The Grateful Dead was founded in the San Francisco Bay Area amid the rise of the counterculture of the 1960s. The founding members were Jerry Garcia (lead guitar, vocals), Bob Weir (rhythm guitar, vocals), Ron "Pigpen" McKernan (keyboards, harmonica, vocals), Phil Lesh (bass, vocals), and Bill Kreutzmann (drums). Members of the Grateful Dead had played together in various San Francisco bands, including Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions and the Warlocks. Lesh was the last member to join the Warlocks before they became the Grateful Dead; he replaced Dana Morgan Jr., who had played bass for a few gigs. Drummer Mickey Hart and non-performing lyricist Robert Hunter joined in 1967. With the exception of McKernan, who died in 1973, and Hart, who took time off from 1971 to 1974, the core of the band stayed together for its entire 30-year history. The other official members of the band are Tom Constanten (keyboards; 1968–1970), John Perry Barlow (nonperforming lyricist; 1971–1995), Keith Godchaux (keyboards; 1971–1979), Donna Godchaux (vocals; 1972–1979), Brent Mydland (keyboards, vocals; 1979–1990), and Vince Welnick (keyboards, vocals; 1990–1995). Bruce Hornsby (accordion, piano, vocals) was a touring member from 1990 to 1992, as well as a guest with the band on occasion before and after the tours.
The name "Grateful Dead" was chosen from a dictionary. According to Phil Lesh, "[Jerry Garcia] picked up an old Britannica World Language Dictionary ... [and] ... In that silvery elf-voice he said to me, 'Hey, man, how about the Grateful Dead?'" The definition there was "the soul of a dead person, or his angel, showing gratitude to someone who, as an act of charity, arranged their burial". According to Alan Trist, director of the Grateful Dead's music publisher company Ice Nine, Garcia found the name in the Funk & Wagnalls Folklore Dictionary, when his finger landed on that phrase while playing a game of Fictionary. In the Garcia biography, Captain Trips, author Sandy Troy states that the band was smoking the psychedelic DMT at the time. The term "grateful dead" appears in folktales of a variety of cultures.
Live performances
The Grateful Dead toured constantly throughout their career, playing more than 2,300 concerts. They promoted a sense of community among their fans, who became known as "Deadheads", many of whom followed their tours for months or years on end. Around concert venues, an impromptu communal marketplace known as 'Shakedown Street' was created by Deadheads to serve as centers of activity where fans could buy and sell anything from grilled cheese sandwiches to home-made t-shirts and recordings of Grateful Dead concerts.
In their early career, the band also dedicated their time and talents to their community, the Haight-Ashbury area of San Francisco, making available free food, lodging, music, and health care to all. It has been said that the band performed "more free concerts than any band in the history of music".
With the exception of 1975, when the band was on hiatus and played only four concerts together, the Grateful Dead performed many concerts every year, from their formation in April 1965, until July 9, 1995. Initially all their shows were in California, principally in the San Francisco Bay Area and in or near Los Angeles. They also performed, in 1965 and 1966, with Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters, as the house band for the Acid Tests. They toured nationally starting in June 1967 (their first foray to New York), with a few detours to Canada, Europe and three nights at the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt in 1978. They appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, the Woodstock Festival in 1969 and the Festival Express train tour across Canada in 1970. They were scheduled to appear as the final act at the infamous Altamont Free Concert on December 6, 1969 after the Rolling Stones but withdrew after security concerns. "That's the way things went at Altamont—so badly that the Grateful Dead, prime organizers and movers of the festival, didn't even get to play", staff at Rolling Stone magazine wrote in a detailed narrative on the event.
Their first UK performance was at the Hollywood Music Festival in 1970. Their largest concert audience came in 1973 when they played, along with the Allman Brothers Band and the Band, before an estimated 600,000 people at the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen. They played to an estimated total of 25 million people, more than any other band, with audiences of up to 80,000 attending a single show. Many of these concerts were preserved in the band's tape vault, and several dozen have since been released on CD and as downloads. The Dead were known for the tremendous variation in their setlists from night to night—the list of songs documented to have been played by the band exceeds 500. The band has released four concert videos under the name View from the Vault.
