Today was just one of those days. I needed a good summer tune. Something that would take me out of the office and into the warm embrace of a hammock in late summer. I immediately thought of this song because Saturday evening Joey started diddling out Jerry's lick on guitar. He even knew all the words. I hadn't listened to the song in a long time, and just hearing him do it live sparked a very reminiscent feeling in me. That night, I immediately added the song to my "Top Picks" (rounding the list out at a cool 2800), and haven't stopped listening to it since.
The song is off of "American Beauty," the fifth studio album by the Grateful Dead. The album itself was recorded between August and September (1970), and it has that end of summer feel to it. Almost like its bringing the perfect end, to something great that has transpired. That being the summer. The country, folk, rock feel that it encompasses blends perfectly with the tales and rhymes of Robert Hunter, who did the majority of the lyrics for this album. Truckin' and Ripple were the singles, but Friend of the Devil was the song that sold me. Altogether its a very relevant album with no lack of hits. Aside from the aforementioned, Sugar Magnolia and Box of Rain are also on it, which gave it enough "hit power" to prompt Rolling Stone Magazine to dub it #258 on the "500 greatest albums of all time" list.
The song itself is an outlaw song, and it reads like a poem really. The lines are left open to interpretation, which is something I always appreciate, because music should be and is interpreted differently by everyone. The acoustic nature of this song (and album) give the lyrics a gentle backdrop to shine over, but its certainly not simple. It's all woven together in what sounds like a very easy and relaxed way. But listen closely and you can really hear the instruments playing off one another. All those little intricacies between the bass, mandolin, and guitar parts, are what make this song so great. Just a little something to ease those Monday blues.
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