I’ve always been attracted to quirky number patterns (think: 11/11/11 at 11:11) so perhaps it's no accident that I was instantly smitten with the Dead’s deep cut “The Eleven” with its unique 11/8 time signature (eleven beats to the bar with the two last beats emphasized by a drum punch or by a bass hammer.) For us non-musicians, an eighth note is simply a note played for 1/8th the duration that a whole note is played. The notes are subdivided as three groups of three and one group of two, and can be counted: 123 123 123 12. The Eleven is well known as one of the most complex tunes, since missing one beat can result in a timing catastrophe.

All that aside, The Eleven is also one of the oldest songs in the Dead’s repertoire. Written and composed by Hunter/Lesh in 1968, it has managed to retain that specific vintage sound, which is best experienced rather than described (although “gnarly” comes to mind.) Plug in your earphones, and turn it up, as you watch the video below to find yourself transported in time. (Lyrics and a bit of interpretation are found towards the bottom of the page). This absolute gem is un-synced, but is unbelievably clear raw footage from the band’s performance at a student strike at Columbia University on 4/23/68 (or 5/3/68, depending on the source) after being smuggled onto campus in bread trucks. For a fascinating account by one attendee, check this out.

The first live performance of The Eleven took place at the Carousel Ballroom (aka the Fillmore West) on 1/17/68, which also captures the raw and true sound of early Grateful Dead. The YouTube audio clip (Below) from the show reflects the original practice of transition from Dark Star into China Cat into The Eleven, rather then from St. Stephen. Note that Billy Kreutzmann was the solo drummer at this time. The actual lyrics to The Eleven begin at Minute 5:49.

The William Tell Bridge Is Not A Medieval Bridge in London

The earliest versions of The Eleven were frequently coupled with China Cat, rather than by the segue to St. Stephen via the William Tell Bridge. (To make a long story short, William Tell was a 13th century peasant who symbolized resistance against aristocratic rule.) To this day, I continue to see puzzled looks as folks try to figure out what song they’re hearing. As St. Stephen concludes with a resounding question, “What would be the answer to the answer man?” the instrumentals swoop in, sounding for all the world like a Scottish drum corp. preparing for battle, and the the vocals commence. Lyrically, the Bridge is evocative, and typically Hunteresque. (Listen below to this spectacular recording from Oregon State U. from 1/17/70 St Stephen->William Tell 6:30->The Eleven 12:49 ) and swoon.

Clip above from Oregon State U. 1/17/70: a gem. See above for segue times.

Contemporary listeners may not realize that the band largely dropped The Eleven from their repertoire in 1970, as this song took hours upon hours of rehearsal, and rather unforgiving if you missed a beat. Jerry is quoted as saying, “Musicians have to enjoy the songs they are playing. Difficult songs in difficult timings become a chore to play after a while.” After Jerry passed, the tune was revived by The Other Ones in 1999, and thereafter by Ratdog, The Dead, Furthur, Phil Lesh and Friends, and thankfully, current iterations by Dead & Company.

In fact, Dead & Company’s performance on 6/16/2018, the second night at Citifield, and on the 11th show of the tour, nearly threw one of my most adored friends, Terri Ann, into paroxysms of joy as the band broke out The Eleven for the first time since their inception, and her first time hearing it live. She shares her experience here.

Without furthur ado, here is the song as Hunter penned it, and one fan’s (mine!) navel gazing thoughts:

The Eleven
No more time to tell how, this is the season of what,
Now is the time of returning, with our thought jewels polished and gleaming.
Now is the time past believing the child has relinquished the rein,
Now is the test of the boomerang tossed in the night of redeeming.
Seven faced marble eyed transitory dream doll,

Six proud walkers on the jingle bell rainbow,
Five men writing with fingers of gold,
Four men tracking down the great white sperm whale,
Three girls waiting in a foreign dominion
Riding in the whale belly, fade away in moonlight,
Sink beneath the waters to the coral sands below. (R.Hunter/Lesh Ice Nine Pub)

The lyrics, initially elegant and poetic, insist from the very beginning that there is some urgency to the story that is unfolding. From the first line of the song, the storyteller puts us on notice that we are out of time to discuss the how and are instead urged to consider the current moment of what is Now.

However, “Now” is by nature fleeting and infinite, and we are swept into ambiguity and opportunities for interpretation (which is most decidedly what the Grateful Dead are all about). “Now is the time of returning, with our thought jewels polished and gleaming”, besides being one of my favorite lines in the GD repertoire, suggests that we sharpen our minds, ready for intellectual battle. Indeed, we are reminded to think critically, and to consider that “the child has relinquished the reign,” perhaps suggesting that the time of the childish clinging onto primitive notions is over, and that we throw the “test …the boomerang tossed in the night” to the abyss, into the mystery, and see if returns us with new insights.

Here the story goes sideways, and even playful in a psychedelic way. It becomes a rhythmic collection of alliterative and yet haunting phrases which descend numerically, offering us the opportunity to fill in the blanks and envisage, for example: “Eight sided whispering hallelujah hatrack” and “Seven-faced marble eye transitory dream doll.” The line, “Six proud walkers' on a jingle bell rainbow” likely refers to the Saxon warbands, guarding the perimeter of the camp before battle. In the context of the song, we might envision a battle between our ego facing down the Now.

The remaining countdown in the song brings us to the paradoxical final line, “Now is the time of returning”. Since one cannot simultaneously be present and also be returning, we might imagine the return to the essence, so to speak.

Throughout the song, the lyrics are accentuated perfectly by the layering of the driving rhythm in an A major key, with discordant layering, which is unsettling and relentless and weird.

We love it when it gets like that.

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