Remembering Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter with some of his best lines

The Gratefully deadThe lyrics of are some of the most beautiful, soulful, and moving phrases in the American cultural canon. They have inspired t-shirts, bumper stickers, and tattoos. They have influenced creative minds of all kinds, from novelists to artists to filmmakers. For many, these words have become an almost sacred text by which they live their lives, teaching them to spread love and kindness and to smile, smile, smile!

Robert Hunterborn on June 23, 1941, was the man responsible for the majority of the Dead’s popular lyrics. After meeting and playing music with Jerry Garcia In the early 1960s, the two began writing together, with Hunter starting as a lyricist for Garcia and working his way up to become an officially recognized band member. When the Grateful Dead entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame In 1994, Robert Hunter was inducted as a band member – the only non-artist to ever receive this honor.

As a tribute to his genius, we’ve compiled some of our favorite one-liners from Hunter – from beautiful to psychedelic to sentimental to wise:

“Don’t fly a flag on any ship of fools.”

“Every light has a grey side”

“I’m running, but I’m taking my time / A friend of the devil is a friend of mine”

“Like I told you, what I said, steal your face right off your head”

“There is nothing you can hold on to for very long”

“We can share the women, we can share the wine / We can share what we have of you, ’cause we’ve shared everything of mine”

“Thank you for the really nice time”

“The days of stopping to decide where to go are over. We just go.”

“Sometimes the light can be shown to you in the strangest places if you look closely.”

“I only ask one thing of you, only one thing for me / Pplease forget that you know my name, my darling, Sugaree”

“One way or another, this darkness must give way”

“Some trust in reason, others in power. I trust in nothing, but I know it will turn out well.”

“The sunlight splashes, the dawn brings an answer, the darkness shrugs its shoulders and says goodbye to the day”

“One picks up what another spills”

“If you can stand it, let the hurdy-gurdy play / Strangers have passed by here before they flew away”

“Come to daddy on the inside straight / well, this time I’ve got no chance of losing”

“She glides through violet rays, she can wade in a dewdrop”

“Strangers stop strangers just to shake their hands”

“Let songs fill the air”

“Sometimes the songs we hear are simply our own songs”

“The mirror shatters into formless reflections of matter”

“Without love a dream will never come true”

“There’s nothing left to do but smile, smile, smile”

“Don’t tell me this city has no heart. You just have to look around.”

“If you are confused, listen to the music”

“I’m standing on the moon with nothing left to do / A beautiful view of the sky, but I’d rather be with you”

“Lately I’ve been realizing what a long, strange journey it’s been”

“When my dream didn’t exist, you dreamed of me”

“The bottle was dusty, but the liquor was clean”

“All I know is that something like a bird sang inside her”

“Inspiration, move me brightly”

“Farewell, farewell, I love you more than words can express / Hear the river sing sweet songs that lull my soul”

Thank you for everything, Robert Hunter. May the four winds carry you home safely.

(Originally published on 23.06.17)