Grateful Dead ☮ Peggy-O, 1977 (Reaction) This song really got to me.

[@freddylubin]

"Sounds like home." Best three word description of the Dead I've ever heard.

[@walterlippmann6292]

up there with "I like this"

[@barbarascotto3873]

Such an out of the box song to react to, THANK YOU!!! No one sang with the emotion of Jerry. NO ONE. NFA ✌️

[@messiahmoose]

77 Peggy-Os are simply the height of music for me. Dive into a 77 Sugaree to get your face melted off. Pembroke Pines is my fave.

[@xianshep]

Melted off? Sugaree is great for insomnia.

[@AbeBSea]

'73 Dark Stars/EOTW for me..

[@messiahmoose]

@@xianshep 🤣🤣 Sorry you feel that way. Truly. Have a great day. 👍

[@joefelice5062]

@@xianshepI added a comment with the wrong song in a link - it disappeared but if it pops up later, it’s a mistake! 🙃

[@jaypollock9347]

You’re right. 77 Peggy O’s are sublime. Perfect

[@willhodges7270]

This is one of the fewer straight-ahead/story songs they did. Some others, and even this is open to some interpretation, but I always took this as a story of a soldier, from older times. He's a scout, looking ahead for the army before they come in and sweep a village. He meets a girl and is struck, realizes that the only way he could possibly save her would be to marry her, tries to warn her, but she won't or doesn't get it. Rather than report back, he takes his own life, knowing that if he deserts or warns her directly, he'll be killed by his own army as a traitor. A heartbreaking, trapped situation born of the sorrow and horror of war and the stark choices between bad and worse, but that's sometimes the only options available. Jerry had such a gift for letting the story flow through him, to transmit a feeling from a place that felt pure, it always felt like he was telling his own story. He could put the story right into your heart when he was nailing it. Miss that so much, grateful for the recordings like this.

[@mattschrader5047]

Check out "Comes a Time" from 5/9/77 if you like the slow stuff. "Wharf Rat" and "Morning Dew" have a similar vibe as well. Careful, this is how you wind up on the bus.

[@barbarascotto3873]

There's plenty of room on the bus!

[@AbeBSea]

BIG upvote for Comes A Time 5/9/77!!

[@pierremontague4279]

The first tune I listened to when I heard Garcia died. The windout is just so full of feels.

[@r00tb0und]

Best description of the dead..."it sounds like home"... hearing dead songs for the first time it seemed like i heard them in a thousand dreams....but couldn't quite put my finger on it.

[@AugustWestIII]

This is a very old irish folk song originally called the bonnie lass o' fyvie Jerry nails this song consistently, one of my favorites

[@Jeff-S]

Irish battle hymn.

[@Bertha-pm4xt]

You mean Scottish.

[@finarollerz]

Yep, song is way older, dead did not write it. First I heard was Dylan first album in early 60s

[@edhorton2766]

Jerry has it in the bag. The 1994 version was still killing it. Marvin was feeling it bigly.

[@brucecollins641]

@augustwest......nothing to do with ireland. like many scots sangs very popular in ireland when "irish" music was jist startin in the late 50s. bob dylan took the scots sang bonnie lass o fyvie'o and rearranged it to fennario. he uses other melodies from scots sangs for some of his other sangs. he even bought a mansion in scotland. scottish music and scots poet rabbie burns were a big inspiration on dylan. type in.....bob dylan selling his mansion in the scottish highlands scottish daily express.....

[@cshubs]

A gorgeous song.

[@smittycal]

Yes it is... I was impressed for real.

[@jinglebe11rainbow37]

Great honest reaction. You listened to the music, and lyric intently. And it struck a chord. You were open enough to allow it to into your being. I loved it and appreciated it. New subscriber. Cant wait for more GD reactions. Peace!

[@genosiegelli5237]

Such a sweet choice. It actually derives from the Scottish (not Irish) folk tune, “Bonnie Lass o Fyvie”, but more importantly, it’s such a beautiful song and it exemplifies the incredible breadth of music performed by The Grateful Dead. Thanks ❤

[@amandatheyahoo411]

Perfect sparkly-Jerry-song as my ma would say. Great pick - love this song!

[@smittycal]

It really is a good one

[@Jeff-S]

One of the most beautiful songs ever. And I mean the Grateful Dead's take on it.

[@GRpd-nh7hl]

One of the most beautiful songs of the Dead, and that says alot. And one of the best performances. Good choice. I'd like to see more reactions, to younger generations (me being 59), on this song., Sing this to the women you love.

