Attics Of My Life

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia

In the attics of my life
Full of cloudy dreams unreal
Full of tastes no tongue can know
And lights no eye can see
When there was no ear to hear
You sang to me

I have spent my life
Seeking all that's still unsung
Bent my ear to hear the tune
And closed my eyes to see
When there were no strings to play
You played to me

In the book of love's own dreams
Where all the print is blood
Where all the pages are my days
And all my lights grow old

When I had no wings to fly
You flew to me
You flew to me

In the secret space of dreams
Where I dreaming lay amazed
When the secrets all are told
And the petals all unfold
When there was no dream of mine
You dreamed of me
Grateful Dead Recordings
     Date Album
     studio 1970 American Beauty
     15 May 1970 Road Trips Vol 3 No 3 (early show)
      6 Jun 1970 American Beauty (note 1)
     24 Oct 1970 Dave's Picks Volume 51
     27 Dec 1970 30 Days Of The Dead (2016)
     27 Sep 1972 Dick's Picks Vol 11
      9 Oct 1989 Warlocks Box
     16 Oct 1989 Nightfall Of Diamonds
     30 Mar 1990 Spring 1990 (note 2)
     12 Jun 1992 30 Days Of The Dead (2024)
      5 Jul 2015 Fare Thee Well (CD and DVD) (note 3)
 
(Plus live recordings by The Dead, Furthur, Ratdog, Phil Lesh & Friends etc not listed here. See Grateful Dead Family Discography for a full list.)
 
Other Recordings
     Date Album Recorded By
     2000 Dead Grass Vassar Clements
     2001 Gratefully Yours Jim Hudak
     2004 Werewolves Of Atlanta: Halloween 2004 Dark Star Orchestra
     2007 At Fine Arts Center, UMass The American Beauty Project
     2010 At Page Auditorium, Duke University The American Beauty Project
     2013 Keys Keller Willams
     2013 Harpin' On The Dead Anela Lauren
     2015 Larry Campbell & Theresa Williams Larry Campbell & Theresa Williams
     2015 It's A Hand-Me-Down David Gans
     2015 Ready For Love T Sisters
     2015 Songs Of Their Own Midnight North
     2015 Grateful Jazz Jazz Is Dead
     2016 Songs To Fill The Air (WFMU Pledge Drive) William Tyler
     2016 Day Of The Dead Angel Olsen
     2018 Dead Songs Vol 2 Barton Hills Choir
     2019 Dead Air Lowland Hum

Notes
(1) included as a bonus track on remastered album, first released as part of the box set The Golden Road (1965-1973)
(2) also on the compilation So Glad You Made It
(3) also on the compilation Best Of Fare Thee Well.


Further Information
For an online discussion of the lyrics to this song see the deadsongs.vue conference on The Well.
For more information on recordings see Matt Schofield's Grateful Dead Family Discography
For information on references in the lyrics see David Dodd's Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics
For David Dodd's discussion of this song on dead.net see Greatest Stories Ever Told
For online chords and TAB see www.rukind.com
For sheet music, see:
          Grateful Dead Anthology Volume 2 (piano arrangement)
          Grateful Dead Songbook Volume 1 (piano arrangement)
          Garcia/Hunter Songbook (vocal line and chords/TAB)

 


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