Born in Washington, D.C., the son of Beatrice Love (née Levine) and Jorma Ludwig Kaukonen, Jorma Kaukonen had Finnish paternal grandparents and Russian Jewish ancestry on his mother's side. Kaukonen was a founding member of the popular psychedelic San Francisco-based band Jefferson Airplane, which scored two Top 10 radio hits in 1967 with "Somebody to Love" and "White Rabbit."
Kaukonen learned to play guitar as a teenager in Washington, D.C. But before moving to the D.C. area, Jorma and family lived in the Philippines and other locales as he followed his father's career from assignment to assignment before returning to the place of his birth. As a teenager in Washington he and future Jefferson Airplane bassist Jack Casady (who at the time played six-string guitar) formed a band named The Triumphs. Kaukonen departed Washington for studies at Antioch College where friend Ian Buchanan taught him fingerstyle guitar playing. Buchanan also introduced Kaukonen to the music of Reverend Gary Davis, whose songs have remained important parts of Kaukonen's repertoire throughout his career.
In 1962 Kaukonen moved to the San Francisco Bay Area and enrolled at Santa Clara University. During this time he taught guitar lessons at Benner Music Company in San Jose. As a self-described blues purist, Kaukonen never had any ambition to play in a rock band. He played as a solo act in coffee houses and can be heard accompanying a young Janis Joplin on acoustic guitar on an historic 1964 recording (known as "The Typewriter Tapes" because of the obtrusive sound of Kaukonen's first wife, Margareta, typing in the background). Invited to attend a Jefferson Airplane rehearsal by founding member Paul Kantner, Kaukonen found his imagination excited by the arsenal of effects available to electric guitar and later said, "I was sucked in by technology.
As a member of Jefferson Airplane, Kaukonen's primary guitar was a Gibson ES-345, noted for the visible Varitone dial on his guitar and the signature 345 logo on the headstock. Jorma presently endorses Martin Guitars. In 2010, Martin Guitars released the Martin M-30 Jorma Kaukonen Custom Artist Edition. This guitar was designed by Jorma using ideas from 2 Martin guitars that he had previously been playing - a David Bromberg Custom Artist Edition and an M-5 prototype.
Jorma also uses and endorses the Fishman Loudbox amp.
In 1984, Kaukonen appeared on Robert Hunter's Amagamalin Street. This was the third album released by Relix Records, a label, founded by Les Kippel, that specialized in bands from the San Francisco Bay Area. Relix also released Splashdown, featuring a rare performance by Hot Tuna on WQIV, a now-defunct radio station in New York. Kippel was instrumental in reuniting Kaukonen and Casady in 1985 for a Hot Tuna theater tour. Relix Records remained Hot Tuna's record label until 2000, and also released Classic Hot Tuna Acoustic, Classic Hot Tuna Electric, Live at Sweetwater, and Live at Sweetwater Two.
Two notable projects featuring Kaukonen were David Crosby's debut solo album If I Could Only Remember My Name, on Atlantic (1971) and Warren Zevon's Transverse City on Virgin in 1989. In 1993, he collaborated with ex-Grateful Dead keyboardist Tom Constanten in recording numerous arrangements of "Embryonic Journey". The resulting tracks were released as Embryonic Journey, the album, in 1994 on the Relix label. In 1999, he played several gigs with Phil Lesh and Friends. In 2000, he appeared with jam band Widespread Panic during their summer tour.
With his wife Vanessa, Kaukonen currently owns and operates the Fur Peace Ranch, a 119-acre (0.48 km2) music and guitar camp in the hills of southeast Ohio, north of Pomeroy; complete with a 32 track studio. He is currently under contract as a solo artist to Red House Records and still records and tours with Jack Casady and other friends such as Barry Mitterhoff as Hot Tuna. His 2002 album Blue Country Heart, also released as a 5.1 single layer SACD, was widely acclaimed by critics as one of the definitive examples of American "Depression Era " music and features Kaukonen backed by an all-star Nashville bluegrass band. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Recent solo albums include Stars in My Crown (2007) and River of Time (2009).
Genesis
Jorma Kaukonen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And think of living as it was
Into the future we must cross (must cross)
And I'd like to go with you
And I'd like to go with you
You say I'm harder than a wall
A marble shaft about to fall
So let me stay with you
So let me stay with you
And as we walked into the day
Skies of blue had turned to grey
I might have not been clear to say (to say)
I never looked away
I never looked away
And though I'm feeling you inside
My life is rolling with the tide
I'd like to see it be an open ride
Along with you
Going along with you
The time we borrowed from ourselves
Can't stay within a vaulted well
And living turns into a lender's well
So let me come with you
And let me come with you
And when we came out into view
And there I found myself with you
And breathing felt like something new
Along with you
Going along with you
Jorma Kaukonen's song "Genesis" speaks about the uncertainty of the future and the desire to face it with a loved one. The first stanza talks about how it is time to pause and think of living as it was. It hints at the inevitability of change and how we must cross into the future. The singer expresses their desire to face the future with their loved one, emphasizing it by repeating the line "And I'd like to go with you".
