Ripple (song)

"Ripple"
Single by Grateful Dead
from the album American Beauty
A-side"Truckin'"
ReleasedNovember 1, 1970
RecordedSeptember 1970
GenreFolk rock
Length4:09[1]
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter[1]
Producer(s)Grateful Dead
Steve Barncard
Grateful Dead singles chronology
"'Uncle John's Band / New Speedway Boogie'"
(1970) 		"Ripple"
(1970) 		"'Johnny B. Goode / So Fine'"
(1972)

"Ripple" is the sixth song on the Grateful Dead album American Beauty. It was released as the B-side to the single "Truckin'".[2]

Background

Robert Hunter wrote the lyrics in 1970 in London on the same afternoon he wrote those to "Brokedown Palace" and "To Lay Me Down" (reputedly drinking half a bottle of retsina in the process).[3] Jerry Garcia wrote the music to accompany Hunter's lyrics,[3] and the song debuted August 18, 1970 at Fillmore West in San Francisco.

"Ripple" has a similar melody to the gospel hymn "Because He Lives," which was published a year later.[4] Both songs are similar to "Any Dream Will Do" from the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Tim Rice musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which was first performed in 1968, and recorded in 1969.[5][6]

A number of essays have been written analyzing and annotating this song.[3]

The 1985 drama film Mask, with Cher and Eric Stoltz, features this song.[7]

The song is played during the last scene of the television series Freaks and Geeks.[citation needed]

Reception

In 2024, Rolling Stone ranked the song at number 334 in their updated list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

References

  1. ^ a b "Image of "Ripple" single". Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 14 February 2010.
  2. ^ "Grateful Dead Family Discography: The Grateful Dead Discography". www.deaddisc.com. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "The Annotated "Ripple"". artsites.ucsc.edu. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  4. ^ "Because He Lives".
  5. ^ Schneider, Jason (October 17, 2024). "Understanding "Ripple" by The Grateful Dead". Creativity Squared. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  6. ^ "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat's major production history". Themusicalcompany.com. Archived from the original on 1 November 2018. Retrieved November 4, 2024.
  7. ^ "Soundtrack listing for Mask". IMDb. Retrieved 14 February 2010.