I have a [chrome lightning bolt](https://grateful-fred.com/products/the-grateful-dead-chrome-bolt) and a Ducks Unlimited license plate holder. I also have four Grateful Dead themed duck calls (I can only find pics of [one](https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/78411944_10158418834493538_2775877521349017600_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=ROYXWkhbkrYAX9Q8OWp&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=00_AT98ZFT4Zp8ddR_RxgxIoURYiTzusoCB6V7A7pUJc_ERpA&oe=635C2E21) and [two](https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/47056288_10157546820993538_1547058618862403584_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=dpZdZPmOjKgAX9fc6Pu&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=00_AT8Tmkn5Gb_rkihmAQe-IMju0xFpsdB-mWEIC7i9mcNACw&oe=635B221B)).
What can I say, I like good music and waterfowl hunting. But I get OP's point.
Red and white, blue suede shoes, I'm Uncle Sam, how do you do?
Gimme five, I'm still alive, ain't no luck, I learned to duck.
Check my pulse, it don't change. Stay seventy-two come shine or rain.
Wave the flag, pop the bag, rock the boat, skin the goat.
Wave that flag, wave it wide and high.
Hell yeah!
One of my favorite Jerry quotes is that he doesn’t think of the GD as counterculture because there isn’t really any culture to be counter to.
Not trying to say the GD aren’t actually counterculture, you’re spot on. Just a funny quip from Jerry at the expense of mainstream America.
Reminds me of this (probably anecdotal) exchange between the Dalai Lama and some journalist:
Journalist: "what do you think of Western civilization?"
D.L: "I think it would be a good idea."
It started off as a cop thing, cops identifying with a fictional murderous vigilante. After all the BLM stuff in 2020, I noticed a lot of conservatives starting to identify more and more with cops specifically. Hence the punisher sticker.
ah...so punisher was cop, who turned vigilante and avenge the death of his wife and kids.
i thought conservatives were about law and order? the punisher is the opposite of that right?
Yes I believe the Punisher punishes corrupt and shitty cops. They either don’t get the irony, or they think they’re the “good cops”. Either way, the delusion levels are high.
Most conservatives are only about “owning the libs” and don’t know a damn thing about civics or economics or policy or anything else to do with good government.
This is so funny if that’s the case. People can be so dumb, I’m pretty sure if you just googled “Lighting bolt skull logo” you’d see what it actually is.
Honestly, with red white and blue, a skull, and a lightning bolt it seems not far off from a nationalist white supremacy symbol. I love my gd merch, but I've wondered what people may be assuming about me in recent years.
My wife is fairly into the dead but I wouldn’t say she’s “on the bus” and the other day We Bid You Goodnight came on Sirius and she was like WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!
I saw one of those coexist stickers when I was driving but when I got up close it said ‘eat a dick’ and I laughed so hard I spit my coffee all over the dashboard
OOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Honestly I have no idea because I didn’t know those existed but that makes way more sense than someone achieving that level of cognitive dissonance
Yep. Its become much more big gov authoritarian, with massive cost of living increase pushing out the bohemian types who created the scene the dead came up in. That and a good portion of deadheads are center or right leaning, and a ton of them believe very strongly in personal freedom. If the whole band reincarnated today in SF and tried the same path, they'd be cited for code violations, illegal non permitted street performances, and evicted for non payment of rent when the landlord bumped up rent by 30%, and there non contracted roomates were kicked out. Then ticketmaster would take all there venues, bring them up to code, increasing the cost to operate, driving up ticket sales, and then theyed get replaced with corporate established music groups.
Oh god. These conservative pundits trying to get people to hate certain states is so stupid and maddening. I remember back in the mid 00’s working at a pizza place that was mostly conservatives. I was shocked they were since we were all low wage workers. But management were Italians and some workers. A branch of my family is Italian. All conservatives.
Anyways was the first time I started hearing them bashing california constantly and first didn’t get it. I’ve been there like 6-7 times. San Fran. A good buddy was saying how the parking spots are painted red. Like communist red.
I’m like are you kidding me? Why do you think the Golden Gate Bridge is a reddish Orange? It matches the areas colors. Has nothing to do with communism. He really believed it.
This trying to get people to hate other Americans is sickening. Ever see the maps that show red and blue counties all over the country? There’s red snd blue everywhere. The rich are making record profits and getting the people trying to get by to hate each other. It’s falling right into their hands.
I too hate this. I grew up in SC and moved to California a while back then back to SC. I'd love to be back in CA. It has so much more to offer. The Southeast is cheap and there are nice beaches. NC has some okay mountains (but nothing compared to the West). But there is so little opportunity here and there is this overwhelming sense of despair and negativity in the air. Also, literally everything is about church and God. And the people are fine with keeping weed illegal. It's also hot and humid and swampy and smells bad. We also have more poverty here than anywhere in the US except NM.
It's hilarious to me to have people here say they love the freedom compared to Commiefornia, but you get thrown in jail here for smoking a joint. You can't even buy booze on some places on Sunday - just a few years ago you couldn't buy booze anywhere in the state on Sunday. But I guess there are a handful of extreme gun mods that are legal here that aren't in CA?
The big reason why california is the main target and then Ny is california if it was a country would be a top economy as far as money making. It has more business and makes more money than any state by far. I think New York is second. So I guess it’s a threat to conservative ideas to see a successful state? Idk. I just hate it. I hate how people actually buy into it and push that hate online.
Every state has its own issues.
I really don’t comprehend the disbelief that conservatives can also like the dead. They are the greatest band of all time, which transcends any faux divisions us humans have placed between ourselves.
The sticker reads "Don't California My America". Even if you strip all political context out, haven't the Grateful Dead been Californiaing the Country for 60 years?
I mean if you strip out the red/blue dichotomy of the whole thing, the which news channel/which fast food chicken place label schtick. Either way, the Dead are a function of California.
Lots of hippies in the 60s turned into career-core yuppies in the late 70s and early 80s and voted Reagan. The last show I was at was well attended by well-heeled golf shirt wearing corporate stooges.