In the 1990s, the Grateful Dead earned a total of $285 million in revenue from their concert tours, the second-highest during the 1990s, with the Rolling Stones earning the most. This figure is representative of tour revenue through 1995, as touring stopped after the death of Jerry Garcia. In a 1991 PBS documentary, segment host Buck Henry attended an August 1991 concert at Shoreline Amphitheatre and gleaned some information from some band members about the Grateful Dead phenomenon and its success. At the time, Jerry Garcia stated, "We didn't really invent the Grateful Dead, the crowd invented the Grateful Dead, you know what I mean? We were sort of standing in line, and uh, it's gone way past our expectations, way past, so it's, we've been going along with it to see what it's gonna do next." Furthermore, Mickey Hart stated, "This is one of the last places in America that you can really have this kind of fun, you know, considering the political climate and so forth." Hart also stated that "the transformative power of the Grateful Dead is really the essence of it; it's what it can do to your consciousness. We're more into transportation than we are into music, per se, I mean, the business of the Grateful Dead is transportation." One of the band's largest concerts took place just months before Garcia's death — at their outdoor show with Bob Dylan in Highgate, Vermont on June 15, 1995. The crowd was estimated to be over 90,000; overnight camping was allowed and about a third of the audience got in without having purchased a ticket.
Their numerous studio albums were generally collections of new songs that they had first played in concert. The band was also famous for its extended musical improvisations, having been described as having never played the same song the same way twice. Their concert sets often blended songs, one into the next, often for more than three songs at a time.
Tapes
Like several other bands during this time, the Grateful Dead allowed their fans to record their shows. For many years the tapers set up their microphones wherever they could, and the eventual forest of microphones became a problem for the sound crew. Eventually, this was solved by having a dedicated taping section located behind the soundboard, which required a special "tapers" ticket. The band allowed sharing of their shows, as long as no profits were made on the sale of the tapes.
Of the approximately 2,350 shows the Grateful Dead played, almost 2,200 were taped, and most of these are available online. The band began collecting and cataloging tapes early on and Dick Latvala was their keeper. "Dick's Picks" is named after Latvala. After his death in 1999, David Lemieux gradually took the post. Concert set lists from a subset of 1,590 Grateful Dead shows were used to perform a comparative analysis between how songs were played in concert and how they are listened online by Last.fm members. In their book Marketing Lessons from the Grateful Dead: What Every Business Can Learn From the Most Iconic Band in History, David Meerman Scott and Brian Halligan identify the taper section as a crucial contributor to increasing the Grateful Dead's fan base.
After the death of Garcia in 1995, former members of the band, along with other musicians, toured as the Other Ones in 1998, 2000, and 2002, and the Dead in 2003, 2004, and 2009. In 2015, the four surviving core members marked the band's 50th anniversary in a series of concerts that were billed as their last performances together. There have also been several spin-offs featuring one or more core members, such as Dead & Company, Furthur, the Rhythm Devils, Phil Lesh and Friends, RatDog, and Billy & the Kids.
Good Morning Little Schoolgirl
Grateful Dead Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tell your mama and your papa I'm a little schoolboy too.
Come on now pretty baby I just can't help myself
You're so young and pretty I don't need nobody else.
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Don't you hear me crying?
On account of the way you treat me, I got to stay away.
Come on now pretty baby darling come on home
You know I love you baby, I got to get you all alone.
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Don't you hear me crying?
I'm gonna buy me an airplane and fly all over your town
Tell everybody baby, lord knows you're fine
Come on pretty baby now, I just can't help myself
You're so young and pretty I don't need nobody else.
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Don't you hear me crying?
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Tell your mama and your papa I'm a little schoolboy too.
I'm a schoolboy, too. hey, I'm a schoolboy, too.
I want to be your chauffeur, I want to ride your little machine
I want to be your chauffeur, I want to ride your little machine
I want to put a tiger, baby I want to put a tiger, baby.
I want to put a tiger, baby, hey in your sweet little tank.
Hey baby now yes I do ha, yes I do
Hey I got to hey, I got to come on home with you
Tell your mama, tell your papa, tell your mama and your papa
Hey, I'm a schoolboy, too, hey, hey, I'm a schoolboy, too.
Ha oww, I'm a schoolboy, too, ow, I want to keep your company
Hey I want to keep your company.
The Good Morning Little School Girl song by Grateful Dead portrays a man who is trying to seduce a younger girl as the title suggests. The repeated plea to "come home with you" is an insinuation that he wants her to engage in sexual activity with him. The presence of the parents in the song implies that the girl is underage and therefore unable to make her own decisions. The man acknowledges his own youthfulness, referring to himself as a schoolboy, thereby attempting to establish a connection with the girl. He also tries to flatter the girl by calling her "young and pretty" and indicating that he does not need anybody else.
