Chords for bob weir - interview with grateful dead guitarist - cnbc real life 8/20/92

_ _ Long, hard road it's been, but it doesn't much matter to the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir
how this veteran rock and roller and the rest of the band just keep [G] on truckin' when [F] real life [C] returns.
_ [G] _
_ _ _ [Am] _ _ [Bm] _ _ _
_ [F] _ [G] _ _ [F] _ _ [C] _ _
[G] _ _ _ _ [F#] When the Grateful Dead first started touring back in the age of Aquarius, fans poured into
VW buses decorated with the psychedelic symbols of the 60s and followed them to concert after concert.
Well, because that loyalty endures nearly three [Bm] decades later, the dead are still alive
as one of the biggest and most consistent box office draws in rock and roll.
It's not bad for a [N] band that boasts just one top ten single and releases albums about as
often as the Democrats get elected to the White House.
But unlike elected officials, the dead don't use their stage for politics.
Mark Haefeli looks at the long living success of the Grateful [A] Dead in tonight's Nightlife. _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ It's great [F#] work if you can find [A] it.
[E] _ _
_ [B] _ _ [A] _ _ [E] _ _ [B]
The Grateful [A] Dead have been enjoying the [Em] ride for 27 years.
[Bm] From a San Francisco [A] LSD influenced hippie house band, [B] they've turned their freewheeling
[F#] sound into a three generational [F#m] psychedelic quilt wrapped around their very own tie-dyed
nation of [F#] deadheads.
I'm a [G] banker.
And [A] some are doctors, [E] lawyers and [G] candlestick [B] makers.
Composing this [E] crazed caravan of [B] followers, some who have taken [A] job leaves and school
leaves to travel [B] like gypsies from state to state in search of the perfect [E] riff.
Wyoming and Nebraska and Iowa and Illinois [N] and into Indiana, we did shows there.
Then we went to Ohio, but we missed a show because we were fixing our [E] bus en route.
There really [Bm] isn't a good _ demographic [F#] description of who the deadhead is.
They come in all shapes and sizes and ages and occupations and endeavors and backgrounds and [B] everything.
Sort of what the dead's [E] music is all about.
A little [G] bit of everything.
[B] From blues to straight ahead country [E] rock, the dead have [F#] meshed a collection of sounds
that only years of togetherness can produce.
When you're up on stage with the [Bm] dead, [E] are you part of them or are you still [A] yourself
when you're up [B] there?
No, I'm [B] one of the [E] fingers on the hand at that point.
[A#] _ [B] Is it important to maintain a difference to keep a difference?
Is that part [Em] of the success of [D#] the band?
Well, my persona on stage is _ _ _ awful difficult to describe.
You've been called the orchestra leader of the band.
A few of the articles I've read.
Really? _ _ _ _
I wasn't aware, but basically I have no particular axe to grind.
I am the music.
That's it.
I _ leave everything else behind.
We've been working together for _ [E] _ _
a long time.
27 years, I think it is now.
Maybe 28.
I'm not sure.
But we've more or less learned to sort of leave the ego stuff and all that behind and
just get to the point, which is the music.
_ [B] _ Shake it, [E] shake it, do do it.
We have a [C#m] policy.
No politics, no religion.
[A] The stage is not a [G#m] pulpit nor a podium.
[B] _ _ _ _ [E] None of us could feel good about that.
There's a certain amount of power that we have.
And we all thoroughly despise power.
And we'll have nothing to do with it.
It's there, but we're not going to do [G] anything with it. _
_ _ _ Confucius was the one who said, absolute power, corrupt absolutely.
I believe that to the core of my soul.
[D] _ _ [Dm] _
_ _ _ _ _ [G] _ [Dm] _ _
_ [D] What [Gm] make men go [A] crazy _ when [C] I rule [D] the world?
_ _ [G] But offstage, we're and other [D] members of the dead will use their celebrity to advance a cause.
We're latest is fighting legislation that threatens one of America's largest remaining
stretches of forest in Montana.
Over the last 25 years, we've been flying back and forth to, say, Seattle or Vancouver,
Portland, over to and back to San Francisco over a number of different places.
Over the Pacific Northwest.
_ _ _ And 25 years ago, it was forest all the way up there.
You know, little patches of forest gone.
Now there are little _ patches [F] of forest left.
[G] Once you see the pattern, once you see what's happening, _ [Fm] you can't not be concerned.
[Em] A major [F#] concern for band members is the drug [A] rap that's been dogging them for years.
We're not [B] all messed up on [A] stage.
_ [E] We went through that phase in our lives and it didn't pay off for us.
When we started to _ realize, listen, _ this demands more of us than we can,
_ we have to bring more to this party than we can if we're all messed up.
When we realized that, the music went to another level.
Soared another level.
And we became immensely more popular.
The Dead had to cancel most of their late summer concert schedule
due to the illness of frontman Jerry Garcia.
But [B] if you need a little Dead fix, you can always visit your local shopping mall
and pick up a Jerry Garcia designer tie.
But Deadhead Alert, don't worry about this band disbanding.
According to Weir, they've yet to paint their masterpiece.
As I see it, we don't have a style.
We can do anything we want.
So anything that comes into my head, _ _ I can do.
To me, that's a little daunting because _ it's the blankest of canvases.
And the blank canvas is about the most daunting _ thing there is on earth.
But at [G#m] the same time, it's kept me busy.
It's given me all the creative expression I could possibly use.
[E] _ _ _
[B] _ _ [A] _ _ _ [Em] _ [B] _ _
[A] _ _ _ [Em] _ _ [B] _ [A] _ _
_ [G] _ _ [B] _ _ [A] _ _ [Em] _
_ [B] _ _ _ _ [Em] _ _ [C#] _
In May and June of this year, the Grateful Dead had the top concert grosses
of any band in the nation, averaging $1.5 million per stadium show.
[D] And if you're a Deadhead, don't despair.
Doctors say Jerry Garcia is only suffering from exhaustion
and will be able to return to performing soon.
And we will be returning tomorrow with a special Real Life from London.
I'm Cassandra Clayton.
At home, at work, [C] and at play,
we're talking about what you're talking [G] about.
Thanks for [F] making Real Life [C] a part of your [G] life.
We'll see you next time.