Ripple (song)

Last updated
"Ripple"
GD-Truckin Promo Single.jpg
Single by Grateful Dead
from the album American Beauty
A-side "Truckin'"
ReleasedNovember 1, 1970
RecordedSeptember 1970
Genre Folk rock
Length4:09 [1]
Label Warner Bros.
Songwriters
Producers
  • 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]

Contents

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 added the melody 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 . [8]

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. 1 2 "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. 1 2 3 "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.
  8. ↑ "FLASHBACK: LINDSAY WEIR BECOMES A DEADHEAD ON 'FREAKS AND GEEKS'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 19 November 2025.
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