The Annotated "Help on the Way"

Lyrics omitted. The annotations below are reproduced by permission of David Dodd; the song lyrics themselves are copyrighted and are not reproduced here. Read them at the official source: dead.net/songs.

Musical details: (to come)

• Key:
• Time signature:
• Chords used:
• Songbook availability:
  • Grateful Dead: Volume II
  • Without A Net

Recorded on

• Blues For Allah
• One From the Vault
• Without a Net
• Dick's Picks, vol. 3

First performance: at the Bob Fried Memorial Boogie, June 17, 1975, at Winterland, San Francisco. "Help" appeared in the first set, following "Me and My Uncle," and preceding "Slipknot!" It was performed without its lyrics. Other firsts in the show included "Crazy Fingers" and "Franklin's Tower."

Lock, bolt, and key

"The meaning of this phrase--the whole of anything--should be instantly apparent to any huntsman, for the lock, stock and barrel are the three parts of a firearm and together they make up the whole gun." (p. 218)