Missives from Samsara

It is not a revelation to say that we filter the lyrics of our favorite songs through the lens of our own experience and worldview. Indeed, we are biased to bend the meaning of poems, stories, and songs to fit our preconceived views of the world. That means that for me, the Dharma filter has been on for close to 30 years now. Of course, I have no idea most of the time what a songwriter meant by a particular turn of a phrase, let alone the author’s beliefs and worldview. Perhaps the line that holds so much significance was just a word or phrase that “fit” that nook of the tune. Who knows? However, I enjoy looking for Buddhist wisdom in songs as I find it is an enjoyable part of my practice, looking for wisdom in the world, and my mind. Here are several tunes that, at least to me, can be interpreted as Dharma in song.

1. Gonna See My Friend by Pearl Jam

Pearl Jam is hit or miss for me, but this song I love. I suppose the traditional viewpoint on this tune is that Eddie Vedder is singing about a junkie trying to get his fix. The way I hear it, Vedder’s friend is the Dharma. For instance, the lyrics' opening salvo is “Do you want to hear something sad? We are but victims of desire.” Later, “it won’t be long before we all walk off the wire.” Indeed, the song itself is a short burst of energy and is over before you know it. Just like life.

2. My Shit’s Fucked Up by Warren Zevon

There is likely no song that is as blunt as this by Zevon about sickness and death.The title says it all and the lyrics drive the salient point home repeatedly: We are all going to die…and it may not be pretty (or timely, or convenient). It is a coarse reminder that our time is limited and that no matter your station in life, death is coming for you.

3. Life on Earth by Snow Patrol

Snow Patrol is not a band I know well or listen to all that much. However, I love this 2018 track and it captures the raw immediacy of being alive. For me, the refrain, “This is life on earth, it’s just life on earth,” lands like a mantra of acceptance. The song doesn’t deny the difficulty—“it shouldn’t need to be so fucking hard”—but it also resists turning life’s struggles into final defeat. That balance between acknowledging suffering and refusing to be defined by it is central to the Dharma (which is why Buddhism is sometimes called The Middle Way). For me, the song becomes a reminder that life, in all its beauty and brokenness, is exactly what we have to work with on the path.

4. Old Chunk of Coal by Billy Jo Shaver

Christianity has redemption, and Buddhism has impermanence. This song can be interpreted either way. I was introduced to this tune by Widespread Panic (I caught their first performance of it at the Warfield in SF in 1995) and see it as a hopeful reminder about how everything changes. An acorn becomes an oak tree, and a dusty clump of coal can become an exquisite diamond. In the midst of our struggles, this is a reminder that comes in handy.

5. Skating Away on the Thin Ice of a New Day by Jethro Tull

Jethro Tull was the segue from my heavy metal fandom to becoming a Deadhead. Ian Anderson’s lyrics here read like a meditation on impermanence. We are all “skating away on the thin ice of the new day,” moving forward on uncertain terrain, never sure when the ice might crack beneath us. The song also points to compassion and release. Anderson sings “make your peace with everyone;” as if to say, don’t waste the fragile, ephemeral moment with petty grudges. And in lines about “spinning in your emptiness” and the world-as-stage, the lyrics edge into Buddhist territory: life as performance, self as illusion, all of it temporary. To me, it’s Tull’s most Dharma-soaked tune, whether Ian Anderson meant it that way or not.

6. Ripple by Grateful Dead

If there’s a song that feels like it could slip into the Pali Canon without anyone blinking, it’s this one. On the surface, it’s a gentle Jerry ballad, but beneath the melody runs a deep current of Dharma. The lines “There is a road, no simple highway / between the dawn and the dark of night” echo the Buddha’s teaching that the path is real, but not easy. And when Garcia sings, “If I knew the way, I would take you home,” it lands right at the heart of Buddhist practice: no one can walk the path for you. You’ve got to do the heavy lifting, not some savior figure. The teacher can point, the song can hint, but the steps must be your own. NOTE: The photo below is of the (Tibetan) Gyuto Monks performing with the Grateful Dead on June 2, 1995 at Shoreline, which happened to be my second to last Grateful Dead show.

I have my younger brother to thank for being a Deadhead. He discovered the band when a lot of folks did, during the mid-to-late 1980s after Touch of Grey became a commercial hit. I attended my first show with him at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (now Oracle Arena) on February 20, 1991. I remember the “Dose Saddam” stickers and the fact that the audience stood for the entire show. I had been to fantastic shows in that arena (like Rush on the Presto Tour), but most of the folks in the seats sat at those concerts. They don’t do that, I learned, at Grateful Dead shows.

Since then I have seen many Dead related shows and spent thousands of hours listening to their music. While I still love listening to live Dead from time to time, the music continues to evolve. One way is through the unique interpretations of the Dead’s oeuvre by other artists. Indeed, several albums have been released over the years offering collections of interesting Dead covers. Two that stand out are the original Dead cover album Deadicated and the more recent Day of the Dead, produced by The National’s Bryce and Aaron Dresser.