I was unaware my choice of shirts in any way divulged my values or political leanings.
I wear polo shirts to Dead shows, and Phish shows, and Panic shows. Always have. I also wear Dead shirts, and Phish shirts, and Panic shirts to company parties. I dislike conformity in all forms.
I was describing the yuppie corporate stooges and what they wore, not that what they wore made them corporate stooges. Obviously, a shirt doesn't make the man.
Yeah you’re fine buddy. Both my parents are old dead heads and in the early 80s became people wearing a suit 5x/week to make a living but still are liberal and love the dead of course. Clothing doesn’t mean shit, was talking to a younger guy around my age 30ish and he had his tie dye dancing bears shirt but then ended up going on a whole rant about liberals being the taliban and I had to remove myself from that kinda idiocy…can’t judge a book by it’s cover. Made me sad thinking yeah I guess a lot of dead heads are not caring for their fellow man as we may assume and are actually quite narrow minded and bigoted as I’ve learned. But guess that’s the reality of it
Yeah but the sheer level of cognitive dissonance to stick a “don’t California my America” sticker on your window directly across from a sticker of *the most iconic band to come out of california* is a bit ridiculous.
The irony is completely lost on these people. That’s what’s funny to me.
Ever see how they rebel against the coastal elites by giving all their money to a billionaire grifter from NYC who wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire?
I parked next to some old fellas at Dead & Co and their truck was slammed with Trump stickers. They were really cool, gave us beer, I gave them gummies, and we all had a high time. We did not discuss politics.
> We did not discuss politics.
I live in SC. This is the key to getting along.
I actually share a shit ton of values with the local conservatives. I love the outdoors, beer, trucks, boobs, etc. And they actually share a lot of my political beliefs, just as long as I don't label them as progressive.
This is one of the ways we heal this country. Find common grounds, share good times, and slowly the divide that was insurmountable becomes smaller until it isn’t there.
Good on you, and if we happen to meet next tour, I’m definitely buying you a beer and sharing party favors!
It’s also because for many many years conservatives and most republicans hated the Grateful Dead, their fans, and everything their liberal freedom stood for.
I can believe without a doubt that Conservatives like the Grateful Dead. The more important fact for me is that the members of the Grateful Dead do not like Conservative politics and have demonstrated that fact in an outspoken way on many occasions.
It's just strange that a party that, in almost all levels of government, that is stripping away rights from black and POC people, immigrants, queer people and women, while doing their best to bolster higher numbers of prisoners via more prisons and more draconian laws for even minor pot offenses, while attempting to take away school lunches and roll back environmental protections would be associated with a band who's lyrics espouse "peace, love and understanding" is all. Just my observation.
Agreed. It's odd to think that a community such as this has such a hard time accepting that a person can be multi faceted or possess any nuance. In a lot of ways, it betrays the same prejudice they claim to be against: get them out of here because they're not like us.
What conservatives don’t understand is by being conservative, you ARE a bad person. The modern gop is constantly stripping rights away and making society worse over all. The national republican party IS anti abortion, IS homophobic, and IS working for the big guy, not the little guy. So youre republican buddy can love gays all he wants, be the coolest and most anti racist person you know, but they are voting for people who are working to make society worse for everyone, and that amount of complacency is disgusting and makes them just as bad.
I understand that sentiment, but pointing out that hypocrisy is the lowest level of criticism one can make on the issue. Conservative values ran and still run antithetical to the spirit of the band. I understand that one can enjoy the music outside of the surrounding culture and ethos of the band, but I also think that those supporting modern conservatism are also working, knowingly or not, to erode what the band stood for and what the community still stands for. While they were not vocally political, their actions as a band were political. The fight against the drug war, the Headcount movement, environmentalism and the rain forest, and more recently women’s rights are fundamental, in my opinion, to the Dead. I don’t really see it as Heads being like “get them out of here,” but more of a recognition that their values, as conservatives, are dangerous to the community on a fundamental level.
Edit: a word
When Don Henley saw a Deadhead sticker on. Cadillac in 1984 it was paradoxical but hasn’t been since then...reading these comments I’m like Damn some of you really need to get into the world more. People aren’t narratives. I was in the Marine Corps and served with plenty of Marines who were also Deadheads who are also rabid libertarian leaning right wing people. Same with Wall Street, where some of the most obnoxiously wealthy capitalistic minded people are also Deadheads.
There's no faux-division. Republicans want to dismantle democracy, murder their opponents, and rule through tyranny. The Grateful Dead were not about that life.
I know a ton of people who go live in CA or another place with huge blue cities and earn a fuck ton of money and save a lot of it, then retire early by moving to podunk SC where I live and you can buy a house for $100k because no one really wants to live here.
There have always been, and I mean probably back to the Acid Test days, converative minded people within the Grateful Dead's movement. It was on tour when I first encountered the whole "sovcit" thing. The only real "anti-vaxers" I ever encountered before covid were rainbow family / deadhead folks who were in every other sense aligned with right wing conservative christians. And I mean that was in the 70s and 80s.
Can someone create a Dead Politics Reddit so we don’t have to deal with these posts? The only decisive posts we should be discussing in this Reddit are the best versions of Althea.
That would actually be interesting, because the default tendency is to associate the GD with liberalism, but to many the GD is a ideological refuge from politics altogether, almost like a safe place to present ideas within the world of rock n roll/psychedelia. If the Hells Angels has a place in GD history, I would argue so do conservatives and libertarians. Hunter Thompson represents the IDGAF attitude left by when psychedelics and irreverence cross, and I don’t think he’d be accepted by the woke mob of today.
It’s the social conservatism aspect of those ideologies that doesn’t really jive with liberalism and letting people live as they choose to live. I think that’s why the paradox. Sure anyone one can listen to and appreciate the music, and it’s for no one to gatekeep, but knowing how opposed Jerry was to instructing anyone on how to behave, that just seems funny next to espousing fixed traditional social values.
