Grateful Dead Lyricist Robert Hunter Dies at 78

The poet behind the Grateful Dead’s most iconic lyrics, Robert Hunter, died last night. He died peacefully in his bed at home, surrounded by his family.

Hunter was just as much a part of the band as the players on the stage. His thoughts and words permeate the Dead’s expansive catalog. He was a part of the great experiment since the early days. Dark Star, China Cat Sunflower, Ripple… those are but a handful of Hunter’s poems.

Set to the music of the Grateful Dead, his vivid imagery ignites the psychedelic imagination within all of us — with or without the use of mind-altering substances.

I rang a silent bell
Beneath a shower of pearls
In the eagle-winged palace
Of the queen Chinee
-Robert Hunter, China Cat Sunflower

Such a line may be dismissed as nonsense, but the degree to which it engages the imagination is undeniable. It’s one of the reasons his lyrics worked so well with the band. They don’t want to play with the mundane, problem-solving left brain. They want to play with the right side; the whimsical part of us that throws logic to the wind in favor of wonder and awe.

In a way, many of Hunters lyrics went as far as the written word could go. Our minds — our natural minds, anyway — don’t speak english. Our minds speak a language of imagery and feeling. The deepest truths cannot be spoken aloud, for there are no words capable of conveying them. They are pure thought and feeling. That is why experience is the greatest teacher. The best any writer can do is choose the words that most closely allude to the ineffable truth they wish to convey.

Let it be known
There is a fountain
That was not made
By the hands of man
Robert Hunter, Ripple

This was Hunter’s favorite lyric. He said so in an interview with Rolling Stone. It’s one of mine too, a verse from a song that holds a special place in my mind and heart. The written word is an invention of man, but the fount from which it springs is most definitely not. Hunter knew this. He alluded to it in a thousand different ways throughout his life. Not with the words he wrote, but with fantastic images and vibrant feelings they conveyed.

Rest in peace, Robert Hunter. Thank you for the spark of imagination.