120 Jerry Garcia Quotes From The Grateful Dead Singer

Jerry Garcia was a prolific artist: a musician, vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and the founder of the Grateful Dead.

Born on August 1, 1942, Jerry Garcia was nothing short of a legend. Without his contributions to the world of music, there would have been a great void.

Jerry Garcia was a musician of great taste, not just in concerts but also in the art as a whole.

Garcia has continually been a source of inspiration to music fans all around the world, so here are some Jerry Garcia quotes about love and life, Jerry Garcia quotes about spirituality, Jerry Garcia quotes about concerts and music, and Jerry Garcia quotes about his band and coworkers for you to enjoy.

You may notice that some of these quotes are attributed to individuals other than Jerry Garcia. Garcia may have sung these lyrics, but others actually wrote them, hence their inclusion on this list!

If you enjoyed these Jerry Garcia quotes then you can also check out theserock and roll quotes and Freddie Mercury quotes.

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The Best Jerry Garcia Quotes

Here are some iconic Jerry Garcia quotes that tell us all about the versatile American musician.

1. "Working in the studio is like building a ship in a bottle. Playing live is like having a row boat on the oceans."

- Jerry Garcia.

2. "I'm goin' where the wind don't blow so strange, maybe off on some high cold mountain chain."

- Jerry Garcia.

3. "I am not a keyboard person. The mouse is better."

- Jerry Garcia.

4. "We are not completely autonomous."

– Jerry Garcia

5. "I have all the patience in the world about Sirens. For me it's not a Grateful Dead project, it's a Me project."

- Jerry Garcia.

6. "Crime is the problem... Money’s the problem..."

- Jerry Garcia.

7. "Talk about your plenty, talk about your ills, One man gathers what another man spills."

― Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead, 'St Stephen'.

8. "It really... improves our performances on every level... the best possible combination of performance, venue, and recording studio."

- Jerry Garcia.

9. "So every once in a while I get an idea about plumbing... they come the way they come."

-Jerry Garcia.

10. "All I know is, if you listen to society, you'll never get anywhere!"

- Jerry Garcia.

11. "What we do is play for people...we don't play so good for machines."

- Jerry Garcia.

12. “Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.”

- Jerry Garcia.

13. "As a musician my preference is to play live for people... that's my orientation."

- Jerry Garcia.

14. "We are the Don Quixotes of rock 'n' roll. We're doing something nobody cares to do."

- Jerry Garcia.

15. "Sometimes the lights all shining on me... Lately it occurs to me what a long strange trip it's been."

- Jerry Garcia.

16. "It’s fun for us – that’s the important thing."

– Jerry Garcia.

17. "Playing in a group, I'm tending to think more about the music... I'm not interested in being a virtuoso guitar player or anything like that."

- Jerry Garcia.

18. “I'm not Beethoven!”

― Jerry Garcia.

19. "American society has gone completely into denial."

– Jerry Garcia.

20. “You ain't gonna learn what you don't wanna know.”

- Jerry Garcia.

The Grateful Dead Quotes

Check out these Jerry Garcia quotes and quotes from his band members for a glimpse into the inner musical world.

21. "Everybody... has the capacity to really surprise me musically."

- Jerry Garcia.

22. "We do things because we enjoy it."

- Jerry Garcia.

23. “The bottle was dusty but the liquor was clean.”

- Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter, 'Brown Eyed Women'.

24. "It isn't something that we manipulate and control."

- Jerry Garcia.

25. “We’re just inviting adventure... and adventure carries a little baggage.”

- Bob Weir.

26. "Takes a certain thing not to try to keep anything up, not to have to entertain one another."

- Jerry Garcia.

27. "When people get to play together for a long time that's when the music gets good."

- Jerry Garcia.

28. "Everybody... has very very different concepts... The Grateful Dead has a lot of friction and a lot of tension in the music."

- Jerry Garcia.

29. "Most of what The Grateful Dead does is like happening now... it's very little rehearsed."

