traced back to one of the thousands of anonymous hotels where the Dead have
stayed while on the road over decades.
"When we were traveling, we'd go through the Bible," Weir recalled. "You
would pull out the Gideon Bible. During dull moments - you break out the
Bible and read that."
One night after the show and post-show parties had ended, after everyone had
gone to bed, Weir got a phone call in his hotel room.
"It's Jerry," Weir said, laughing. "He said, 'Hey man, read this. Tell me
what you think of this.' "
Garcia had stumbled across the books of Daniel and Ezekiel in the Old Testa-
ment and was apparently so jazzed by what he had read that he felt compelled
to share them with Weir.
Both were dazzled by the passages, narratives that Weir believed were relay-
ing, in part, the journeys of alien beings to Earth during Biblical times.
"You get into some pretty hairy stuff ... four floating heads, wings, sur-
rounded by a wing of fire," Weir said of the Bible.
Inspired, Weir shared the passages with his lyricist, John Perry Barlow, and
the result became a staple of live performances for nearly two decades, in
addition to the opening track on the Dead's 1977 album, "Terrapin Station."
"Standing on the beach/The sea will part before me, (Fire wheel burnin' in
the air)," go the lyrics. "You will follow me/And we will ride to glory,
(Way up, in the middle of the air.) And I'll call down thunder and speak the
same/As my words fill the sky with flame./Might and Glory's gonna be my
name./They gonna light my way."
Journal:
Performed live, "Estimated Prophet" captured all of Weir's onstage ego but
also gave Garcia a set of chord progressions against which he could deliver
the goods as the signature soloist he was. The genesis of this song can be
traced back to one of the thousands of anonymous hotels where the Dead have
stayed while on the road over decades.
"When we were traveling, we'd go through the Bible," Weir recalled. "You
would pull out the Gideon Bible. During dull moments - you break out the
Bible and read that."
One night after the show and post-show parties had ended, after everyone had
gone to bed, Weir got a phone call in his hotel room.
"It's Jerry," Weir said, laughing. "He said, 'Hey man, read this. Tell me
what you think of this.' "
Garcia had stumbled across the books of Daniel and Ezekiel in the Old Testa-
ment and was apparently so jazzed by what he had read that he felt compelled
to share them with Weir.
Both were dazzled by the passages, narratives that Weir believed were relay-
ing, in part, the journeys of alien beings to Earth during Biblical times.
"You get into some pretty hairy stuff ... four floating heads, wings, sur-
rounded by a wing of fire," Weir said of the Bible.
Inspired, Weir shared the passages with his lyricist, John Perry Barlow, and
the result became a staple of live performances for nearly two decades, in
addition to the opening track on the Dead's 1977 album, "Terrapin Station."
"Standing on the beach/The sea will part before me, (Fire wheel burnin' in
the air)," go the lyrics. "You will follow me/And we will ride to glory,
(Way up, in the middle of the air.) And I'll call down thunder and speak the
same/As my words fill the sky with flame./Might and Glory's gonna be my
name./They gonna light my way."
