Cumberland Blues
By Uncle John
Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead and members of the Terrapin Family band are playing their first concert in this new post pandemic year on April 1st, 2021 under the sun at Terrapin Crossroads in San Rafael. The band, with Stu Allen on guitar, are playing “Cumberland Blues” from the Workingman´s Dead album and I´m outside the gates without a ticket standing in the road by the canal listening to the show. Many in kayaks or paddle boards are in the canal. I notice this giant bird with broad wings flying rapidly from the stage area over the canal heading straight towards me. I hear an eagle´s whistle and I assume it´s an eagle until I later look up and see it´s a red tail hawk. I´m looking straight ahead and can feel the bird hovering just over my head. I don´t look up or at the crowd but I feel their eyes on this bird. I hear a couple people call my name and then someone shouts loudly, “It´s Jerry Garcia!”!
It´s a Holy Ghost moment! I´m standing at Terrapin where the roads intersect crossing paths with a bird. This song reminds me that this Grateful Dead sound is in interstellar space.
See Interstarnet.com
The spirit of Garcia is strong wherever Grateful Dead band members are playing. He shows up at Midnight North too. Sometimes his presence is so real I expect him to show up on a flying horse. I am standing next to a pole and I hear the bird move upward and I look up and see him perch on top of the pole. The red tail hawk is as glorious as the luminous day. He has come to clear the air as a guide with vision, an honest messenger. His message is “let your creative spirit flow”. He is the gatekeeper to the future who knows the time and the season.
“Does the hawk fly by wisdom?” asks God in the Bible. Not by the prudence of men. He shows us signs in difficult times with the clear sight and sharp sound of a wise, eternal, holy and incomprehensible God.
There is nothing like the Grateful Dead experience!
SHOWDOWN
Lyrics & Music by Uncle John
From the edge of darkness
There is a glimmer of light
Leap for the daytime
Leave behind the night
People are afraid of getting old
Because all old people die
Have you wondered why
Time
In your heart of inspiration
Time
To stop discrimination
Time
Look inside to realize
Time
Through space and stars
And follow the weather
Time can change
Some have been waiting a lifetime for me to show my hand
Time for the showdown waiting for the band
This midnight gambler
Will become a full time rambler
Singing my heart here now for you
Coming into a deserted town
For the showdown
Yes it all comes around
After the slowdown
The sound
I look in my heart
And there you are
Your magic eyes
And dancing guitar
Our eyes are like windows and mirrors too
That can be like a star´s light of truth
The child can see
And is realized
Waiting to manifest
An inner light
For her name is wonder
Staring through you
The golden gate is open
To an inner world of ocean blue
Looking in to the eye of the sun
In order to see
Radiate beautifully
The way to do is to be
For the sea that bore me
Shall free me to be
And this gentle rider
Going to go one higher
Dreaming up a story
Of their morning glory
This began with a bird you know
Begins again here with a show
Surrounded by kind love
And a sunshine rainbow
No longer carrying a frown
I´m coming into town
Going to show up
For the showdown
I been waiting for you
Yes, waiting here for you
Like the sea of tranquil desire
Like the sun with its heart on fire
Like a rose like a rose
Coming home coming home
Like a road like a road
Leading home
SING YOU A SWEET SONG NOW MOMMA
Lyrics & Music by Uncle John
Sing you a sweet song now momma
Sing you all the way back home
Sing through the wind and the rainbows
to the desert sun and the travelling show
Came down the highway
to get ready cause it's getting late
Past waiting mystery
to the heart's gateless gate
As a humming voice is heard
Flying free as a bird
The plan is set in motion
with a sound yet not a word
Looking back to where
the circle began
Where we come all this way
sifting through grains of sand
I wake up my eyes inside one morn
to find a clean new land
Sing past the edge of darkness and night
Sing through here and follow the light
Sing you a sweet song now momma
Sing you all the way back home
Get into your dream
Open up my mind
The dead are asleep
Rise and shine on time
Now the trail has been laid
And we've pulled out the spades
Heading straight to twilight day
But in sleep I have seen
There's more to this here dream
Now do you think you know what it really means
You can't fool the river
So don't push so hard
The dead are awake
Playing the hand and not the card
Like the sea devouring the tower
Those walls of time
Like the man who changes
& learns to be kind
Like the sweet lonesome river
washing away the load
When the reaper brings the harvest
We'll be celebrating in our home
Sing you a sweet song now momma
Sing you all the way back home
Sing past the darkness & the cold
to the everlasting sun's bright glow
