Meaning of Box of Rain by Grateful Dead & Song Story

The famous Box of Rain was the first Grateful Dead song to feature Phil Lesh on vocals. It was also destined to be the last song the legendary rock band played live from the stage before disbanding after the death of Jerry Garcia.

Let’s talk about how and under what circumstances Box of Rain was written, and try to figure out what meaning lies in her words.

Box of Rain – Grateful Dead Song Story

The story of the history of Box of Rain will begin with a legend known to many fans of the Grateful Dead. Allegedly, Garcia once told her to one of the fans. It tells how the members of the group, while relaxing on the sea coast, found a wooden box in which a lizard lived. They took her along with a makeshift house and went home.

On the way, Phil Lesh dozed off on the bus and had a strange dream about his father. When he awoke, the lizard that had somehow escaped lay dead on his chest. After that, it continued to rain for several days. So, it is believed that this case became a source of inspiration for the creation of the song.

In fairness, it must be admitted that not a single authoritative source confirms the authenticity of this legend, although Phil did say that he dedicated Box of Rain to his dying father. He composed the melody and Robert Hunter wrote the lyrics. Here it is better to give the floor to Lesha:

In fact, I just casually mentioned that I would be working on the vocal part while driving down the road. [к отцу]. Somehow, it had to be the catalyst for his imagination. A day later, he presented me with one of the most touching and sensual lyrics that I have ever been lucky enough to sing.

“Searching for the Sound”

Hunter later wrote in his anthology A Box of Rain: Lyrics: 1965-1993:

If words ever wrote themselves, this was the case – how fast, how capable the pen.

In another interview, he described the process along the same lines:

The phrases formed themselves. I think I went over it two or three times, recording as fast as I could, and the song was ready. I believe it was written for a young man whose father was dying.

By the way, Phil Lesh managed to rehearse and sing Box of Rain to his father before he died.

Meaning of Box of Rain – Grateful Dead

It is widely known that Hunter answered the question of one of the fans about the title of the song. According to him, he used the phrase “box of rain” because “ball of rain” didn’t sound good enough.

And he explained its meaning as follows:

Well, I don’t like doing it because it encourages others to ask what I meant when I wrote the song, and to even roughly understand what I put into it, you would need my mind. By “box of rain” I meant the world we live in…

In fact, everyone is free to understand even the main idea of Box of Rain in their own way, and even to understand the meaning of the individual lines of the song can take an infinitely long time. Critics find numerous allusions in them, see borrowings from various works in the text and compare the composition with the Ripple track. I stick to the classic version of the son and the dying father.

Next, you can listen online to Box of Rain by the Grateful Dead.

Song recording and performance

Box of Rain opens the American Beauty album that the Grateful Dead released in November 1970. The song was not released as a single, but it was played quite actively on the radio. The group began to include it in the concert program only in 1972-1973. Then she almost did not play it for more than ten years. But in the period from 1986 until the collapse of the team, Box of Rain was performed more than seven hundred and fifty times.

On July 9, 1995, the Grateful Dead finished the concert at Chicago’s Soldier Field with the song, which was the last in the band’s history.

Video Box of Rain – Grateful Dead

Next, I suggest watching the live video clip of Box of Rain from the performance of the Grateful Dead.

Interesting Facts

The song featured bassist Dave Torbert and guitarist David Nelson, who were not members of the Grateful Dead.

Box of Rain Grateful Dead Lyrics

Look out of any window
Any morning, any evening, any day
Maybe the sun is shining
Birds are winging, no rain is falling from a heavy sky
What do you want me to do
To do for you to see you through?
For this is all a dream we dreamed one afternoon long ago

Walk out of any doorway
Feel your way like the day before
Maybe you’ll find direction
Around some corner where it’s been waiting to meet you
What do you want me to do
To watch for you while you’re sleeping?
Then please don’t be surprised when you find me dreaming too

Look into any eyes
You find by you; you can see clear to another day
Maybe seen before
Through other eyes on other days while going home
What do you want me to do
To do for you to see you through?
It’s all a dream we dreamed one afternoon long ago

Walk into splintered sunlight
Inch your way through dead dreams to another land
Maybe you’re tired and broken
Your tongue is twisted with words half spoken and thoughts unclear
What do you want me to do
To do for you, to see you through?
A box of rain will ease the pain and love will see you through

Just a box of rain, wind and water
Believe it if you need it, if you don’t just pass it on
Sun and shower, wind and rain
In and out the window like a moth before a flame

And it’s just a box of rain, I don’t know who put it there
Believe it if you need it or leave it if you dare
And it’s just a box of rain, or a ribbon for your hair
Such a long, long time to be gone and a short time to be there

Box of Rain Grateful Dead Lyrics Alternative

Look out any window
Any morning, any evening, any afternoon
Maybe the sun is shining
Birds fly, it doesn’t rain from the gloomy sky
What do you think I should do
Do to support you?
It’s all a dream that we had once a long time ago

Come out any door
Go to the touch, like the day before
Perhaps you will find a pointer
Around some corner where he was waiting to meet you
What do you think I should do?
Watch over you while you sleep?
Then please don’t be surprised when you see that I’m all in my dreams too

Look into any eyes
Who will be there and you will see another day clearly
Maybe the one you’ve seen before
Through other eyes on other days when I was driving home
What do you think I should do
Do to support you?
It’s all a dream that we had once a long time ago

Step into the splintered sunlight
Move carefully through dead dreams to other lands
Perhaps you are tired and weak,
Your tongue is tangled with unspoken words and unclear thoughts
What do you think I should do
Do for you to support you?
A box of rain will ease the pain and love will keep you going

Just a box of rain, wind and water
Believe in her if you need her, if not, just pass her on.
Sun and rain, wind and rain
They beat at the window like a moth in front of a flame

And it’s just a rain box, I don’t know who put it there
Believe in her if you need her or leave her if you dare
And it’s just a box of rain or a ribbon for your hair
How long to wait and how little time to be there