Below are 9 favorite Dead covers.

1. Black Peter by Allison Scott

Sultry and confident. Sung at times the way Garcia sang it and at times in her own way. The result is a unique, beautiful rendition of one of my all-time favorite Garcia ballads.

2. Mississippi Half Step Uptown Toodeloo by Goose in St. Louis (June 10, 2025)

Straight, respectful cover (Goose has been playing this song for many years), then a beautiful high energy jam.

3. Here Comes Sunshine by Real Estate

Straight cover, but beautiful vocals and tasty guitar work. My favorite song on the amazing Day of the Dead compilation, which contains a ton of great Dead covers.

4. Friend of the Devil by Lyle Lovett

A lot of artists have covered this tune, including Bob Dylan, Mumford and Sons, Tom Petty, and Counting Crows, but this was the first one I heard that wasn’t a Dead version. I dig the short guitar solo and Lovett’s voice. A great storyteller’s voice for a good story.

5. Dark Star by Dali

This is likely the most obscure pick. This was submitted to Youtube during the 2012 Dead Covers Project. I love the video, but I love the guitar work even more. My guess is many Deadheads will fault the vocals, but the creative take on the song has led me to listen to this one many times.

6. Cassidy by Damià Timoner

Timoner is a classical guitarist from Manacor, Malloca and his rendition of Cassidy is sublime. He is clearly a Head as his playing is reverential. Indeed, he’s got a whole album of sublime Dead covers actually. What a treat!

7. Althea by Polish Ambassador and Dead Polish

This one is the newest of the studio releases on the list. These artists have put out a handful of Dead covers in this style, though they are hit or miss (mostly hit, imho).

8. Ripple by Jane’s Addiction

This is an oldie, but a goodie. From Deadicated, this is Jane’s Addiction doing Ripple the Jane’s Addiction way. Utterly different from the original version. Love the Bird Song and Other One teases at the end.

9. Cumberland Blues by The Travelin' McCourys

A bluegrassy Dead tune done by a proper bluegrass outfit. So good!

10. Oteil Burbridge’s covers of So Many Roads and High Time

Oteil is the bass player for Dead and Company, among other things (also formerly of the Allman Brothers Band). These are from a recent album honoring the Garcia/Hunter songwriting tandem. This whole album is such a beautiful tribute.

Honorable Mentions

• Cream Puff War by Widespread Panic
• It Must Have Been the Roses by Norah Jones (Sorry, Tim.)
• This mash up

I’ve been really into music most of my life. In high school, it was heavy metal and hard rock; bands like Rush, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, and Judas Priest–bands that are still in my rotation. Early in college I got heavily into Jethro Tull, then my little brother took me to my first Dead show and from then on I was on the bus. Like many Vince-era Deadheads, I also became a fan in the early 1990s of other jamband pioneers like Widespread Panic and Phish. Fast forward to the pandemic and a new band out of Connecticut started making waves with fans of improvisational rock music. That band was Goose. In short, they took the Dead model and applied it to a new era. Their set lists were different every night, they sprinkled quirky and beloved covers into their shows, they shared their live music free (on YouTube and Bandcamp), and they delivered the goods live. A good friend saw them out in Colorado in 2022 and raved about them.

Fast forward to the summer of 2025 and it is fair to say I am listening to Goose more than any other band. I like their studio stuff, but I mostly listen to live stuff that I buy from Bandcamp or download from YouTube. I’ve been lucky enough to catch them live four times thus far (hopefully with many more to come). This morning, a Thursday in mid-August, they dropped another full length studio recording titled Chain Yer Dragon. This is their second album of the year, after Everything Must Go, which was released in the spring. Their summer tour starts today, so it makes sense. I love the timing of this for two reasons. For one, it has ‘indie marketing’ vibes, which I believe was integral to their meteoric rise after the pandemic. Secondly, they are prolific. Taking cues from Trey Anastasio, one of their heroes, they are musicians who are consistently making great new music and getting it out for their fans.

The tracklist contains mostly songs that have been staples of their shows for years, including Rockdale, The Empress of Organos, and Echo of A Rose. There are also some new tunes, including Madalena and Royal. I’m sure many Goose fans will dismiss these versions because they aren’t live, but I enjoy the contrast between the stretched out live performances and the tighter, more highly produced studio versions. (Although, to be fair, the Factory Fiction that closes the record is nearly 17 minutes long.) It is also great to hear a studio version of a song that has only ever been experienced live before, even if I’ll spend more time going forward with the live tracks.

A couple quick reactions. I get strong Jackson Browne vibes from some songs on this record, such as Madalena. Rick’s ethereal guitar is also ubiquitous and I continue to love his voice. That said, there are no Pete (Anspach) songs, which is a bummer. There are also no covers. Oh well, all the more reason to go see ‘em live!