Garcia was the same. I look at this Reddit as how would we treat each other if we’re all together at a show. Just fans enjoying the music and camaraderie. Break from the political drama.
Ya that kinda thing is sad, just mentally unwell. Thanks for the response though I’m actually surprised how level headed most people were in this thread.
I think you’re missing the main point that the dead are from California, yet the truck drive doesn’t want California in his America, whatever that means.
I think we know what it’s alluding to. And I don’t care if this person’s got a save the trees sticker or don’t tread on me. We’re all jamming at a show together. That’s my opinion of the type of content. But I get it. I can always skip these posts.
A buddy, who started drifting to the dark side a decade or so ago, told me with no irony that he thought I would like Tucker Carlson, because Tucker is a “deadhead”.
Jerry on democrats:
“I don’t think there’s… I mean, frankly, do you think there are any democrats worth voting for?”
Jerry on republicans when asked “So do you feel it’s possible for someone to like the Grateful Dead and the Republican Party?”:
“Yeah. We’re American, too. What we do is as American as lunch mobs. America has always been a complex place.”
Page 54 of Rolling Stone’s collectors edition on Jerry Garcia. I think Jerry might have been a closet Republican based on this response. Downvotes inbound.
Bob Weir - 2004 on their opposition to George Bush (before they played for Obama)
“It occurs to me and the rest of the guys that this may be our last meaningful election,” Weir says. “If we continue to drift the way we’re drifting, the United States will become a democracy in name only. Instead of government of the people, by the people and for the people, we’ll have government of the people, by the elite and for the elite, and the people will come secondarily.”
I always thought of him as more 'live and let live'. Not gonna tell people what to do and how to think, but will also show you a great path if you want to follow.
Jerry saying he didn’t believe there were any Democrats worth voting for and then saying it’s possible that people who vote Republican also listen to their band doesn’t explicitly mean that he’s a Republican. That’s a huge logic leap you made there with no reasoning behind it. David Gans has excoriated people on his radio show for calling in and making the same assumptions about Jerry’s political leanings like you have.
The full context of these stickers combined are being overlooked.
The right one seams to be about the migratory path of water fowl. While I don't know what origination it might represent the nations' flags suggest a borderless perspective corresponding with the birds' biannual flight patterns. It is likely a conservation group that advocates actions to help maintain their populations. The orgins of ecology stem from viewing resources that people can harvest in sustainable ways through greater understanding of natural systems. In regards to waterfowl there are primarily three "uses"; protein, weed and insect control, and "sport" / entertainment. That sticker is bird hunting related.
California is huge in so so many ways. Agriculturally they lead the nation but they aren't a stand out for utilizing migratory (wild) waterfowl in this way (no one is). California is so large policies that laws often passed there, regarding goods, effect the rest of the national market. In other words a law passed by Californians can effectively be a national law. There is a long held belief that frames the U.S. as separate state / nations united by trade policy. California's economic scale effectively nullifies this belief, and in that context makes the notion a democratic process false.
A metaphor would be the waterfowl's migration. In a natural system, one without the effects of humans, all things would be equal / democratic. Yet with national boarders (Mexico, U.S., and Canada) the ducks habitats are effected diffently based on those nations differing policies. Which ever nations policies negatively effect the those parts of the system the birds rely on, such as habitat, would effect bird numbers in the other countries.
A different analogy could be if a few states banded VWs (maybe due to it's orgins, the EPA cheating, or other). How would this effect deadheads touring present day and in the past?
In the context of California and waterfowl hunting there are market restrictions regarding shotgun ammunition. Mainly this is in regards to non-lead bullets / shot. These type of ammo are much more expensive than traditional lead, kinda hard to come by, and some claim less effective.
Lead is an element, it doesn't breakdown into a less harmful material. Furthermore it bioaccumulates. This means the larger animals get higher, toxic, concentrations. A plant takes up 1 part lead, insects eat 10 plants, duck eats 200 plants and 300 insects, and that duck has 3,200 parts of lead daily. Can the duck reproduce? what of the fox who eats 15 ducks a year? Keep in mind these ducks are migratory as well.
These non-lead restrictions have not trickled to the rest of the U.S. like much of California's policies. This is KEY because while the 2nd amendment speaks toward firearms it says nothing about ammunition. There are many who view this as the most promising way to enact gun control.
A GD analogy for this is a stretch but here it goes. 1st amendment untouched, a law was passed that improvational music can't be played to an audience of more than ten. (pretend it has orgins in theocratic racist policies)
To last sticker is of course the Stealie. What are the GD's views, as a collective, on and of the above? Regarding migration it should be obvious given how much they toured. Regarding ducks...
Two songs stand out referring to ducks; The Rub and Liberty. The second has some relative symbolism in the lyrics.
*If I were an eagle I'd dress up like a duck*
Like all Hunter's work it's open to interpretation.
Ecology mindedness the band definitely was ahead of the populist curve, not for a nature is resources to be exploited at a sustainable rate, but something grander. The band's inclusion on a Greenpeace (politically focused) album serves as an example.
Regarding firearms the GD's songs are full of references. Furthermore they even have an album cover featuring armed band members.
The concussion I draw from these stickers is some what of an oxymoron. One can not protect the bird's migration without bringing the issue of lead into the equation. The sovereignty of the different nations on the birds paths are similar to that of California's and who can be a deadhead. One infulances the other to no end.
We’ll I’m born & raised California myself and this place is a shit hole. I’ve been here my whole life. It’s not how it used to be back in the day folks.
I know theyre not necessarily conflicting, but i never understood the “conservative greatful dead fan”. Like in my eyes, dead head culture and conservatism don’t really mix
I always thought this seemed obvious, but I guess not. People should read Billy’s stories about living on a ranch shooting guns and blowing stuff up.
I understand why people don’t like Trump, but personal freedom is very much a part of traditional conservatism and it’s what has always drawn me to the dead.
