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Thread: Wharf Rat: a question to other Dead fans...

  1. #1
    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Wharf Rat: a question to other Dead fans...

    One of the Grateful Dead's songs I really like is "Wharf Rat".



    Having listened to the lyrics, read them and researched about the details and characters depicted, I'd like to share an impression...

    Garcia sings impersonating someone who walks around the docks of San Francisco (possibly, but any city with a wharf) and comes across a blind old man in misery who asks him for a dime and tells him his story.

    Well, the poor August West says that he loved "Pearly Baker" more than anything in his life, even more than alcohol and than God Himself. Most interpretations associate "Pearly Baker" with his alcoholism, and with the figure of Rev. Purley Baker, who was the head of the Anti-Saloon League of America. This group lead the fight for prohibition in the US.

    BUT: How can Pearly Baker be his relation with alcohol or the impersonation of his alcoholism if he loves Pearly more than his wine?


    My feelings when I listen to this song: The fact that August West still wanders around the wharf and loves this "Pearly Baker" more than his wine and than God makes me think he was a sailor and that "Pearly Baker" was the ship in which he served.

    Maybe when he says

    "Everyone said
    I'd come to no good
    I knew I would
    Pearly believed them"

    I think it could mean that he was expelled from the ship/service because of his addiction to alcohol...

    Anyone else has this impression?

  2. #2
    Forum Member DanTheBluesMan's Avatar
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    Re: Wharf Rat: a question to other Dead fans...

    I went to give that a listen and found that I do not have any version of it on my computer, I must have hundreds of their songs but not that one

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    Forum Member OldStrummer's Avatar
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    Re: Wharf Rat: a question to other Dead fans...

    Tangential to the thread: I've heard it said that during the band's heyday, members of Alcoholics Anonymous would attend Dead concerts wearing yellow t-shirts and calling themselves "wharf rats." It was said that if you were new in sobriety and attending a Dead concert, you could seek out the yellow-shirted wharf rats, who would stay with you during the concert and keep you away from the multiple temptations known to exist at those venues.

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    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: Wharf Rat: a question to other Dead fans...

    Music is a very personal thing, I mean the way each song appeals to you.

    To me, this is one of the Dead songs that really poke you in the soul.

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    Forum Member Laker's Avatar
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    Re: Wharf Rat: a question to other Dead fans...


  6. #6
    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: Wharf Rat: a question to other Dead fans...

    To me, Pearly Baker being the ship makes sense more and more.

    If Purley was an activist for prohibition, it makes sense to think that the ship was, for some time, what kept August sober (working as a sailor), because he loved the ship more than anything.

    The love and dedication of sailors to their ships is often sung about...

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    Forum Member Laker's Avatar
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    Re: Wharf Rat: a question to other Dead fans...


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    Re: Wharf Rat: a question to other Dead fans...

    No, I think it's pretty much what you would think it is, a conversation with a skid row wino who has throw his life away. He blames his problems on other people. He asks for God's help right after he confesses to have no relation to Him. He doesn't make any sense. Robert Hunter nailed it. I've known more people like this than I want to think about

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    Forum Member S. Cane's Avatar
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    Re: Wharf Rat: a question to other Dead fans...

    Quote Originally Posted by Cogs View Post
    No, I think it's pretty much what you would think it is, a conversation with a skid row wino who has throw his life away. He blames his problems on other people. He asks for God's help right after he confesses to have no relation to Him. He doesn't make any sense. Robert Hunter nailed it. I've known more people like this than I want to think about
    It's sad how this scene is close to us all, isn't it? Not only considering the amount of people in this situation we come across along the way, but also how we sometimes throw a lot of "could be's" and "could do's", and we are weak in our spiritual selves, no matter how we try to make the best choices...

    Definitely one of the most beautiful and overwhelming songs I've known.

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    Re: Wharf Rat: a question to other Dead fans...

    Thank God for every Wharf Rat there's a Sugar Magnolia

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