- Jerry Garcia.

30. "More fun than a frog in a glass of milk."

- Bob Weir, describing Jerry Garcia.

31. "A part of The Grateful Dead sensibility is... we think of some songs as... tremendously commercial."

- Jerry Garcia.

32. “Grateful Dead performances were by design not consciously planned, often reaching their artistic peak when the collective stumbled upon something stunning... Their collective, improvisatory musical works communicate feeling like any other artwork.”

― Steven Gimbel, 'The Grateful Dead And Philosophy'.

33. "I have not made many conscious efforts to 're-imagine' songs. I just let them happen the way they’re going to happen."

- Bob Weir.

34. "The Grateful Dead schedule is not so demanding that it requires our total at all times."

- Jerry Garcia.

35. "What we are recording is the whole event not just the music... the whole experience."

- Jerry Garcia.

36. "Anyone who's been to a Grateful Dead concert... that feeling's always been with them... that kind of vibe doesn't have a sell by date."

- David Fricke.

37. "The meetings can be a lot of fun or they can be frustrating."

- Bob Weir.

38. "It takes a long time to mature it... it's different all the time."

- Jerry Garcia.

39. "We have cultural depth. We get all kinds of stuff to chew on, to live on."

- Bob Weir.

40. "We rehearse to the point of knowing the tune... just the structure of the melody."

- Jerry Garcia.

Quotes About Music And Shows

If you like music, then these Jerry Garcia quotes on music and Jerry Garcia quotes on concerts and shows are unmissable. We hope you like these quotes!

41. “Listening. That’s what music is about... I’d listen... and I would try and play it.”

– Jerry Garcia.

42. "Just because you're a musician doesn't mean all your ideas are about music."

- Jerry Garcia.

43. "If you think of music as a universal language, it still has some very powerful dialects."

– Jerry Garcia.

44. “Our problem is pacing ourselves and still reaching a large enough number of our audience. Because we don't want to burn the audience. And we don't want to be excluding anybody.”

- Jerry Garcia.

45. "As long as we can play, we’ll play, regardless of what it’s for, who it’s for or anything."

– Jerry Garcia.

46. "The Grateful Dead is really a collection of friends, people who were around at the time."

- Jerry Garcia.

47. "I listen to anything anyone gives me. I always go back to a few basic favorites... I like to listen to Art Tatum and Coltrane and Charlie Parker. Those are guys who never seem to run out of ideas."

- Jerry Garcia.

48. "I don’t think that you can fool anybody for too long in music. And you certainly can’t fool everybody."

– Jerry Garcia.

49. "Most musicians, regardless of what culture they come from, can get together and agree on some stuff."

- Jerry Garcia.

50. "In my own musical existence I don't feel that being a guitar player is like the best thing on earth to be. I would rather be a balanced musician."

- Jerry Garcia.

51. "Typically we played six nights a week, five sets a night."

- Jerry Garcia.

52. "In folk music, I’ve always been fond of the fragment."

- Jerry Garcia.

53. "But audio is a component of video... and although we've never expressed a visual side apart from The Grateful Dead movie, I don't find it that remote... It's a departure of sorts, but it's like a first cousin."

- Jerry Garcia.

54. “And the live show is still our main thing.”

- Jerry Garcia.

55. “We didn't invent the Grateful Dead, the crowd invented... We were just in line to see what was going to happen.”

- Jerry Garcia.

Jerry Garcia Quotes About Life

Apart from being a stalwart of the music world, Jerry Garcia was known for his kind and humane nature that was mirrored in his ideologies. For a deeper insight into Garcia's beliefs read through these Jerry Garcia quotes on life and Jerry Garcia love quotes.

56. “If the thunder don't get ya then the lightning will.”

― Robert Hunter, 'The Wheel'.

57. “If you're able to enjoy something, to devote your life to it or a reasonable amount of time and energy, it will work out for you.”

- Jerry Garcia.

