„Geographicity” in the lyrics of the Grateful Dead band Cover Image

„Geograficzność” w tekstach piosenek zespołu Grateful Dead
„Geographicity” in the lyrics of the Grateful Dead band

Author(s): Andrzej Kowalczyk
Subject(s): Human Geography, Studies of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego
Keywords: „geographicity”; song lyrics; Grateful Dead

Summary/Abstract: The Grateful Dead band, existing in 1965-1995, played an important role not so much in shaping new directions in rock music but in shaping attitudes and social relations among youth (though not only) Americans. It has roots in the subculture (Beat Generation), which was created in the 1950s-1960s in San Francisco area. The group belonged to the precursors of the so-called psychedelic rock, although in its works we can find strong relationships with folk, country and blues music. The phenomenon of the Grateful Dead lies not only in the fact that the band had many fans (called Deadheads, who rode with her from the concert to the concert), but most of all in the fact that in the words of the songs you could find many references to traveling, trip around etc. These references made the author of the presented article decide to deal with the issue of „geographicity” of the songs of the Grateful Dead group. After analyzing the texts of several dozens of works, he distinguished several types of „geographicity”. The simplest type concerns songs in which only geographical objects are mentioned (often one), while the most advanced type includes lyrics whose content concerns a plot with a spatial (geographical) dimension.

  • Issue Year: 64/2019
  • Issue No: 4
  • Page Range: 11-42
  • Page Count: 32
  • Language: Polish