However, the chorus of "Don't you hear me crying?" gives a hint of remorse and desperation, as if he knows that what he is doing is wrong. The last verse in which he declares that he wants to be her chauffeur hints at the idea that he wants to become her protector, but the line "I want to put a tiger, baby, hey in your sweet little tank" can be viewed as a further attempt at sexual seduction. The lyrics suggest that the man is infatuated with the girl and isn't able to control his desires, leading him to yearn for her and wanting to be closer to her.
Line by Line Meaning
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
May I join you at your home?
Tell your mama and your papa I'm a little schoolboy too.
Inform your parents that I am also a student.
Come on now pretty baby I just can't help myself
I am irresistibly drawn to you, my beautiful child.
You're so young and pretty I don't need nobody else.
Your youth and beauty are all that I desire.
Don't you hear me crying?
Do you not hear the sorrow in my voice?
I'm gonna leave you baby about the break of day
I must depart from your company at daybreak.
On account of the way you treat me, I got to stay away.
Due to the treatment I receive from you, staying away is my only option.
Come on now pretty baby darling come on home
Come back to your abode with me, my dear.
You know I love you baby, I got to get you all alone.
I am deeply in love with you, and must have you all to myself.
I'm gonna buy me an airplane and fly all over your town
I shall obtain an aircraft and traverse through your city.
Tell everybody baby, lord knows you're fine
I'll inform all those around us of your beauty and finesse.
I want to be your chauffeur, I want to ride your little machine
I want to drive for you and be a passenger in your vehicle.
I want to put a tiger, baby I want to put a tiger, baby.
I would like to harness your wild energy.
I want to put a tiger, baby, hey in your sweet little tank.
I seek to tame you, my sweet little school girl.
Hey baby now yes I do ha, yes I do
Oh baby, yes I do love you deeply.
Tell your mama, tell your papa, tell your mama and your papa
Inform your parents of the feelings I have for you.
Hey, I'm a schoolboy, too, hey, hey, I'm a schoolboy, too.
Hey, I am also a young student.
Ha oww, I'm a schoolboy, too, ow, I want to keep your company
I am also a student, and wish to remain in your company.
Hey I want to keep your company.
I desire to spend more time with you.
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC
Written by: SONNY BOY WILLIAMSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@gabrielalbertrojasrojas2476
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Tell your mama and your papa I'm a little schoolboy too.
Come on now pretty baby I just can't help myself
You're so young and pretty I don't need nobody else.
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Don't you hear me crying?
I'm gonna leave you baby about the break of day
On account of the way you treat me, I got to stay away.
Come on now pretty baby darling come on home
You know I love you baby, I got to get you all alone.
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Can't you hear me crying?
I'm gonna buy me an airplane and fly all over your town
Tell everybody baby, lord knows you're fine
Come on pretty baby now, I just can't help myself
You're so young and pretty I don't need nobody else.
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Don't you hear me crying?
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Tell your mama and your papa I'm a little schoolboy too.
I'm a schoolboy, too. Hey, I'm a schoolboy, too.
I want to be your chauffeur, I want to ride your little machine
I want to be your chauffeur, I want to ride your little machine
I want to put a tiger, baby I want to put a tiger, baby.
I want to put a tiger, baby, hey in your sweet little tank.
Hey baby now yes I do ha, yes I do
Hey I got to hey, I got to come on home with you
Tell your mama, tell your papa, tell your mama and your papa
Hey, I'm a schoolboy, too, hey, hey, I'm a schoolboy, too.
Ha oww, I'm a schoolboy, too, ow, I wanna keep your company
Hey I wanna keep your company.
@mariadeambrosiozas8620
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Tell your mama and your papa I'm a little schoolboy too
Come on now pretty baby I just can't help myself
You're so young and pretty I don't need nobody else
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Don't you hear me crying?
I'm gonna leave you baby about the break of day
On account of the way you treat me, I got to stay away
Come on now pretty baby darling come on home
You know I love you baby, I got to get you all alone
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Can't you hear me crying?
I'm gonna buy me an airplane and fly all over your town
Tell everybody baby, lord knows you're fine
Come on pretty baby now, I just can't help myself
You're so young and pretty I don't need nobody else
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Don't you hear me crying?