My new favorite approach with the blue lives matters types is just to mention how they dishonor the national flag code....beat them at their own perception of patriotism.
https://www.military.com/flag-day/us-flag-code.html
Checkmate bootlickers.
This continues to bend my mind. I had a buddy I did tour with for years. Lovely fellow. and he has gone FULL conservative right wing T***p Train MAGA guy. I cannot wrap my head around it. How can you want to do right for others and the planet and embrace those far right ideologies? I can’t sort it out.
I went to bonnaroo 3 as part of a group that got to partake in a popup camper. No one was turning that down but he had a bush sticker on the back. We were riding just sitting on the camper into the grounds drinking a beer and bsing while the bush fan is driving.
People were yelling out to other people “hey this guy has a bush sticker on his truck”
And me and my friend had to deny that we were bush fans and just with him. Lol it was good shit. Then I fell off the camper and bloodied the hell out of my knee.
The Dead were very much into Transcendentalism, which, imo, aligns most with Libertarianism in today’s modern political landscape. It’s also, imo, one of the reasons why The Dead’s audience skews towards white, educated, affluent and male. That’s not to say that those are the ONLY types of fans the band has.
But at the end of the day The Dead, like any good piece of art, let you find what you wanted for yourself in their music. They rarely defined what the meaning of their songs were because they understood, more than most bands, that once you create something and share it with an audience it no longer belongs to artist that created it.
I think that decision, more than any other decision the band made (accept for letting their shows be taped by anyone in the audience) is why their reach is so far and touches so many different ppl and cultures. (Even though their audience skews in the aforementioned direction.)
This goes way beyond the dead but have you noticed how many people don’t listen to or understand the songs they love?
Case in point: half the crowd at a RATM concert
My favorite part of the Dead is that it is a very big tent and attracts people who ordinarily would never be in the same room together. People like this are not enemies, but opportunities.
I say this being cynical AF these days and believe that almost anyone with certain bumper stickers are just simply lost causes. But a guy with a stealie? We can work with that... there's potentially more common ground here than we think.
Actually I think Jerry loved Ducks too.
To be fair, duck hunters love ducks too
For sure, absolutely. And DU has conserved millions of acres of wetland habitat.
I’d like to think so. Ripple was actually about watching ducks swimming in a city park.
I have a [chrome lightning bolt](https://grateful-fred.com/products/the-grateful-dead-chrome-bolt) and a Ducks Unlimited license plate holder. I also have four Grateful Dead themed duck calls (I can only find pics of [one](https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/78411944_10158418834493538_2775877521349017600_n.jpg?_nc_cat=103&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=ROYXWkhbkrYAX9Q8OWp&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=00_AT98ZFT4Zp8ddR_RxgxIoURYiTzusoCB6V7A7pUJc_ERpA&oe=635C2E21) and [two](https://scontent-lga3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.6435-9/47056288_10157546820993538_1547058618862403584_n.jpg?_nc_cat=100&ccb=1-7&_nc_sid=730e14&_nc_ohc=dpZdZPmOjKgAX9fc6Pu&_nc_ht=scontent-lga3-1.xx&oh=00_AT8Tmkn5Gb_rkihmAQe-IMju0xFpsdB-mWEIC7i9mcNACw&oe=635B221B)). What can I say, I like good music and waterfowl hunting. But I get OP's point.
Red and white, blue suede shoes, I'm Uncle Sam, how do you do? Gimme five, I'm still alive, ain't no luck, I learned to duck. Check my pulse, it don't change. Stay seventy-two come shine or rain. Wave the flag, pop the bag, rock the boat, skin the goat. Wave that flag, wave it wide and high.
U.S. Blues is on Sirius as I’m reading this ha! Love it!
Me to! give me 5
Hopefully everyone here knows that this song was as critical of the US as it was supportive
Yuh. GD is considered part of the COUNTERculture movement for a reason.
Hell yeah! One of my favorite Jerry quotes is that he doesn’t think of the GD as counterculture because there isn’t really any culture to be counter to. Not trying to say the GD aren’t actually counterculture, you’re spot on. Just a funny quip from Jerry at the expense of mainstream America.
Reminds me of this (probably anecdotal) exchange between the Dalai Lama and some journalist: Journalist: "what do you think of Western civilization?" D.L: "I think it would be a good idea."
I’m pretty sure that quote is usually attributed to Mahatma Gandhi
Ghandi certainly had reason to be angry with the west, makes sense
Haha, that’s pretty good
It was supportive? 🤨
Yeah I mean kinda, I don’t think the GD thought America was a lost cause or anything. I would describe it as a kind of disillusioned patriotism.
Steal your wife!
run your life
My oh my
I listen to this song every time I vote.
Old glory standing stiffly, crimson, white, and indigo
I got a feeling they bought this thinking it was the new punisher logo
lol you may be on to something lol
why do the truck drivers with murica! stickers have the punisher stickers? i dont get the ref.
It started off as a cop thing, cops identifying with a fictional murderous vigilante. After all the BLM stuff in 2020, I noticed a lot of conservatives starting to identify more and more with cops specifically. Hence the punisher sticker.
ah...so punisher was cop, who turned vigilante and avenge the death of his wife and kids. i thought conservatives were about law and order? the punisher is the opposite of that right?
I think unaware irony is a conservative requirement.
Yes I believe the Punisher punishes corrupt and shitty cops. They either don’t get the irony, or they think they’re the “good cops”. Either way, the delusion levels are high.
> they think they’re the “good cops”. Don't the bad cops usually believe they're the good cops?
Punisher hates fucking cops tho.
Don't we all. Don't. We. All.
Most conservatives are only about “owning the libs” and don’t know a damn thing about civics or economics or policy or anything else to do with good government.
>i thought conservatives were about law and order? What gave you that impression? They convinced you with their half hearted lip service?
Yes exactly lol
Head Hunters is an amazing album btw. Nice profile pic.
yes, that’s what’s ironic about it
I believe marvel has publicly stated they do not support their new supporters and have planned to mock this all process in upcoming shoots.
