Deadelijk

Knowing this day would eventually arrive doesn't make it any easier.
Our friend, Ben Isaacson recently shared this "Love Letter to Bobby Weir " with me. This piece eloquently states what so many of us have experienced in the presence of this man the world just lost.
Thank you Ben and THANK YOU Bob!
- Lodi, Tim, Rob, Joe & Nate

A Love Letter to Bobby Weir: Is It One More Saturday Night, or ONE MORE SATURDAY NIGHT!

I’m standing about 20 feet from Bobby on the floor of the Sphere on a spring Saturday evening in 2025, and the mainstay song One More Saturday Night comes alive as the anticipated encore.

Even after seeing all of the iterations of Bobby playing this song from the Grateful Dead in the 80’s to Dead & Co at the Sphere, I couldn’t help but to find myself fixated on his facial expressions during this particular version. As a spry 77 year old, he seemed to be in his element and enjoying the limelight, but I couldn’t help but wonder whether he was exuberating the exclamatory ONE MORE or an ambivalent (just) ‘one more’.

I have no particular insights into Bobby’s thinking, but after watching and listening to him over the decades in so many interviews, I have to believe - it’s both (and more) - AND that’s the point. Bobby’s dry sense of humor is legendary, and this song exemplifies the sardonic wit that only he can emit.

Musically, it’s clear that the point of the song is to get the crowd riled up through its Chuck Berry-esque rock in roll tempo. Lyrically, the song plays with the audience’s sense of timing, adventure, and spiritual experience of what makes Dead songs so great - evoking partying with every verse and even referencing ‘the Lord’ throughout the song. At certain times over the years, Bobby would even play with the lyrics evoking the current US President (and even his wife) just to poke a little fun.

But it's the catchy chorus that has me wondering what is the real point of this song, and how do Bobby’s emotions come through when singing it in 2025? (and beyond!) Here’s the chorus as published on various lyric sites;

“Uh huh, hey, Saturday night
One more Saturday night
Hey, Saturday night”
And to close out;
“Hey another Saturday night
One more Saturday, one more Saturday night”

Let’s start with the ‘Uh huh’, which comes across musically like an Elvis-type grunt, but my interpretation has always been that it is an affirmation of ‘here we are/go again’ in a specific moment in time. Then we get to the ‘hey, Saturday night’ and the capitalized ‘Hey’ in front of Saturday night, which is a demand for our attention at that moment. Finally, we get to the repeated ‘One more, one more’ line which is the crux of my affection for this song and Bobby’s particular spin on it.

Back in that 10:59PM moment in the Sphere when Bobby is belting this lyric out and even reaching into his screaming falsetto, I can clearly see the look on his face - the exuberant energy - the intense concentration- the weary 77 year old rock star- and the witty prankster reveling in this juxtaposition of a moment where he is still the center of attention, making more $$ than he could’ve imagined, playing next to a heartthrob guitar virtuoso, standing on the weirdest stage in front of the weirdest screen ever created with the best acoustics in the world, and in front of a crowd full of (mostly) old folks reliving their youth and reveling in this tribal moment for whatever it costs, and (likely) thinking all of these things at once as he sings the penultimate clarion call:
I get to do this on this Saturday night.
I get to do this on another Saturday night.
This could be my last Saturday night.
This could be their last Saturday night.
This is ‘just another’ Saturday night.
This is THE BEST Saturday night ever.
Will there always be One More Saturday Night?
Thank you Bobby, for whatever it was worth.

- Ben Isaacson

Artwork : Duffyartwork

Dance to your heart's content on Sunday!
DJ sets starting at 12:30pm
Packer stream at 3:30pm
Deadelijk @ 6:30pm
Celebrating 10 years of Hear Here Presents!!!
Ticket Info:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/hear-here-10-year-anniversary-party-tickets-1767200477199

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