The Emotional Grateful Dead Song Phil Lesh Penned for His Dying Father

Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh had been driving daily to visit his father, who was dying of cancer. On these trips to the hospital and later to a nursing home, Lesh started humming a tune that soon became a Grateful Dead classic.

He sent the idea in a fully formed arrangement to Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, who couldn’t write the words fast enough. Hunter sent back “Box Of Rain”, which Lesh rehearsed while driving to visit his father. It remains his signature vocal feature with the band. More importantly, it evolved into a kind of rootsy hymn during his father’s last days.

A Dream We Dreamed

Lesh opens “Box Of Rain” by describing the little miracles we experience each day. The constant churning of nature we take for granted until we finally notice we’re running out of time.

Look out of any window,
Any morning, any evening, any day.
Maybe the sun is shining,
Birds are winging, or rain is falling from a heavy sky.

He helps his father navigate the final moments of his life. But it’s difficult for a son to suddenly be a type of death doula, offering emotional support through an exit from which there’s no return.

What do you want me to do,
To do for you to see you through?
For this is all a dream we dreamed,
One afternoon long ago.

A Short Time To Be There

However, helping one through their final moments remains one of life’s most vivid acts of love. They are as close as they can be here.

What do you want me to do,
To watch for you while you’re sleeping?
Then please don’t be surprised,
When you find me dreaming too.

Hunter uses the box of rain metaphor for Earth because “ball of rain” didn’t quite have the same ring to it. This is zooming in on cycles of joy and grief that make up a life. But it’s also zooming out through a long lens that documents our fleeting existence.

And it’s just a box of rain,
Or a ribbon for your hair.
Such a long, long time to be gone,
And a short time to be there.

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