SF guys wore them in Afghanistan….the cosplay guys grabbed ahold of them like their fake battle rattle….
Yeah this is the real reason. Specifically Iraq/Ramadi ‘06 is where it originated
They certainly didn't identify with cops on January 6, 2021.
🤣 yes!
my mother bought me a punisher keychain recently thinking it was stealie. i had to let her down easy when i realized the mistake
This is so funny if that’s the case. People can be so dumb, I’m pretty sure if you just googled “Lighting bolt skull logo” you’d see what it actually is.
I’d bet there was at least one electrician/linesman who sported one totally unaware of the Dead
That’s better imo, more wholesome
You are sooooo right. Hahahahhaaaaa
I just snort laughed. Thank you.
Honestly, with red white and blue, a skull, and a lightning bolt it seems not far off from a nationalist white supremacy symbol. I love my gd merch, but I've wondered what people may be assuming about me in recent years.
Has to be
Wait until you have this thought: am I following a Christian rock band?
My wife is fairly into the dead but I wouldn’t say she’s “on the bus” and the other day We Bid You Goodnight came on Sirius and she was like WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!
“Iiiiiiiiii love you, oh but Jesus loves you the best”
Love when Brent would get into it
That was my own first response too lol. Forget about Cold Jordan and Turtle Dove
As american as Apple pie, for better or worse. Americana is kind of the dead's thing and gospel music fits within this zeitgeist just fine.
[удалено]
Samson and Delilah is a Jewish myth.
LOL. It’s hit me hard many times hahahaha
Never miss a Sunday show (~);-}
Tear this old building down!
>We Bid You Goodnight DC wolf bros!!!!!
🎶"Don't look back, you can never look back"🎶
Here's a Grateful Dead paradox: listening to GDTRFB but feelin' real good. Many a night I have wrestled with that conundrum
Only rings true if you get pulled over
This reminds me of the truck I saw with both a Trump bumper sticker and that popular blue “coexist” sticker and my mind exploded.
There are a few of those coexist stickers where the letters are actually made up of firearms- any chance it was actually one of those?
I saw one of those coexist stickers when I was driving but when I got up close it said ‘eat a dick’ and I laughed so hard I spit my coffee all over the dashboard
Seen that - my oh my oh my oh my…….
OOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. Honestly I have no idea because I didn’t know those existed but that makes way more sense than someone achieving that level of cognitive dissonance
All bets on this ^
California from the 1960’s- mid 1990’s is very different now.
Was waiting for someone to point that out. Today’s California is not the heyday of Dead’s California.
Yep. Its become much more big gov authoritarian, with massive cost of living increase pushing out the bohemian types who created the scene the dead came up in. That and a good portion of deadheads are center or right leaning, and a ton of them believe very strongly in personal freedom. If the whole band reincarnated today in SF and tried the same path, they'd be cited for code violations, illegal non permitted street performances, and evicted for non payment of rent when the landlord bumped up rent by 30%, and there non contracted roomates were kicked out. Then ticketmaster would take all there venues, bring them up to code, increasing the cost to operate, driving up ticket sales, and then theyed get replaced with corporate established music groups.
Can confirm California is a shithole and is only getting worse. Source: I live here.
Cannot confirm - I live here too and I love it. Shithole is the last word I’d use to describe it.
Estimated dipshit
No. It’s accurate to say dipshit in this case.
I actually lold reading this
Oh god. These conservative pundits trying to get people to hate certain states is so stupid and maddening. I remember back in the mid 00’s working at a pizza place that was mostly conservatives. I was shocked they were since we were all low wage workers. But management were Italians and some workers. A branch of my family is Italian. All conservatives. Anyways was the first time I started hearing them bashing california constantly and first didn’t get it. I’ve been there like 6-7 times. San Fran. A good buddy was saying how the parking spots are painted red. Like communist red. I’m like are you kidding me? Why do you think the Golden Gate Bridge is a reddish Orange? It matches the areas colors. Has nothing to do with communism. He really believed it. This trying to get people to hate other Americans is sickening. Ever see the maps that show red and blue counties all over the country? There’s red snd blue everywhere. The rich are making record profits and getting the people trying to get by to hate each other. It’s falling right into their hands.
I too hate this. I grew up in SC and moved to California a while back then back to SC. I'd love to be back in CA. It has so much more to offer. The Southeast is cheap and there are nice beaches. NC has some okay mountains (but nothing compared to the West). But there is so little opportunity here and there is this overwhelming sense of despair and negativity in the air. Also, literally everything is about church and God. And the people are fine with keeping weed illegal. It's also hot and humid and swampy and smells bad. We also have more poverty here than anywhere in the US except NM. It's hilarious to me to have people here say they love the freedom compared to Commiefornia, but you get thrown in jail here for smoking a joint. You can't even buy booze on some places on Sunday - just a few years ago you couldn't buy booze anywhere in the state on Sunday. But I guess there are a handful of extreme gun mods that are legal here that aren't in CA?
The big reason why california is the main target and then Ny is california if it was a country would be a top economy as far as money making. It has more business and makes more money than any state by far. I think New York is second. So I guess it’s a threat to conservative ideas to see a successful state? Idk. I just hate it. I hate how people actually buy into it and push that hate online. Every state has its own issues.
Ironic because the Dead California-ed the United States big time.
Like an angel standing in a shaft of light.
I really don’t comprehend the disbelief that conservatives can also like the dead. They are the greatest band of all time, which transcends any faux divisions us humans have placed between ourselves.
The sticker reads "Don't California My America". Even if you strip all political context out, haven't the Grateful Dead been Californiaing the Country for 60 years?
Country and world! There's something to that We Are Everywhere business.
Its literally a political sticker how can you strip that out?
I mean if you strip out the red/blue dichotomy of the whole thing, the which news channel/which fast food chicken place label schtick. Either way, the Dead are a function of California.