58. "Live life expecting the worst, hoping for the best, and living for the future!"

- Jerry Garcia.

59. "Everybody needs adventure, and everybody needs something to enlarge his or her lives."

– Jerry Garcia.

60. "Stuff that's hidden and murky and ambiguous is scary because you don't know what it does."

- Jerry Garcia.

61. “We would all like to be able to live an uncluttered life, a simple life, a good life.”

– Jerry Garcia.

62. "With the recognition comes additional responsibility, because then we’re no longer a one-shot. We’re now part of the environment."

- Jerry Garcia.

63."America has always been a complex place."

- Jerry Garcia.

64. "My life isn't like those kind of people who are middle media celebrities."

- Jerry Garcia.

65. “I will get by... I will survive.”

- Robert Hunter, 'Touch Of Grey'.

66. "The musicians who live around San Francisco live there because it is groovy to live there."

- Jerry Garcia.

67. "Part of the way you can tell you’re alive is by how much pain you’re experiencing, or how little."

- Jerry Garcia.

68. "Run faster, jump higher, reach farther, and you'll always win!"

― Jerry Garcia.

69. "The idea of backness was gone... all directions were forward from there."

- Jerry Garcia.

70. "Death comes at you no matter what you do in this life..."

- Jerry Garcia.

Jerry Garcia Song Lyric Quotes

Jerry Garcia was a proficient composer as well as a lyricist. Along with writer Robert Hunter, these Jerry Garcia quotes from his songs and songs by The Grateful Dead will give you the perfect idea.

71. "If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine

And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung

Would you hear my voice come through the music?"

- The Grateful Dead, 'Ripple'.

72. "She had rings on her fingers and bells on her shoes

And I knew, without askin', she was into the blues."

- The Grateful Dead, 'Scarlet Begonias'.

73. "I thought I heard a young man morn this morning

I can't walk you out in the morning dew today."

- The Grateful Dead, 'Morning Dew'.

74. "And it's just a box of rain

I don't know who put it there

Believe it if you need it."

- The Grateful Dead, 'Box Of Rain'.

75. "Oh well a touch of grey kinda suits you anyway

And that was all I had to say and it's alright..."

- The Grateful Dead, 'Touch Of Grey'.

76. "Like a steam locomotive, rollin' down the track

He's gone... and nothin's gonna bring him back, he's gone."

- The Grateful Dead, 'He's Gone'.

77. "A friend of the Devil is a friend of mine

If I get home before daylight

I just might get some sleep tonight."

- The Grateful Dead, 'Friend Of The Devil'.

78. "Watch each card you play. And play it slow."

- The Grateful Dead, 'Deal'.

79. “One good ride from start to end

I’d like to take that ride again”

- The Grateful Dead, 'Might as Well'.

80. "A broken angel sings

From a guitar."

- The Grateful Dead, 'Stella Blue'.

81. "Keep on rolling, my old buddy

You're moving much too slow."

- The Grateful Dead, 'Jack Straw'.

82. "Love will see you through."

- The Grateful Dead, 'Box Of Rain'.

Quotes About Jerry Garcia That Tell Us All About The Great Musician

Every time you talk about Jerry Garcia, someone has some kind words to say about him. The music world to which Garcia belonged has never run out of praises for him. Take a look at these Jerry Garcia quotes from others that speak of the great man he was, and get to know the real Jerry Garcia.

83. "As a human being, Jerry was a wonderful man."

- Matthew Kelly.

84. "Jerry was trying to... bring some other influence into it but at the same time not be doing it in any sort of irksome manner."

- Bob Weir.

85. "I can't imagine roll 'n' roll without the Dead or the Dead without Garcia."

- David Fricke.

86. "There is no one who has ever created music with the combination of intelligence, intuition, depth, creativity, and humor that Jerry Garcia has. His work and life will continue to be a limitless source of inspiration."

- Neal Casal.

87. "His humor, his ideal, his whole behavior... was like consciousness revolution."