[@JeffAquA315]

Well done for a first listen without lyrics.. many grateful dead song are purposely vague.. this gives the listener creative license to connect in a personal way and is why Deadheads are so emotionally attached to many of their songs This story is set in a mythical time and place, the soldiers love is not returned, he has died... the rest is ours to conjure. Garcia's solo is always different and told a unique story each time it was performed. Some are soaring and poetic others may be subtle and profound.. this is why you felt a connection to this song. Because it was your song as you imagined, this song was your personal connection and that's felt more deeply.

[@doodahman2995]

"Sounds like Home." Love that brother. One of my favorites by The Boys.

[@tuckerprice342]

jerry was just an absolute master of the guitar, he could legitimately play every genre, from rock to reggae to bluegrass to disco and to funk. he should be mentioned with the greats! here’s some recommendations if you want to dive a little deeper, i’m not sure how you feel about reacting to the same song but here’s a link to what’s considered the best version of it. m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/m6jNZmZrrNOppQ if you want something a little more rocking, here’s a version of their song “the other one” here’s the link: m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6aklqZmqLmMl7M here’s their song estimated prophet, it’s got a little bit of a reggae feel to it, it also has an odd time signature 7/8. and funnily enough the version i’m linking is from 7/8/78. here’s the link: m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJS7apSlqtWrhqc sorry for the long message! i hope you enjoy it!

[@melvinroebuck1160]

Yes. It sounds like home. That swag, that sway - love it! Well said.

[@danielkesselring9172]

One of my top 5 GD tunes.. so terrific and historic.. just wonderful 🌺

[@carolinegram1037]

No apologies necessary. This is what the Grateful Dead does to you. Enjoy the ride:)

[@michaelpettine3987]

FYI, the song refers to the capture of a castle in Scotland in 1644. See the Bonnie Lass of Fyvie.

[@brianweldon4243]

But obviously Americanized... Sweet William is "🎉buried in the Looosiana (Louisiana) country-o"

[@kidsanchez123]

Ahhh, my favorite version!

[@SeattleSpursFan1882]

"Something like that, just sounds like home". Exactly. It's why we kept coming back for more day in and day out.

[@barbarascotto3873]

The. Grateful Dead have always felt like home to me. Whether I was at a show 3000 miles away or 3 miles away, they're home.

[@rmhanseniii]

The time set is probably a few hundred years ago as the currency is guineas

[@stephenpaparo9166]

Heez a captain in an Army fell in love with the enemy in Scotland

[@hubertsumlin9697]

Down home groove. A fine description indeed.

[@Oldlodgeskins209]

Dylan used it as well / Alberta / Self Portrait

[@doesntgiveaflock2725]

Amazing request. Great reaction.

[@smittycal]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@gimmedemdigits6040]

it's a folk song from a warriors perspective told from different wars in each version...this one, it's a US civil war version from the prospective of a union soldier in the south

[@Soundhypno]

You would like Brokedown Palace and Stella Blue, nice to see your appreciation of of this!

[@danielkesselring9172]

Thank you.. One of the best.. 🌺🌺💀💀.. civil war song 🇺🇸

[@billphipps453]

yup, hes going off to war. ..😢...if ever I return... sweet William, he is dead,...😢 beautiful rendition ... thx .

[@columboscandela]

There's an acoustic version that Jerry and John Kahn did. Check that one out. Edit: My favorite GD version is from 10/14/76. Jerry gives us two extended solos. Absolutely gorgeous.

[@matthewwalsh1716]

It's a song about unrequited love. Peggy-o spurned William-o and he threatened to burn her city to the ground when he returned. The epitome of a Grateful Dead song. Sweet, sweet melody. Starts out as a love song but has a dark twist. So cool.

[@genesiegel2884]

Yeah, they do that to you ❤

[@DeadElvis100]

This is, in my opinion, the pinnacle of Jerry's playing. His guitar just weeps.

[@studiocdh]

The day of a show, was absolutely a day. Hanging with the family. The 3 hours of the actual show was just the bonus of the day. At that time 20-40K of us dancing away. Oh it was beautiful! 💀⚡🌹 Check out Peggy-O 4-12-82 OMG!!

[@cshubs]

Look for GE Smith's story about this song and Bob Dylan. Smith was the masterful guitarist for SNL for years. We heard his incredible riffs before and after commercials.

[@stephentmarksberry4484]

I think of this as the Dead’s civil war song. There this this song from a show from Duke University and Jerry is almost crying as he plays. Check it out and see which you find your like the most. it’s good no matter what show it is in.

[@Pyway100]

Yes the sway just pants a picture

[@gfunkehauser502]

my favorite Peggy O, that solo just kicks. and the moment after the lyric "sweet william he is dead" there is single plucked note that always makes me think of a shocked gasp, that stinging moment of painful knowledge etched forever into the broken heart of Peggy O...it always gets me.