Sing you a sweet song now momma
Me & Casey McAllister
Lyrics & Music by Uncle John
Back when the time
That the wheel stood at ten
Me & Casey McAllister
Were brothers from the pen
Now Casey was a good man
Even though he had done time
Even when they treated him badly
He was always kind
Me & Casey would often dream
That there would come a time
When we could live like children
& let everything be so fine
We were playing in the sand
& running under the moon
His momma calls out to him
Said son be home soon
He said now hey momma
He said momma please listen
If I don’t watch my step
I’m gonna end up back in prison
Now this was two years ago
In the town of Ontario
When I jumped over the fence
And ran on down the road
And ran back into Casey
Who says listen here you bird
You might have jumped over the fence
But you can’t jump off the world
And we’d go & gather roses
By the cemetery trail
Rejoicing each & every day
That we’d been out of jail
Now me & Casey were brothers
But not in the usual sense
We travelled to the mountaintop
& shared time in the pen
One day we sat down with a deck of cards
I drew the king he made
But the queen of his heart
Soon came to his aid
Casey chased that lady
All the way to Frisco bay
And he came back again
With the sun shining through the day
When we found a balance
That we know we’d never lose
We woke up with the morning
Every day was ours to choose
Now me & Casey were brothers
But not in the usual sense
We travelled to the mountaintop
& shared time in the pen
We’d go riding in our chariot
And let our hearts shine
Now Casey was a good man
Even though he had done time
MOUNTAIN TOP
Poetry by Uncle John
He stood upon balanced rock
In the garden of the gods
A mountain peak in a twilight storm
In a castle with rock and rod
Wander into sunlight
Climbing watching little bear
Sunshine peakin' through the clouds
In the cool big top air
And meet at the summit
Of the pyramid there
Powwow with Red Cloud
In the old roundup you steer
One fresh breath of air
And you know God is near
His handiwork is everywhere
Provides for the birds in the air
And the feathers they wear
We climb a mountain to its elevation
Look to the center core of the eluviation
All along the wall of rock up and down the stairs
Cool wind whistlin' mountain top blowin' her hair
We can go back four centuries
Follow three rivers through the mountains and trees
Two sides of reality
One bright light of an idea suddenly
It is the cool of nighttime beat
The earth rose until the moon set under our feet
The bees and birds and butterfly
All know what to do
Work and stay busy
Always be true
Willing to change for the best you can do
Red rocks and roses
Forever family bustin' poses
Who seen the sun set over the ocean
And the red rising sun in motion
Looking out round and rounder windows
On a ship sailing around the world
With an original creative and wise
Independent girl
Able and mature
Kind to all nature
Paint a picture of her
We rode up and around and around
And around the mountain
And up and around and around
And around hula up
To where you can't climb any more stairs
You can't elevate to the caves in the rocks that are there
Peaceful and aware
Among the tree tops we feel in the cool mountain air
CLUES TO OUR EXISTENCE
Songs by Uncle John
Mystery Rivers*
Sing You A Sweet Song Now Momma*
Poker Face*
Showdown*
The Lover
Let The Good Times Be *
Clues to Our Existence: Part 1 Metamorphosis*
Clues to our Existence: Part 2 Butterfly*
Hello to My Heart*
Home Sweet River
Peace to All Who Enter Here
Wedding Band*
Tombstone (The Fool´s Journey)
Me & Casey McAllister*
Gambling Man
Singing In The Band
Dune*
The Moon
The Awakening Sun
The Journey=
The Dancer
Sunrise Lady*
The Hunter*
Twenty-two Roses+
=live reading@ Sweetwater Music Hall, Mill Valley, California, October 21, 2019
I wrote these songs in the 1970´s, all of them inspired by the Grateful Dead, except for “Dune”, an interpretation of science fiction writer Frank Herbert´s book, Dune.
I am not a musician because I don´t have the ear for music. Whenever I been on stage with a guitar I had to rely on other musicians to tune it for me. Even with the new tuning devices, I still can´t get it consistently precise. I was fortunate to have professional vocal lessons that enable me to be a singer.
These 24 lyrics (light editing of the originals) will be published this year. The songs listed with an asterisk * are the songs I wrote music to and hoping to record these songs. I was inspired to learn the guitar by Chuck Berry. Back then, I saw him at the Golden Gate Racetrack in Albany California one afternoon and this simple man who travelled with a guitar, and relied on local high school musicians to be his backing band wherever he showed up, showed me what was possible. I learned to play “Promised Land”. The chords in his songs were easy to learn and the Grateful Dead added some of his songs to their repertoire. This encouraged me to write music to my poetry and lyrics. The arrangement+ for “Twenty-two Roses” is with Bob Weir.