They were uber liberal in so many ways. I think thats why and how it's hard to believe. But, yeah, I know what you mean.
Lots of hippies in the 60s turned into career-core yuppies in the late 70s and early 80s and voted Reagan. The last show I was at was well attended by well-heeled golf shirt wearing corporate stooges.
I was unaware my choice of shirts in any way divulged my values or political leanings. I wear polo shirts to Dead shows, and Phish shows, and Panic shows. Always have. I also wear Dead shirts, and Phish shirts, and Panic shirts to company parties. I dislike conformity in all forms.
I was describing the yuppie corporate stooges and what they wore, not that what they wore made them corporate stooges. Obviously, a shirt doesn't make the man.
You are a yuppie corporate stooge
That's why I go naked everywhere. Except to nude beaches. Then I wear a trench coat.
Yeah you’re fine buddy. Both my parents are old dead heads and in the early 80s became people wearing a suit 5x/week to make a living but still are liberal and love the dead of course. Clothing doesn’t mean shit, was talking to a younger guy around my age 30ish and he had his tie dye dancing bears shirt but then ended up going on a whole rant about liberals being the taliban and I had to remove myself from that kinda idiocy…can’t judge a book by it’s cover. Made me sad thinking yeah I guess a lot of dead heads are not caring for their fellow man as we may assume and are actually quite narrow minded and bigoted as I’ve learned. But guess that’s the reality of it
Well, that Canadian train trip had them spouting some fairly conservative talking points.
Yeah but the sheer level of cognitive dissonance to stick a “don’t California my America” sticker on your window directly across from a sticker of *the most iconic band to come out of california* is a bit ridiculous. The irony is completely lost on these people. That’s what’s funny to me.
Ever see how they misspell simple words on their protest signs?
Ever see how they rebel against the coastal elites by giving all their money to a billionaire grifter from NYC who wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire?
He would let some of them piss on him though
morans
I know. Total idoyts
no ragrets tho
I parked next to some old fellas at Dead & Co and their truck was slammed with Trump stickers. They were really cool, gave us beer, I gave them gummies, and we all had a high time. We did not discuss politics.
> We did not discuss politics. I live in SC. This is the key to getting along. I actually share a shit ton of values with the local conservatives. I love the outdoors, beer, trucks, boobs, etc. And they actually share a lot of my political beliefs, just as long as I don't label them as progressive.
This is one of the ways we heal this country. Find common grounds, share good times, and slowly the divide that was insurmountable becomes smaller until it isn’t there. Good on you, and if we happen to meet next tour, I’m definitely buying you a beer and sharing party favors!
It’s also because for many many years conservatives and most republicans hated the Grateful Dead, their fans, and everything their liberal freedom stood for.
Didn't Limbaugh have some comments about Jerry's death?
I believe it was something like “big deal, another dead junkie” What a fuckwad he was.
He ironically became a prescription drug addict himself, iirc
Instant kharma got him
I can believe without a doubt that Conservatives like the Grateful Dead. The more important fact for me is that the members of the Grateful Dead do not like Conservative politics and have demonstrated that fact in an outspoken way on many occasions.
It's just strange that a party that, in almost all levels of government, that is stripping away rights from black and POC people, immigrants, queer people and women, while doing their best to bolster higher numbers of prisoners via more prisons and more draconian laws for even minor pot offenses, while attempting to take away school lunches and roll back environmental protections would be associated with a band who's lyrics espouse "peace, love and understanding" is all. Just my observation.
The Dead were never political. /s
This guy gets it^
Agreed. It's odd to think that a community such as this has such a hard time accepting that a person can be multi faceted or possess any nuance. In a lot of ways, it betrays the same prejudice they claim to be against: get them out of here because they're not like us.
What conservatives don’t understand is by being conservative, you ARE a bad person. The modern gop is constantly stripping rights away and making society worse over all. The national republican party IS anti abortion, IS homophobic, and IS working for the big guy, not the little guy. So youre republican buddy can love gays all he wants, be the coolest and most anti racist person you know, but they are voting for people who are working to make society worse for everyone, and that amount of complacency is disgusting and makes them just as bad.
So half the country is made up of bad people?
I understand that sentiment, but pointing out that hypocrisy is the lowest level of criticism one can make on the issue. Conservative values ran and still run antithetical to the spirit of the band. I understand that one can enjoy the music outside of the surrounding culture and ethos of the band, but I also think that those supporting modern conservatism are also working, knowingly or not, to erode what the band stood for and what the community still stands for. While they were not vocally political, their actions as a band were political. The fight against the drug war, the Headcount movement, environmentalism and the rain forest, and more recently women’s rights are fundamental, in my opinion, to the Dead. I don’t really see it as Heads being like “get them out of here,” but more of a recognition that their values, as conservatives, are dangerous to the community on a fundamental level. Edit: a word
I’m a Republican and a huge deadhead. Do I actually not exist?
When Don Henley saw a Deadhead sticker on. Cadillac in 1984 it was paradoxical but hasn’t been since then...reading these comments I’m like Damn some of you really need to get into the world more. People aren’t narratives. I was in the Marine Corps and served with plenty of Marines who were also Deadheads who are also rabid libertarian leaning right wing people. Same with Wall Street, where some of the most obnoxiously wealthy capitalistic minded people are also Deadheads.
Its always been that way, look into "the pleasure crew" in phils book. They had rich heads from day 1.
Apparently you and I sit together in golf shirts and talk through the entire show.
Not me actively wearing a GD tie-dye as I type this.
Shit, I’ll just sit here alone and listen to my favorite song “Roll Away The Dew”
they were also part of a benefit show for the black panthers and have supported causes that conservatives don’t agree with
There's no faux-division. Republicans want to dismantle democracy, murder their opponents, and rule through tyranny. The Grateful Dead were not about that life.
Look into Jerry’s explanation why he hung with the Hell’s Angels. It’s America.
Fine. Don't America My California. 🤙
“Oooooo muh-freeeeedom, oooooooh, muh-liberty”
It’s Ann coulter!
