Ok, this one may be a bit cliche, but that's part of the fun of music, right?, the ability to appropriate and apply the (perceived) meaning of a song to one's own life. The Dead didn't write a lot of love songs. In fact, I remember reading or hearing somewhere that Garcia said he actually sat down and tried to write a legitimate love song once (appearing on the Shakedown Street album). They Love Each Other doesn't have the sappy sentimental element that endears (or is it plagues?) so many love songs. Like a number of the band's other songs it started off as a much bouncier song and over the years evolved to a more laid back, less jaunty arrangement. Whether that was intended, a result of chemical influences, or something else I have no idea, but I've always preferred the peppier versions from early 1973.
On this night on the Great Plains, Garcia starts off by laying down the standard intro lick with a slinky, ready to slapback guitar tone. As the vocals start the whole band kicks in and Keith takes a few flights of fancy at all the appropriate times. During the second verse you can actually hear a fan yell “woo!” so you know the boys are hitting it right. By the first chorus this little ditty is chugging along like a locomotive (not one that will fall off the track though!). Jerry dances intricately around the melody during the solo that follows. This is ’73 so only Billy is back on the kit and you can tell the band has a lot more room to breathe. During the second chorus Bobby really accents his rhythm playing and Keith oscillates between tasteful runs and block chords in the bridge before heading back to the verse. As Jerry sings the final chorus it actually sounds like Bobby is throwing in some lead runs before the song comes to a close. All in all a solid version of this arrangement of this great tune!
So turn this one up, grab your special someone and boogie for a few minutes today. I'm sure you'll both be... Grateful... if you do!