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Tell your mama and your papa I'm a little schoolboy too
I'm a schoolboy, too. Hey, I'm a schoolboy, too
I want to be your chauffeur, I want to ride your little machine
I want to be your chauffeur, I want to ride your little machine
I want to put a tiger, baby I want to put a tiger, baby
I want to put a tiger, baby, hey in your sweet little tank
Hey baby now yes I do ha, yes I do
Hey I got to hey, I got to come on home with you
Tell your mama, tell your papa, tell your mama and your papa
Hey, I'm a schoolboy, too, hey, hey, I'm a schoolboy, too
Ha oww, I'm a schoolboy, too, ow, I wanna keep your company
Hey I wanna keep your company
@smokinjz
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Tell your mama and your papa I'm a little schoolboy too.
Come on now pretty baby I just can't help myself
You're so young and pretty I don't need nobody else.
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Don't you hear me crying?
I'm gonna leave you baby about the break of day
On account of the way you treat me, I got to stay away.
Come on now pretty baby darling com on home
You know I love you baby, I got to get you all alone.
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Don't you hear me crying?
I'm gonna buy me an airplane and fly all over your town
Tell everybody baby, lord knows you're fine
Come on pretty baby now, I just can't help myself
You're so young and pretty I don't need nobody else.
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Don't you hear me crying?
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Good morning little schoolgirl, can I come home with you?
Tell your mama and your papa I'm a little schoolboy too.
I'm a schoolboy, too. Hey, I'm a schoolboy, too.
I want to be your chauffeur, I want to ride your little machine
I want to be your chauffeur, I want to ride your little machine
I want to put a tiger, baby I want to put a tiger, baby.
I want to put a tiger, baby, hey in your sweet little tank.
Hey baby now yes I do ha, yes I do
Hey I got to hey, I got to come on home with you
Tell your mama, tell your papa, tell your mama and your papa
Hey, I'm a schoolboy, too, hey, hey, I'm a schoolboy, too.
Ha oww, I'm a schoolboy, too, ow, I wanna keep your company
Hey I wanna keep your company.
@Prajnana
One of the true classic albums from the 60's. There was a time when I could hum along to all the guitar parts by heart.
@roberttemple2521
This is the first album I ever bought. I loved this tune and album, recorded monophonically. I still own it. I found a harmonica a few years later and took to the blues right away. I only saw the Dead once, 1973 at the Summer Jam at Watkins Glen, NY. They didn't do anything like this. The Allman Bros Band was the hit for me there at Watkins Glen, real soul there. Sad that so many of these greats went to dope and related problems, early on.
@ivanmay7890
I don't know about anybody else, but Ron Pigpen McKernan was a huge influence on the Dead. His rendition of Good Morning Little Schoolgirl is arguably one of the best renditions of that song I've ever heard.
@thedocofrock1890
i remember going into our local record shop in '67 and poking through new albums. saw this one and instantly the cover grabbed me. i had never heard of the dead before but no matter . bought it on the spot , ran home and that was that. at 14 years old i was an impressionable lad and they impressed the hell out of me. got to introduce all of my friends to them as well. the whole album is great but the 2 that grabbed me right away were morning dew and new new minglewood blues. still have that vinyl now but it was played to death and would probably rip the stylus off of the arm. thanks youtube. captain trips is still alive
@robertlytle9752
I have almost all the Grateful Dead albums. I always took great care of them and now that I am in the mid 70's, I am slowly giving them to my nephew who is an audiophile and will also take meticulous care of them. I have given him mot only the Grateful Dead but also Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow, the Stone Poneys where Linda Rondstat sang Different Drum, and many other albums of the late 60's and early 70's.
@girlinterrupted243
@Robert Lytle Aww handing down Pedophilia songs to your nephew . awww the generational disgust is so adorable and righteous
@edbergquist4745
Mid-sixties-70's I used see these guys play all the time...
@nickcatalano329
Jerry Garcia Shreds his guitar—these are some of the finest licks I have ever heard.For a 1st Album it’s filled with great songs.Im 64 -been listening to this for 50 years.Workingmans Dead & American Beauty are also great albums with Lyricist Robert Hunter filling in all the words.Outstanding !!!
@markrussell0420
I judge the eras of the dead by their keyboard players. My favorite, by far, is 65-72. The pigpen era of the dead was phenomenal.
@traviselswick4652
Keith was there by 72