The second stanza delves deeper into the relationship between the singer and their loved one. The singer is aware of their own shortcomings and appreciates their loved one even more for loving them in spite of it. They express this by saying "You say I'm harder than a wall, a marble shaft about to fall, I love you dearer than them all." They plead to stay with their partner, further emphasizing their love for them by repeating the line "So let me stay with you."
The final stanza talks about facing the future together as they step out into the day. The sky has turned from blue to grey, yet the singer never looked away from their partner. They acknowledge that their life is rolling with the tide, but they still desire to face it with their loved one by their side. In the final two lines, the singer talks about why they want to go along with their partner, saying "And breathing felt like something new, along with you, going along with you."
Overall, the song seeks to capture the fear of the future and the uncertainty that it brings. It talks about the power of love to overcome this fear and the importance of having someone to face it with.
Line by Line Meaning
The time has come for us to pause
It's time for us to take a break and reflect on our lives
And think of living as it was
Consider how life used to be
Into the future we must cross (must cross)
We have to move forward in life
And I'd like to go with you
I want to go with you on this journey
You say I'm harder than a wall
You say I'm tough and unbreakable
A marble shaft about to fall
But I'm fragile and could collapse any moment
I love you dearer than them all (them all)
I love you more than anything else
So let me stay with you
Please don't leave me alone
And as we walked into the day
As we continue moving forward in life
Skies of blue had turned to grey
Things have changed and become more difficult
I might have not been clear to say (to say)
Maybe I wasn't clear in expressing myself
I never looked away
But I never turned my back on you
And though I'm feeling you inside
Although I feel close to you emotionally
My life is rolling with the tide
My life is constantly changing
I'd like to see it be an open ride
I want to be open to new experiences
Along with you
As long as we're together
Going along with you
I want to go wherever you go
The time we borrowed from ourselves
The time we spent doing things that didn't matter
Can't stay within a vaulted well
Can't be taken back or undone
And living turns into a lender's well
Life becomes a cycle of borrowing and owing
So let me come with you
Let me come with you on this journey
And when we came out into view
Once we emerged from a difficult situation
And there I found myself with you
And I was there with you
And breathing felt like something new
And life felt fresh and exciting again
Along with you
As long as we're together
Going along with you
I want to go wherever you go
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: JORMA KAUKONEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@TheRealForrestGeorge
Time has come for us to pause
And think of livin' as it was
Into the future we must cross, must cross
I'd like to go with you
I'd like to go with you
You say I'm harder than a wall
A marble shaft about to fall
I love you dearer than them all
Them all, so let me stay with you
So let me stay with you
And as we walked into the day
Skies of blue had turned to gray
I might have not been clear to say, to say
I never looked away
I never looked away
And though I'm feelin' you inside
My life is rollin' with the tide
I'd like to see it be an open ride
Along with you, goin' along with you
The time we borrowed from ourselves
Can't stay within a vaulted well
And livin' turns into a lender's will
So let me come with you
And let me come with you
And when we came out into view
And there I found myself with you
When breathin' felt like somethin' new, new
Along with you, goin' along with you
@_diogo_lima
Time has come for us to pause
And think of living as it was
Into the future we must cross, must cross
I'd like to go with you
And I'd like to go with you
You say I'm harder than a wall
A marble shaft about to fall
I love you dearer than them all, them all
So let me stay with you
So let me stay with you
And as we walked into the day
Skies of blue had turned to grey
I might have not been clear to say, to say
I never looked away
I never looked away
And though I'm feeling you inside
My life is rolling with the tide
I'd like to see it be an open ride
Along with you
Going along with you
The time we borrowed from ourselves
Can't stay within a vaulted well
And living turns into a lender's will
So let me come with you
And let me come with you
And when we came out into view
And there I found myself with you
When breathing felt like something new, new
Along with you
Going along with you
@christinelott222
This song makes me cry. It reminds me of my high school boyfriend who was a guitar player and always played Jorma's songs...Steve passed away last year way too young. Listening to this brings back so many memories...thanks for the song.
@deich31
It always reminds me of a good friend in high school. He introduced me to a lot of great music, including this... but he drowned on his 20th birthday.
@Inbaroush
💗 💔
@geoffreyhall2034
for sharing your love song...
@stevenschmeevan6364
Sorry for your loss
@fabriziofarena4684
In poche righe hai sintetizzato una vita intera, come sanno fare solo i poeti.
@princesstarah2
This was my parent's wedding song, and I'm so happy to say that I've inherited their love for it
@jeff5898
I quoted the last verse during my best man speech at my brother's wedding.
@Mystifrost
I first heard this song on the University of Oregon radio station. I had to pull over my car to write down the lyrics so I could find the song again. A little hard to do with tears tears streaming down your face. A song that transcends time and touches future generations shows the musical genius that J is. And so needed during this awful pandemic and isolation. “Let me stay with you”.
@kellybaltusis1836
"The time we borrowed from ourselves" gets me bawling like a baby. This song never gets old, just a classic.