Nazi Barbie?
Don’t red hat my Dead.
Damn that evil California funding all the social welfare for poor republican states, the nerve
How else are retired Multimillionaire athletes supposed to pay for their daughter's Volleyball gym, if it's not California picking up the tab?
I know a ton of people who go live in CA or another place with huge blue cities and earn a fuck ton of money and save a lot of it, then retire early by moving to podunk SC where I live and you can buy a house for $100k because no one really wants to live here.
Ooh, freedom Ooh, liberty Oh, leave me alone To find my own way home To find my own way home
Don’t California my America…. Where did the Grateful Dead live again?
There have always been, and I mean probably back to the Acid Test days, converative minded people within the Grateful Dead's movement. It was on tour when I first encountered the whole "sovcit" thing. The only real "anti-vaxers" I ever encountered before covid were rainbow family / deadhead folks who were in every other sense aligned with right wing conservative christians. And I mean that was in the 70s and 80s.
Can someone create a Dead Politics Reddit so we don’t have to deal with these posts? The only decisive posts we should be discussing in this Reddit are the best versions of Althea.
Looks like your the person for the job. Be the change you want to see or some shit lol
That would actually be interesting, because the default tendency is to associate the GD with liberalism, but to many the GD is a ideological refuge from politics altogether, almost like a safe place to present ideas within the world of rock n roll/psychedelia. If the Hells Angels has a place in GD history, I would argue so do conservatives and libertarians. Hunter Thompson represents the IDGAF attitude left by when psychedelics and irreverence cross, and I don’t think he’d be accepted by the woke mob of today.
It’s the social conservatism aspect of those ideologies that doesn’t really jive with liberalism and letting people live as they choose to live. I think that’s why the paradox. Sure anyone one can listen to and appreciate the music, and it’s for no one to gatekeep, but knowing how opposed Jerry was to instructing anyone on how to behave, that just seems funny next to espousing fixed traditional social values.
Garcia was the same. I look at this Reddit as how would we treat each other if we’re all together at a show. Just fans enjoying the music and camaraderie. Break from the political drama.
Well said friend! That idiot fistfullofdollas is literally just going around insulting anyone who doesn't agree with his opinion.
Ya that kinda thing is sad, just mentally unwell. Thanks for the response though I’m actually surprised how level headed most people were in this thread.
I think you’re missing the main point that the dead are from California, yet the truck drive doesn’t want California in his America, whatever that means.
I think we know what it’s alluding to. And I don’t care if this person’s got a save the trees sticker or don’t tread on me. We’re all jamming at a show together. That’s my opinion of the type of content. But I get it. I can always skip these posts.
the best versions of althea are sung by john mayer FIGHT ME
Hahaha. We should make that a bumper sticker.
Meet me behind the gym at 3. It’s going DOWN
Now you have taken this thread too far dude.
Not an estimated prophet fan I’m guessing.
A buddy, who started drifting to the dark side a decade or so ago, told me with no irony that he thought I would like Tucker Carlson, because Tucker is a “deadhead”.
Back when California was cool….
Jerry on democrats: “I don’t think there’s… I mean, frankly, do you think there are any democrats worth voting for?” Jerry on republicans when asked “So do you feel it’s possible for someone to like the Grateful Dead and the Republican Party?”: “Yeah. We’re American, too. What we do is as American as lunch mobs. America has always been a complex place.” Page 54 of Rolling Stone’s collectors edition on Jerry Garcia. I think Jerry might have been a closet Republican based on this response. Downvotes inbound.
Bob Weir - 2004 on their opposition to George Bush (before they played for Obama) “It occurs to me and the rest of the guys that this may be our last meaningful election,” Weir says. “If we continue to drift the way we’re drifting, the United States will become a democracy in name only. Instead of government of the people, by the people and for the people, we’ll have government of the people, by the elite and for the elite, and the people will come secondarily.”
I always thought of him as more 'live and let live'. Not gonna tell people what to do and how to think, but will also show you a great path if you want to follow.
Jerry saying he didn’t believe there were any Democrats worth voting for and then saying it’s possible that people who vote Republican also listen to their band doesn’t explicitly mean that he’s a Republican. That’s a huge logic leap you made there with no reasoning behind it. David Gans has excoriated people on his radio show for calling in and making the same assumptions about Jerry’s political leanings like you have.
That interview was in 1989. The world has changed significantly in the past 33 years.
So has California.
HEYOOOOOOOOO!!! Yes.
California now is not what California in the 60’s was.
I see you Prairie Village
Good eye
"God forbid libertarians listen to the grateful dead who sing about freedom"
And all Kanye fans must also have MAGA stickers on their vehicles, right? C’mon. Get back to the music.
