Mind Left Body Jam

Lyrics: [Paul Kantner]
Music: [Grateful Dead/Paul Kantner]

This is the name given to a 4-chord sequence played as a jam by the Grateful Dead. It is thought by some to be related to the Paul Kantner song "Your Mind Has Left Your Body." The title "Mind Left Body Jam" was - I think - originally used by DeadBase. Pete Millerman has pointed out to me that it also shares the same chord progression as "You're All I Need To Get By" by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell - and no doubt with other songs too.

The first Grateful Dead CD to include a version was "Dozin' At The Knick", where the title was "Mud Love Buddy Jam" in a humorous reference to the DeadBase/taper title. But subsequent releases have adopted the "Mind Left Body Jam" title. For a fuller description, see the essay in the Grateful Dead Guide.


Grateful Dead Recordings
     Date Album
      8 Apr 1972 Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead: England '72 (note 1) (note 4)
     21 Sep 1972 Dick's Picks Vol 36 (note 1)
     19 Oct 1973 Dick's Picks Vol 19
     11 Nov 1973 Winterland 1973 - The Complete Recordings (note 1)
     20 Nov 1973 Road Trips Vol 4, Number 3 (note 1) (note 5)
      2 Dec 1973 Dick's Picks Vol 14 (note 1) (note 5)
     26/28 Jun 1974 Dick's Picks Vol 12 (note 2)
     31 Jul 1974 Dave's Picks Volume 2
     17 Oct 1974 Grateful Dead Movie (DVD & CD soundtrack)
     24 Mar 1990 Dozin' At The Knick (note 3)

Notes
(1) not listed on CD tracklist
(2) a track from 26 June 1974 is listed as "Mind Left Body Jam" in the liner notes ("Mud Love Buddy Jam" on the back cover of the CD), though a different track from 28 June labelled simply as "Jam" contains a segment closer to what is normally known as "Mind Left Body Jam"
(3) called "Mud Love Buddy Jam" on the CD cover and liner notes
(4) also on the box set Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
(5) thanks to Tom Iaconetti for pointing these out to me

These are the lyrics from Paul Kantner's song (recorded on "Baron Von Tollbooth and the Chrome Nun", with Jerry Garcia on guitar):

You have left your body
Be aware if you care
Your mind has left your body
And for this one moment you are
Under the polar ice cap
In a place we call home
How is it there white bear
Like that
Where you grow...

Now all of you come back to here and now
Elsewhen to there
Move on out the other way
Where...
Do you find yourself
Floating, growing, there

Riders of the rainbow
Let it grow, let it grow

You can exercise your mind
On where you want to go
And you can see the city lights flashin'
Two thousand miles below you
You can feel the sands of Zanzibar
Or pierce the nearest sun
Find out what and who you are
And if you need to run

Riders of the rainbow
Let it grow, let it grow
Riders of the rainbow
Let it grow, let it grow

There is one moment in your life
And it can come at any time
And you remember all of what went on
From the instant you were born
Through your early years

And if you can fasten on that moment
And expand through the afterglow
You can reverse your mind in time
And travel back to when
The earth was formed
The sky was born
And the universe began

Riders of the rainbow
Let it grow, let it grow

You have left your body
Return when you may
Save it for another day, beyond you

Further Information
For more information on recordings see Matt Schofield's Grateful Dead Family Discography

 


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