Day Job - Grateful Dead Song Review

Keep your day job ... until your night job pays!

Day Job

The legend goes that this song is the only that was every nixed due to the overwhelming request of Deadheads  at large.  I think I heard Robert Hunter quoted as saying that. Can that really be true? Then how do you explain songs like Corrina ("Velveeta") and Easy Answers ("Cheesy Answer") not getting dropped due to overwhelming demand? Well, maybe they would have in due time; "Day Job" did come along a decade before those gems - in the early 80's. That was a much different time in the arc of the Grateful Dead experience.

What is it that everyone hates about this song? It must be the message.  I don't think it's terrible at all.  It sounds like a cross between U.S. Blues and Might As Well, with a dash of Billy Joel's Only the Good Die Young.

"It Must've Been The Lyrics"

It must've been the implied message of maintaining employment that rubbed everyone the wrong way.  I guess I can relate because when I was at Dead shows I was pretty much experiencing the opposite of my day job.  Imagine if you quit your Day Job to follow the Dead on a tour and during a psychedelic experience you hear Jerry sing those words.... this could cause a powerful internal conflict, short circuiting your enjoyment of the show.

But to give thissong "legendary" status of being rejected is a bit harsh. I mean... how much more of a bummer can hearing this song in the first set be than "Little Red Rooster," "The Same Thing," or even "When Push Comes to Shove?"


Day Job Song Rating on a Scale of 1-10: 5.0


Disclaimer: This is part of my blog that reviews all things Grateful Dead for fun. Music is a beautiful thing because it is so personal and subjective, so keep in mind that this is one man's opinion (and be sure to read my blog manifesto to understand a little more about where I'm coming from).

Corinna - Grateful Dead Song Review

My affection for the late era Grateful Dead has given me a bias for Corinna and I would say it is an "okay" song. I really don't mind it. I remember seeing the Velveeta logo "Corinna" shirts around Dead shows. Cheese it up Bobby.. indeed.

The thing about Corinna is that it has a good beat. It reminds me somewhat of electronica. There are some good changes in the tune and that chorus is really memorable:

Corinnaaaaaaaaaaa-aaaaaah Shake it up now

Looking up the lyrics just now (which I never paid attention to before) I see that they are written by Robert Hunter and the pairing of Robert Hunter and Bob Weir is pretty rare. The lyrics are vague and clever but hard to glean much of a story from them. Also, per the Annotated Grateful Dead lyrics site, Mickey Hart is the other contributor to the musical portion.

I think the song is pretty original and an interesting "late era" Grateful Dead song. It was primarily a second set song and Jerry would play an interesting solo on it. I would definitely prefer Corinna over other new Dead songs like Way to Go Home and Eternity and even over a tired 2nd set song like Need a Miracle.

Corinna Song Rating on a Scale of 1-10: 6.7

Disclaimer: This is part of my review of every Grateful Dead song from A-Z. Music is a beautiful thing because it is so personal and subjective, so keep in mind that this is one man's opinion (and be sure to read my blog manifesto to understand a little more about where I'm coming from).