[@AbeBSea]

I am reminded of John Basilone's wife, who was only married to John for a few months before he was killed on Iwo Jima. He could have avoided combat for the rest of the war after he got his Medal of Honor. His widow (forget her name) never remarried. Also Van Dorn from the Civil War.

[@larrywest42]

FYI, the Wikipedia entry for the "The Bonnie Lass o' Fyvie" - thanks, @genosiegelli5237 ! - has the history of this Scottish tune, including some of the earlier lyrics, discussion of the variations, and the lyrics the Dead usually sang. Probably at least 300 years old.

[@SmilingMedicineEntertainment]

Great reaction to a great song. I started seeing The Dead in the late 70's and kept seeing them until their last show in Chicago in '95. When you saw them live, Garcia would almost never speak from the stage. Not a word, except for his singing. But he had a gift of expressing the emotions of the songs he played through his guitar. He could "play" sadness, joy, anger, confusion, remorse, loneliness, bliss, and my favorite, tension. I would slightly disagree with your interpretation of the song, but that's cool too. Because their lyricist Robert Hunter had a gift of writing songs that can be interpreted in a multitude of ways, and those interpretations can evolve with time. If ya wanna dive into the deep end, try checking out Dark Star from the Live Dead album or Morning Dew from the same show your Peggy-O came from.

[@robertgrosek1124]

It’s the Dead “bounce”. Only the Dead do it

[@brianweldon4243]

You watch Michael Palmisano videos, I'm guessing....

[@robertgrosek1124]

@@brianweldon4243 I do but I’ve been bouncing to the Dead since 73 well before any MP videos

[@JackCerro]

1977 Peggy-O is the best Peggy-O.

[@barryhull7556]

This got to me also Smitty!!!

[@michaelwebster8389]

This one is actually a traditional song.

[@brennis_the_menace3414]

This song is one of a few I use for reminders of heartbreak, when he said “all your cities I will burn” I felt that. Definitely check out Simon and Garfunkel’s version the story goes a little different but still hits the same.

[@ChrisClowry]

Nice job Marvin. You felt it. Listen to more Jerry Buddy. ❤😢

[@patriciab825]

💖💖💖

[@AbeBSea]

I'd recommend checking out the 3/18/77 Terrapin>Alhambra

[@michaelbrantl5543]

Great year for the dead

[@robertgrosek1124]

It’s a little more complicated as I read the lyrics. Peggy is daughter to a rival clan. William offers marriage but is spurned and says if I come back “all your cities I will burn” and I won’t be asking I’ll be taking. But clearly that didn’t work out

[@toddwason7051]

2 drummers as well.

[@rhlang11]

Leaving for war.

[@patrickreilly7256]

Peggy-o is an old English folk tale style that Robert Hunter used in this new bard composition.

[@ZionForman]

this is the scene: the Captain and his men are passing through Fenario. the Captain falls in love with and proposes marriage to Peggy-o. Peggy-o says she would (in theory) marry the Captain, but she fears her parents won't allow it because the Captain doesn't have enough money. the Captain gets angry and suggests if he returns from the war he will destroy the town and people of Fenario. "If ever I return, your cities I would burn, and destroy all the ladies..." Captain goes off to war, dies in the war and never returns.

[@stephenpaparo9166]

William is a captain in an Army

[@ajschroetlin2196]

Some of Jerry's most beautiful guitar is played on this song.

[@danielkesselring9172]

The Irish/ Scottish folks in Appalachia are the the founders .. of course it’s gonna be changed through the years.. but definitely an old folk song from the British isles.. “what would your mama think if she heard my Ginny’s clink…🇺🇸

[@brianweldon4243]

Guineas

[@michaelbrantl5543]

Wiliam o went off to war

[@peterreist2882]

🙂

[@pamjahner9399]

I'm sure you have the gist of if. The basic song is from the war of 1812 period. An English officer falls for a Louisiana girl. Family is against it. Officer gets killed in action. Sad story sad dumb war.

[@edhorton2766]

Traditional song. Off to war.

[@cevinwillson9113]

Old dead head here I'm going make a few suggestions Scarlett begonias/fire on the mountain 5/8/77 Visions of Johanna 1995 Reuben and cherise 1991 Always listen to live versions of the Grateful Dead oh and Wharf Rat any version

[@patrickreilly7256]

You did missed the line "I would marry you but your ginnies($) are too few".

[@regularsizeruss3874]

*guineas

[@cmzeman]

Divorce the song from a time context. And yes, that's Jerry.

[@blesskrieger7972]

youtu.be/Yo-VOEAB5 V0