--Uncle John, 3/15/21
UNCLE JOHN.org
When The Moment Comes
The Embrace by Sergey Gorshkov, Russia
2020 Wildlife Picture of the Year
He set up a camera in the remote wilderness and it captured this picture
WOLF MOON
Photo by John Lund
It´s January 28, and I´m awake at 2 am when I hear this loud whining crying human sound that seemed to come from inside the house, then another sound that is like a growling animal sound, loud, but I´m still focused on the darkness inside, searching for the sound. Then I realize it´s coming from outside, and I open the blinds to look out the front window, and I see a wolf standing at the edge of the sidewalk in front of my door, his long snout angled up, howling at the moon. Wolves are very rare in California, but I know this one resides locally. I listen to the howling like it´s music and I´m surprised no one else is awake. Is this a sign? A few years ago there was a mountain lion in the same spot in front of my doorway. It reminds me of Aldo Leopold´s lesson about wolves in "Thinking Like A Mountain" that characterizes ecological thinking. "Only the mountain has lived long enough to listen objectively to the howl of a wolf." Having once believed that the eradication of predators, the wolf and mountain lion, would preserve the deer, but didn´t recognize the imbalance it caused, Aldo transformed his thinking to recognize the wolf with a sentiment of ecological integrity. He understood the nature and mystery of the howl. I listen for several minutes, amazed that the animal does not go away, and the howling is louder than any other animal I´ve heard outside. I ran to my room to get my phone to realize I could take a picture. I looked through the peephole of the door and he´s in the same position howling, and as soon as I open the door, the wolf runs away. I didn´t realize it was January´s Full Wolf Moon until I read Bob Weir´s twitter feed when I got up:
"Welcoming in the first Wolf Moon of 2021! Occurring in Leo, it's said to be the luckiest and most prosperous day of the year. The sun shares its light with the generosity of Jupiter, marking new and bright beginnings..."
Ain´t no time to hate
Barely time to wait
Hello to my Heart
Lyrics & Music by Uncle John
The movement of the wind
Turn on the night lights
The stars in the sky shine
In sight of the sights
Do you know that time is waiting to become eternity
To see you as happy as you can be
Doing what I can
For you when you are kind
Through all the changes in our mind
Thanks for sharing the time
Playing and bells ringing
Dancing and singing
You know who the Master is
I'm just a working man
Together through our work and laughter
We've been chasing the promised land
Now that we are family
With a vision of liberty
I say to you
Hello to my heart
Goodbye to all the misery
The prophesied time to come
For the troubadour of change
Makes its way around now
This world sure seems strange
The circle is complete
Back on the road
Across the great bridge
Like a boomerang coming home
With calm and patience and strength of all we are
I'm just a season to remember
And a long dream about a star
With a love song and a daydream
Vision of the Guardian of the Planet
And the source of our soul
Our life turns
The new world sung
And love
the masterpiece in the universe´s role
Dawn inside
Take me to your golden land
Put your mind in my hand
Look into your heart child and understand
Now that we are family
With a vision of liberty
I say to you
Hello to my heart
Goodbye to all the misery
"Es lo que es, pero se convertirá en lo que tú lo hagas".
"Northern Lights" by Jerry Garcia
LEAP-YEAR
Part 4
Autumn
by Uncle John
North of midnight
Look at the moon like a kite
And the planets like taillights
As we go through the night of nights
Yeah it's really not the same
The only town and the only game
Full of heart and by name
Hidden like her mits firm as the flame
All the king's horses
Leading all the king's men
The wall of Jericho could not be raised
again
In the sky and in the breeze
Clouds over seas
Leaves rustlin´ trees
North of midnight
Fresh and clear view
Everything will be alright
Turn on the light
Hold the candle and watch the roses fall
Read the writing on the wall
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Lyrics & Music by Marcela Gándara
Uncle John
@ Terrapin Crossroads Bar with Terrapin Family BandLyrics & Music by Bob Dylan
Canción de Grateful Dead
(Robert Hunter, Jerry Garcia)
Translation: Tania Carrasco & Jhon Ramirez
Performed live in Spanish @
Terrapin Crossroads 12/26/2018
Vocals, Uncle John
Guitars, Ross James & Alex Koford (Terrapin Family Band)
Keyboards, Jason Crosby (Terrapin Family Band)
Bass, Brian Hasrap (Casual Coalition)
Drums, Danny Luehring (Casual Coalition)
¨Box Of Rain" rehearsal 8/1/2020 for RAINDANCE play
HALLELUJAH
PRESSING ON
FRANKLIN'S TOWER
THUNDER ON THE MOUNTAIN
BOOK OF DANIEL
ALL ALONG THE WATCHTOWER
THINGS HAVE CHANGED
GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY
NEW SPEEDWAY BOOGIE
"Where do I stand spiritually?
Oh God!!! (with laughter)
Somewhere between Jesus and the devil."
--JERRY GARCIA
UNCLE JOHN reads
@ Sweetwater Music Hall, Mill Valley, California, October 21, 2019
When your past becomes your path
& you come to answer what you ask
& the angels take you down to your grave
I´m not here to follow the parade
You begin to understand
That you were just a man
But to be a man is to stand in your doorway
I´m not here to judge
in a world among friends
You know the beginning from where the song ends
Your journey leads us to wake
Up in the eyes of the world
You been working here so long
To fill our hearts with song
Help us to understand our rights
From what´s wrong
I look around for you
In all the places we have been
On a mysterious winding path
The gold of sunshine shining through
seven golden rings
with seven golden powers
that makes good men immortal
Same revelation and secret
Surrounding all of you
Child of magic
With words of wonder
You stopped the world
So the blind man can see
Grateful you shall always be
We are lifted up by the spirit
To soar like an eagle high above
On the wings of the power of love
¨Sometimes the light is all shining on me
Other times I can barely see
Lately it occurs to me
What a long strange trip it´s been¨
UNCLE JOHN'S BLOG @ http://www.air.bz
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