- Carlos Santana.

88. "He was a... bright guy and tremendous player."

- David Crosby.

89. “Jerry Garcia was one of the original American icons. He played naturally and beautifully.”

- Ornette Coleman.

90. "We could each other thinking, we could feel each other feeling... I knew where Jerry was going."

- Bob Weir.

91. “He created a whole genre of music himself.”

- Jorma Kaukonen.

92. "Jerry was a thinker as a young person."

- Trixie Garcia.

93. "His genius was that he was able to bring new ideas into a given vein of music."

- Bob Weir.

94. “Something that immediately comes to mind when I think of Jerry is his almost total aversion to self-aggrandizement of any kind.”

- Gary Lambart.

95. "Here's to fifty years of the Grateful Dead, an iconic American band that embodies the creativity, passion and ability to bring people together that makes American music so great..."

- Barack Obama.

96. "Jerry Garcia... did as much for mankind as any president."

- Grace Slick.

97. “The first time I laid eyes on Jerry I believed in Santa Claus.”

- Vince Welnick.

Jerry Garcia Quotes On Soulfulness And Spirituality

These Jerry Garcia quotes portray Garcia's beliefs in the spiritual and out-of-the-world experiences that he had during his lifetime.

98. "Listen to the river sing sweet songs to rock my soul."

― Robert Hunter, 'Brokedown Palace'.

99. "Magic is what we do, music is how we do it."

– Jerry Garcia.

100. "It's just that things are better now than they were like five, ten years ago. Music has gotten a lot better. There's a lot of people who are committed to - soulfully."

- Jerry Garcia.

101. "The process of selecting the tone on the guitar is an aesthetic process like any other."

- Jerry Garcia.

102. "I don’t know why, it’s the same reason why you like some music and you don’t like others. There’s something about it that you like."

- Jerry Garcia.

103. "I'm involved in something that is more open-ended."

- Jerry Garcia.

104. "Good and evil are manifestations of consciousness."

- Jerry Garcia.

105. "If everybody wants it to work, then it has a prayer... there’s no guarantee... at least it has a prayer."

- Jerry Garcia.

106. “For me, the lame part of the sixties was the political part, the social part. The real part was the spiritual part.”

- Jerry Garcia.

107. "The Grateful Dead concerts certainly has the kind of depth, has the capacity to be uplifting... it can be spiritual in nature."

- Jerry Garcia.

108. "I don't know what it tells about, all I know is I like it."

- Jerry Garcia.

109. "The Grateful Dead plays... at the religious services of the new age."

- Jerry Garcia.

110. "The only way to work this out is the long slow way - unpanicked, unhurried."

- Jerry Garcia.

111. "If you can create a reality that is entirely fictitious... you interact with it on your own terms... any filmmaker would want access to it you know, any musician would want access to it."

- Jerry Garcia.

112. "They need something that fills the void that’s left by the bankruptcy of religion."

- Jerry Garcia.

113. "If we had any nerve at all... whatever quality you need... we would make an effort to really address the wrongs in this society, righteously."

- Jerry Garcia.

114. "There’s a need for a ritual and for real joy and real bliss. Real fun."

- Jerry Garcia.

115. "Music goes way back before language does. And music is like the key to a whole spiritual existence which this society doesn't even talk about."

- Jerry Garcia.

116. "The pursuit of happiness is an overview kind of thing."

- Jerry Garcia.

117. "We play in the moment... we're not performers... we can't manufacture intensity... we're not technicians in our performing sets, we're musicians."

- Jerry Garcia.

118. "I think The Grateful Dead kind of represents the spirit of being able to go out and have an adventure in America at large."

- Jerry Garcia.

119. "And to forget yourself is to see everything else."

- Jerry Garcia.

120. "What is life but being conscious?"

- Jerry Garcia.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Jerry Garcia quotes then why not take a look at these Janis Joplin quotes or Paul McCartney quotes for more great quotes?

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