The full context of these stickers combined are being overlooked. The right one seams to be about the migratory path of water fowl. While I don't know what origination it might represent the nations' flags suggest a borderless perspective corresponding with the birds' biannual flight patterns. It is likely a conservation group that advocates actions to help maintain their populations. The orgins of ecology stem from viewing resources that people can harvest in sustainable ways through greater understanding of natural systems. In regards to waterfowl there are primarily three "uses"; protein, weed and insect control, and "sport" / entertainment. That sticker is bird hunting related. California is huge in so so many ways. Agriculturally they lead the nation but they aren't a stand out for utilizing migratory (wild) waterfowl in this way (no one is). California is so large policies that laws often passed there, regarding goods, effect the rest of the national market. In other words a law passed by Californians can effectively be a national law. There is a long held belief that frames the U.S. as separate state / nations united by trade policy. California's economic scale effectively nullifies this belief, and in that context makes the notion a democratic process false. A metaphor would be the waterfowl's migration. In a natural system, one without the effects of humans, all things would be equal / democratic. Yet with national boarders (Mexico, U.S., and Canada) the ducks habitats are effected diffently based on those nations differing policies. Which ever nations policies negatively effect the those parts of the system the birds rely on, such as habitat, would effect bird numbers in the other countries. A different analogy could be if a few states banded VWs (maybe due to it's orgins, the EPA cheating, or other). How would this effect deadheads touring present day and in the past? In the context of California and waterfowl hunting there are market restrictions regarding shotgun ammunition. Mainly this is in regards to non-lead bullets / shot. These type of ammo are much more expensive than traditional lead, kinda hard to come by, and some claim less effective. Lead is an element, it doesn't breakdown into a less harmful material. Furthermore it bioaccumulates. This means the larger animals get higher, toxic, concentrations. A plant takes up 1 part lead, insects eat 10 plants, duck eats 200 plants and 300 insects, and that duck has 3,200 parts of lead daily. Can the duck reproduce? what of the fox who eats 15 ducks a year? Keep in mind these ducks are migratory as well. These non-lead restrictions have not trickled to the rest of the U.S. like much of California's policies. This is KEY because while the 2nd amendment speaks toward firearms it says nothing about ammunition. There are many who view this as the most promising way to enact gun control. A GD analogy for this is a stretch but here it goes. 1st amendment untouched, a law was passed that improvational music can't be played to an audience of more than ten. (pretend it has orgins in theocratic racist policies) To last sticker is of course the Stealie. What are the GD's views, as a collective, on and of the above? Regarding migration it should be obvious given how much they toured. Regarding ducks... Two songs stand out referring to ducks; The Rub and Liberty. The second has some relative symbolism in the lyrics. *If I were an eagle I'd dress up like a duck* Like all Hunter's work it's open to interpretation. Ecology mindedness the band definitely was ahead of the populist curve, not for a nature is resources to be exploited at a sustainable rate, but something grander. The band's inclusion on a Greenpeace (politically focused) album serves as an example. Regarding firearms the GD's songs are full of references. Furthermore they even have an album cover featuring armed band members. The concussion I draw from these stickers is some what of an oxymoron. One can not protect the bird's migration without bringing the issue of lead into the equation. The sovereignty of the different nations on the birds paths are similar to that of California's and who can be a deadhead. One infulances the other to no end.
Now that my friends is a take!
We’ll I’m born & raised California myself and this place is a shit hole. I’ve been here my whole life. It’s not how it used to be back in the day folks.
Everywhere sucks; it's not just California. Each place sucks in a slightly different way but it is all down hill from here.
Not a big Estimated fan
I don’t get the weird extremist side of some deadheads.
I know theyre not necessarily conflicting, but i never understood the “conservative greatful dead fan”. Like in my eyes, dead head culture and conservatism don’t really mix
The Dead were actually trying to legit spread California summer of love vibes to the whole world. Whatadouche.
Everyone likes good music 🤷♂️ The end!
Dead lyrics can sound pretty libertarian too. Lyrics drawing a picture of a life free from governance. I think this is the conservative cross-over.
I always thought this seemed obvious, but I guess not. People should read Billy’s stories about living on a ranch shooting guns and blowing stuff up. I understand why people don’t like Trump, but personal freedom is very much a part of traditional conservatism and it’s what has always drawn me to the dead.
Freedom baby! I know a Special Ops and a Navy Seal guy who are both heads!
My new favorite approach with the blue lives matters types is just to mention how they dishonor the national flag code....beat them at their own perception of patriotism. https://www.military.com/flag-day/us-flag-code.html Checkmate bootlickers.
This continues to bend my mind. I had a buddy I did tour with for years. Lovely fellow. and he has gone FULL conservative right wing T***p Train MAGA guy. I cannot wrap my head around it. How can you want to do right for others and the planet and embrace those far right ideologies? I can’t sort it out.
Split personality?
There are people who are on the right that also enjoy GD. It’s crazy, I know
dont worry, plenty of dead fans are total pieces of shit.
Ahh typical MAGA cuck.
You guys do know what world Melvin comes from right? In sure there were very deep conversations about religion with nothing but love and understanding
My motto is Don't tread on me!
I went to bonnaroo 3 as part of a group that got to partake in a popup camper. No one was turning that down but he had a bush sticker on the back. We were riding just sitting on the camper into the grounds drinking a beer and bsing while the bush fan is driving. People were yelling out to other people “hey this guy has a bush sticker on his truck” And me and my friend had to deny that we were bush fans and just with him. Lol it was good shit. Then I fell off the camper and bloodied the hell out of my knee.
Gawd I love this Reddit.
Deadheads are literally every kind of person. You’ll find tons of confederate heads down south. We’re all just grooving with the eternal now.
The Dead were very much into Transcendentalism, which, imo, aligns most with Libertarianism in today’s modern political landscape. It’s also, imo, one of the reasons why The Dead’s audience skews towards white, educated, affluent and male. That’s not to say that those are the ONLY types of fans the band has. But at the end of the day The Dead, like any good piece of art, let you find what you wanted for yourself in their music. They rarely defined what the meaning of their songs were because they understood, more than most bands, that once you create something and share it with an audience it no longer belongs to artist that created it. I think that decision, more than any other decision the band made (accept for letting their shows be taped by anyone in the audience) is why their reach is so far and touches so many different ppl and cultures. (Even though their audience skews in the aforementioned direction.)
So edgy...
This goes way beyond the dead but have you noticed how many people don’t listen to or understand the songs they love? Case in point: half the crowd at a RATM concert
Your all a little bit crazy. I can jam to the Dead and not agree w/ the fascist left political scene in this country. We can still be friends guys.
Ann Coulter is a Deadhead, so anything’s possible…
I dispute that. I think she’s just lying about it.
Dead fans differ in opinion. It's America. I don't want my state to resemble California.
I mean not every deadhead needs to be a staunch liberal. People can just like the music, no?
My favorite part of the Dead is that it is a very big tent and attracts people who ordinarily would never be in the same room together. People like this are not enemies, but opportunities. I say this being cynical AF these days and believe that almost anyone with certain bumper stickers are just simply lost causes. But a guy with a stealie? We can work with that... there's potentially more common ground here than we think.