![]() Its final performance was on July 8, 1995, at Soldier Field, in Chicago. A note on Alex Allans Grateful Dead Lyric and Song Finder site says: Robert Hunter played Saint Stephen>Alligator>China. Overall, it was performed live 552 times that we know of, making it the fifth most-played song by the band, and number one in songs sung by Garcia. “China Cat” remained steadily the repertoire, with the exception of the years 1975-1978, when it was played just once, in 1977. Once that pairing became the standard, it was locked in, with the single exception noted in DeadBase being a Maversion where it went into “Cumberland Blues.” The song evolved over the ensuing months, including changes in key, tempo, and arrangement, until sometime in the summer of 1969, when it was paired, for the first time, with “I Know You Rider.” The song was released in its studio version on Aoxomoxoa, in June 1969. The first known live version of the song dates from a Carousel Ballroom performance on January 17, 1968. No commonality seems to link the imagery, except that they can take us on a journey. I see crazy quilts, and lacey patterns, and weaving in and out of everything, cats. The acapella and instrumental for 20 Jaar is in the key of A Minor, has a tempo of 100 bpm, and is 3 minutes and 36 seconds long. Maybe it’s a reflection of Hunter’s mind in the self-described “hypersensitive state,” but it works fine for any listener who can picture silk trombones, violin rivers, Cheshire cats peeking through lace bandanas, and crazy quilt star gowns. Próximos conciertos Bad Bunny 2021 -2022 09 de febrero de 2022 - Denver, Colorado - Ball Arena. Hunter referred to the effect as something along the lines of a “glittery image bank,” saying: I can sit right here and write you a ‘China Cat’ or one of those things in ten minutes. The kaleidoscope of imagery in the song does seem fairly clear in the overall state of mind it’s communicating. The duopoly, maybe the iconic pairing of songs in the Grateful Dead canon, at least it terms of its longevity. Hunter mailed the lyrics to the band in mid-1967, and by January 1968 the band was performing a medley of songs that included “Dark Star,” “China Cat Sunflower,” and “The Eleven.” Ahhh China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider. The song is part of what was a set of lyrics sent by Hunter to the band when they recruited him to be the lyricist for the group. ![]() This cat took me in all these cat places there’s some essence of that in the song.” I had a cat sitting on my belly, and was in a rather hypersensitive state, and I followed this cat out to-I believe it was Nepture-and there were rainbows across Neptune, and cats marching across the rainbow. I don’t think any of the words came, exactly-the rhythms came. “I think the germ of ‘China Cat Sunflower’ came in Mexico, on Lake Chapala. It’s good that a few things in this world are clear to all of us.”Īnd, from an interview with David Gans, in his Conversations with the Dead: People seem to know exactly what I’m talking about. ![]() “Nobody ever asked me the meaning of this song. Hunter’s statements about the song include this, from his lyric anthology, A Box of Rain:
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