Ripple (song)
| "Ripple" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by Grateful Dead | ||||
| from the album American Beauty | ||||
| A-side | "Truckin'" | |||
| Released | November 1, 1970 | |||
| Recorded | September 1970 | |||
| Genre | Folk rock | |||
| Length | 4:09[1] | |||
| Label | Warner Bros. | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Jerry Garcia Robert Hunter[1] | |||
| Producer(s) | Grateful Dead Steve Barncard | |||
| Grateful Dead singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Ripple" is the sixth song on the Grateful Dead album American Beauty. It was released as the B-side to the single "Truckin'".[2]
Background
[edit]Robert Hunter wrote the lyrics in 1970 in London on the same afternoon he wrote those to "Brokedown Palace" and "To Lay Me Down" (reputedly drinking half a bottle of retsina in the process).[3] Jerry Garcia wrote the music to accompany Hunter's lyrics,[3] and the song debuted August 18, 1970 at Fillmore West in San Francisco.
"Ripple" has a similar melody to the gospel hymn "Because He Lives," which was published a year later.[4] Both songs are similar to "Any Dream Will Do" from the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which was first performed in 1968, and recorded in 1969.[5][6]
In popular culture
[edit]A number of essays have been written analyzing and annotating this song.[3]
The 1985 drama film Mask, with Cher and Eric Stoltz, features this song.[7]
The song is played during the last scene of the television series Freaks and Geeks.[citation needed]
Reception
[edit]In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked the song at number 334 in their updated list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Image of "Ripple" single". Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
- ^ "Grateful Dead Family Discography: The Grateful Dead Discography". www.deaddisc.com. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
- ^ a b c "The Annotated "Ripple"". artsites.ucsc.edu. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
- ^ "Because He Lives".
- ^ Schneider, Jason (October 17, 2024). "Understanding "Ripple" by The Grateful Dead". Creativity Squared. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat's major production history". Themusicalcompany.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
- ^ "Soundtrack listing for Mask". IMDb. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
