Beauford / Lessard / Matthews / Moore / Tinsley (1996)

Peanuts

Lie In Our Graves is one of the band's the oldest songs, first appearing in early 1992. It features Dave’s “carpe diem” message, and as Dave has mentioned several times, encourages listeners to have no regrets after dying. By the end of 1992, a slight Carter solo developed and through the first few shows of 1993, the format which eventually became the staple for the song was established, with LeRoi taking a solo between the main body and the reprise. Although the extended bridge originally featured LeRoi, after the Crash sessions Boyd took over the solo spot on 4.30.1996 (Crash release show). The last show to feature a LeRoi solo was 12.5.1995. After being included on the Crash album, this fan favorite was played at each show on the Fall and New Year’s Eve Run Tours. It is also currently in the top ten in all time plays after being in heavy rotation all the way up to 2001 and still frequents a fair of amount sets since then.

Lie In Our Graves’s structure also allows for a variety of guests. The elongated bridge section has featured artists such as Big Voice Jack (6.5.1998), David Hidalgo (7.6.1997), Trey Anastasio (5.19.2001) and Butch Taylor on keys. Preceding the reprise on several versions in 2000 (starting on the West Coast run and including 8.29.2000 – Live Trax 11), Dave takes a moment to refer to Butch as “number 6.” After a handful of appearances on it in 1996, Béla Fleck emerged as possibly the premiere guest soloist on the song during the 1997 Tour, and has been featured many times since. Of special note, on 11.21.1998 Boyd and Béla both took solos for the first time. On the Crash album, Tim Reynolds was featured in the solo spot, and a game of table tennis can be heard in the background.

Over the years, Lie In Our Graves has seen many changes. Its first known version is 3.1.92 On the first known recording, Dave ends the song singing, “’till we go away.” This was sung at the end of many versions until after 3.24.1993 when “till we dance away” was sung instead. The jam portion of the song has also gained length with the song ranging from 8 minutes in 1996, to 13 minutes in 2010, with a record length of 18:44 on a version Béla sat in on (9.13.2000). While the reprise has sporadically been dropped over the years, starting at 8.22.2007, the band occasionally played it in a different slot from the main song. The reprise has twice been played at a show where the main body of the song has not been played: here and here (9.2.2007 and 9.18.2011); Both of these instances occurred on the third night of a 3-night venue run where the main body of the song was played without reprise on the first night.

Some Interpolations:
“The Old Gray Mare” (2.17.1993)
“Theme from Woody Woodpecker" and "Mexican Hat Dance” (8.19.1993)
“The Call to the Post” (4.17.1995)
“Over the Rainbow” (8.15.1995)
“Always on My Mind" (7.9.1999)
“Beethoven’s 9th Symphony” (8.20.2000)
“Little Drummer Boy” (12.8.2000)
“Rain” (6.11.2001)
“If I Only Had a Brain” (9.8.2002)
“Ode To Joy and Joy of Man’s Desire” (12.16.2002)
“America, the Beautiful" (10.2.2004)
“Wonderful Tonight” (6.4.2005)
“Freebird” (5.31.2008)

(thanks to William Parks)