Dear Fellow Tree-Huggers:

I sent The Grateful Dead Boogie to an Environmental Song contest in London. It’s now one of the six finalists!


Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP-hXOM6y0E

Vote: https://www.home-stage.co.uk/pfite-vote


The song that gets the most votes wins 500 pounds ($620) for the songwriter and 500 pounds to their favorite environmental organization. I would donate it to Sara Rose and Ravel Gauthier’s Youth for Climate.


“Was there music before the Grateful Dead?“ Oliver Swimmer asked his dad Chad. “And why are they grateful?”

GRATEFUL DEAD BOOGIE
Words and music: Hucklewood

“Was there music before the Grateful Dead?
And why are they grateful?” eight-year old Oliver said.
Up spoke Marianna, who was five.
“They are grateful they’re not still alive.”

They don’t have to see what’s going on
Everything they fought for, going or it’s gone
People scared to speak their mind, people scared to sing
Rich folks still stealing everything.

Why are those men chopping down the trees?
Do the redwoods have a tree disease?
Now they lie there rotting in the sun
I thought they belonged to everyone.

Someone’s getting paid, we understand
Cutting big old trees on public land
But we’re not scared to speak our mind, we’re not scared to sing
We won’t let the rich steal everything.

We’ll play music like the Grateful Dead
We will dance and boogie, Oliver said
We will help the redwoods trees to thrive
We are grateful we’re all still alive.


Since recording it, I’ve changed the antepenultimate line to

We will dance and boogie, Garnish said

I interviewed Garnish and asked him what held the Mendonesian community together back in the day. “The boogie!” he said - people dancing wildly to local bands. The boogie is making a comeback, at events like the Caspar Forest Fest.

Any reason you couldn’t take a moment and vote? We can help people in Europe realize the importance of the redwoods in combatting climate change.


https://www.home-stage.co.uk/pfite-vote


Thank you for your support!

Holly aka
Hucklewood