They're Dead to Me

Three days after publishing a post called "Fire On the Mountain?" on my other blog (see March 12, 2012 "Fire On the Mountain?") I can't get the Grateful Dead's "Fire On the Mountain" out of my head.

Unfortunate, I know. Unless you're a Deadhead, which I'm decidedly not.

Seems like every other person in my high school was a Deadhead. We're talking flipped-collar, wide wale cord, Docksider-wearing kids right out of "The Preppie Handbook." As well as assorted jocks, burnouts and, of course, hippies.

I didn't fit into any of those categories, but instead, like many other kids, wore Izod shirts, played a little baseball, smoked a little pot (oh wait, no I didn't) and wore the occasional tie-dye shirt (oh wait, no I didn't). And most of THOSE kids liked the Dead, too. Or so it seemed.

None of my friends were true Deadheads, but my buddy Andy was into them. Every once in a while we'd jam and he'd work a Dead song into the session.

But there's something about me, when so many people gush over something -- be it the Dead, or "Mad Men" or "Top Gun" -- I often turn the other way. I don't like getting caught up in hype; I'd rather discover my own thing, or at the very least, the thing that only a few people are whispering about.

I kept a close circle of friends in high school, and we spent a LOT of time ragging on other cliques, because, hey, that's what you do. Did I secretly wish I was on the baseball team? Or was rich and drove a Beemer? Or maybe, you know, talked to a girl? Sure.

So even though I didn't hate kids who were more popular, I pretended to, and by proxy, I had to hate the things they liked. Which included the Dead.

Of course, it's not just Deadheads that turned me off. I'm not a fan of the band's music, obviously. I can't get into their jammy vibe and hokey harmonies. Plenty of people I respect are into the Dead, so I know there is value in their music.

In high school, I also didn't like burnouts, which meant that I didn't, or couldn't, if you will, like Black Sabbath.

Eventually I came around on Sabbath. I discovered punk rock before graduating from high school, and there were a few bands that I liked who covered Sabbath songs. The Dickies, for instance, covered "Paranoid."

And the Butthole Surfers made lyrical changes to "Sweet Leaf" and called it "Sweat Loaf."

And after college I lived with some friends who were into Sabbath. I came to realize the awesomeness of the band's sludgy riffs and mystical lyrics.

But to this day, I can't understand the appeal of the Dead. And no, I'm not willing to listen to reason on this. Some things can be forever.