In the late summer of 1965, after seeing a new band called Jefferson Airplane at The Matrix club, Grace and Jerry decided to start their own group, assembling it fairly quickly. The band made its debut at the Coffee Gallery in San Francisco's North Beach section on October 15, 1965, and continued to perform throughout 1966.
The band released only one single during its lifetime in 1966, "Someone to Love," (later re-titled "Somebody To Love") written by Darby, backed with "Free Advice." Issued on Autumn Records' tiny North Beach subsidiary label, the single made little impact outside of the Bay Area, but the association with Autumn did lead the band to working with staff producer Sylvester Stewart, still in the process of forming his own band, Sly and the Family Stone. Purportedly, Stewart would eventually walk out as the band's producer during a demo session after it took Great Society over 50 takes just to get one song right.
Momentum for the band began to build as they started opening for Jefferson Airplane and other successful local bands, with Columbia Records offering the Great Society a recording contract. By the time the contract arrived in the mail, however, Grace had been spirited away to replace departing vocalist Signe Toly Anderson in the Airplane, taking "Someone to Love" and her own composition "White Rabbit," one of Great Society's live showcases, with her. As both the visual and musical focal point, the band could not survive without its lead singer, and disbanded in the fall of 1966. Grace and Jerry would divorce as well.
Columbia would eventually release tapes of live performances by Great Society as two separate albums in 1968 after Grace found fame, repackaging both as a double LP in 1971. In 1995, Sundazed issued a compilation disc featuring the band's lone single amidst unreleased studio session material.
Someone to Love
The Great Society Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And all the joy within you dies
Don't you want somebody to love?
Don't you need somebody to love?
Wouldn't you love somebody to love?
You better find somebody to love
And your friends, they treat you like a guest
Don't you want somebody to love?
Don't you need somebody to love?
Wouldn't you love somebody to love?
You better find somebody to love
Don't you want somebody to love?
Don't you need somebody to love?
Wouldn't you love somebody to love?
You better find somebody to love
When the garden flowers are dead
And your mind is full of red
Don't you want somebody to love?
Don't you need somebody to love?
Wouldn't you love somebody to love?
Well, you better find somebody to love
The Great Society's "Someone to Love" explores the universal need for human connection and love in times of despair and disillusionment. The opening lines, "When the truth is found to be lies / And all the joy within you dies," suggest a profound disappointment with the world and a sense of betrayal by society or someone trusted. The question that follows, "Don't you want somebody to love?" highlights the importance of finding love and connection in such moments of despair. The repetition of the question only emphasizes the urgency of the need.
The second verse further illustrates the feelings of isolation and abandonment that often come with disillusionment. The image of tears running down the singer's dress not only conveys a sense of emotional vulnerability but also suggests a loss of dignity and respect from those around her. The line, "And your friends, they treat you like a guest," further underscores this idea. Additionally, it suggests that sometimes relationships can be superficial, and one may only be welcomed at the surface level. In such moments, the need for real love and connection becomes even more urgent.
The song's final verse uses the metaphor of a garden to describe the loss of hope and the sense that the world is suffocating in chaos. The redness in the singer's mind suggests a state of anger and frustration, a state that can quickly lead to hopelessness. The chorus, once again, emphasizes the need for love and human connection in such situations.
Overall, "Someone to Love" is a poignant and relatable song that speaks to the universal human experience of needing love and connection, particularly in times of despair and disappointment.
Line by Line Meaning
When the truth is found to be lies
When what you believed is revealed to be false
And all the joy within you dies
And you feel completely disillusioned and joyless
Don't you want somebody to love?
Don't you crave human connection?
Don't you need somebody to love?
Don't you require human connection to feel fulfilled?
Wouldn't you love somebody to love?
Wouldn't you like to find a partner to share your life with?
You better find somebody to love
You need to search for someone to connect with
Tears are running down your dress
You are crying and feeling emotional
And your friends, they treat you like a guest
Your friends are not truly supporting you
When the garden flowers are dead
When the beauty in the world fades away
And your mind is full of red
And you feel overwhelmed with negative emotions
Well, you better find somebody to love
It is important for you to find a person to connect with emotionally.
Contributed by Benjamin K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
randy cichlid
I've heard the commercial Airplane version for over 40 years.
First time last year for this one.
This version is a entirely different song.
Grace...Your inflections on the lyrics blew my mind. So purely true. Echos of my life.
The band...The West Coast sound at it's fundamental finest.
"I am not worthy."
Party On!!!
Jake
Grace is in this band too lol
Paul Hotaling
If you haven't, give their version of White Rabbit a listen too!!
sexobscura
@Paul Hotaling
It's on a par with The Airplane's, for sure
Mooseboy08
It's like listening to a demo. Very cool to hear where it came from. And it is amazing how much Grace's skill and style transformed from this recording to the one that we're all familiar with from Jefferson Airplane. This sounds like a young girl trying to figure out how to sing, while the JA version is a fully blown incredibly powerful vocalist. Just my opinion.
Mateyhv1
Yes, its super strange to hear Grace sing this song so "static", but the voice is already there. She sings it like a hymn and later on turned it into a totaly emotional song which I love.
Lee Randal
This is a good example of what a good music engineer is worth.
heinrichvon
Your opinion is correct. Grace was always a big fan of the Rolling Stones, and I believe that when the JA decided to take a punchy, hard-charging approach to the song (as opposed to GS's listless version), she was inspired.
StevenH K
I've read that Jerry Garcia was instrumental in punching the song up for the Airplane into the immensely powerful song that the Airplane did. They turned Jack Casady lose on it.
Alyx England
After listening to Jefferson Airplane's version for so long, I thought I'd finally look this one up. I love for being around the same time in music, they give a complete different vibe.