GOOD OL’ GRATEFUL DEADCAST
Episode: Blues For Allah 50: Franklin’s Tower
Date: September 11, 2025 | Hosts: Rich Mahan & Jesse Jarnow
Episode Overview
This episode is a deep dive—both musicologically and culturally—into “Franklin’s Tower,” one of the Grateful Dead’s grooviest and most beloved songs. Serving as the finale to the Help>Slipknot!>Franklin’s suite on the Blues for Allah album, the episode marks the 50th anniversary reissue. Hosts Rich Mahan and Jesse Jarnow are joined by Dead experts, scholars, and Deadheads to explore the song’s creation, musical structure, live evolution, and layered lyrical meanings, including rare commentary from Robert Hunter himself.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Franklin’s Tower in Context
- Franklin’s Tower, released as a single in 1976, never charted commercially, yet became a fan-favorite and live staple—celebrated for its euphoric, accessible groove.
- [04:25] Jesse Jarnow: “In the reality the Grateful Dead occupied, Franklin’s Tower was a smash.”
2. Musical Structure & Composition
- The song stands out on Blues for Allah for its catchy, harmonically simple structure, especially compared to its more complex suite-mates (e.g., “Help On the Way,” “Slipknot!”).
- The groove, credited to drummer Billy Kreutzmann, makes it a classic for Dead parking lot guitarists and novice players alike.
- [05:27] Jesse Jarnow: “But Franklin’s Tower is the unusual Dead song in that the chords go exactly where you’d expect them to go. But just because it’s easy doesn’t mean it’s simple, especially when performed live.”
- [15:51] Sean O’Donnell: “Once you arrive in Franklin’s…it’s the sort of loop... busy, so things are happening, but it’s not moving forward the way we were just moving forward, like, say, in Slipknot.”
3. Lyrical Origins & Interpretive Depth
- Lyrics written by Robert Hunter in late 1974 during his time in England, inspired by his newborn son and the approaching American Bicentennial.
- [07:22] Listener Will Backstrom’s anecdote underscores how Franklin's Tower acted as a “portal song,” often drawing new listeners into Dead fandom (“It was always Franklin’s Tower that opened the door...”).
- [46:53] Jurgen Fauth: “And the professor...her whole thing is to look at the whole experience...I thought, oh, I can use this framework to look at Grateful Dead shows...There’s a ritual part and there’s a part that’s a mystery...that’s in the music.”
4. From Workshop to Studio: Recording Process
- First played in various sessions at Bob Weir’s Ace’s studio, with evolving drafts and arrangements.
- Tapes from May-June 1975 show the band fine-tuning the groove and transition between songs.
- [14:42] Jerry Garcia (heard on a workshop tape): “That’s neat. Yeah, well, that’s a song.”
Overdub & Session Insights
- Instrumental parts were laid down in layers; Garcia’s original guitar track was replaced with a Leslie-rotated version; Bob Weir held down primary rhythm.
- [29:55] Jesse Jarnow: “For what I think might be the only time in the band's history the band recorded the basic tracks, debuted the song live, then went back for overdubs.”
5. Live Evolution & Classic Pairings
- Became a signature live number, both within the Help>Slipknot!>Franklin’s suite and as a “free agent” setlist jumper.
- The “release” into Franklin’s Tower after Slipknot! became a legendary live moment, often described as cathartic by fans.
- [44:07] Jesse Jarnow: “There was a depth to Franklin’s Tower when the Dead played it live, in part because of how they framed it as the destination of a journey, but the destination was also coded into both the lyrics and the music itself.”
6. “If You Get Confused, Listen to the Music Play”: The Annotative Dialogue
- Jurgen Fauth’s essay on Dead lyric ambiguity led to a lengthy, rare public response (and mini-annotation) from lyricist Robert Hunter.
- [53:12] Jesse Jarnow (paraphrasing Hunter): “Meaning is not an irreducible UR language. A good lyric is allusion, illusion, subterfuge and collusion.”
- Hunter explains “if you get confused, listen to the music play” as referencing the Liberty Bell’s symbolic ring—advising a return to foundational inspiration when confused.
- [59:48] Jurgen Fauth: “He’s saying, no, it’s the music of the bell being rung for the first and only time. And it means if you get lost, connect back to the thing that was your original inspiration...”
7. Critical & Fan Voices
- Listeners’ memories highlight the song’s power to connect and create joy, both at shows and in daily life.
- [44:50] Max Ritchie recalls 35,000 people experiencing “a collective moment of bliss and release” as Franklin’s Tower began at Autzen Stadium, Eugene, 1993.
- [72:25] Hannah Grabenstein: “That transition from Slipknot into Franklin’s Tower is the most relieving moment. It’s just such a sigh, like, oh thank God it has resolved so beautifully...I named my puppy Franklin.”
8. Legacy & Covers
- “Franklin’s Tower” has become the most covered and stylistically flexible song from Blues for Allah.
- Covered by Meat Puppets (1982), Henry Rollins/Wartime (1991), Steel Pulse (reggae, 1996), and many others.
- Subsequent bands such as Ratdog, Further, Dead & Company keep the tradition alive.
- [70:15] Jesse Jarnow: “Truly one of the most flexible Dead songs, Franklin’s Tower lent itself to the Senegalese groove of Orchestra Baobab…”
9. Personal Anecdotes & Notable Quotes
- [75:07] David Lemieux shares a personal memory of his Blues for Allah LP skipping on “One watch by day” for years: “And for every single time I listened to this record...it repeated over and over until I got off the couch and nudged it a little bit.”
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
On the Song’s Uniqueness:
- [06:02] David Lemieux: “Franklin’s Tower reminds me of one of those where they bring it way down...and build it back up in that explosive ending.”
- [20:33] Jesse Jarnow: “I think the two and a half chord bliss of Franklin’s Tower qualifies as one of the band’s new levels.”
On Lyrics & Interpretation:
- [51:15] Hunter’s letter: "A good lyric is allusion, illusion, subterfuge and collusion…Nonsense is a loaded word, the meaning of which is unclear if it is understood as intentional multi referentiality without predetermined hierarchy rather than meaningless blather."
- [59:48] Jurgen Fauth: “If you’re confused at the show for whatever reasons, listen to the music play and it saved me many a time. But he’s saying, no, it’s the music of the bell being rung for the first and only time. And it means if you get lost, connect back to the thing that your original inspiration…”
On Fan Experience:
- [07:22] Will Backstrom: "I'd sneak the album Dead Set onto the turntable...And like clockwork, about two minutes into the song, the following would happen. Whomever was listening...they would look up and say, 'I like this. What is it?'"
On Legacy:
- [73:54] Jesse Jarnow: “Franklin’s Tower has traveled a long way from Robert Hunter’s song to the United States and to his newborn son. It’s not a folk song in the traditional sense...but the rate at which Franklin’s Tower became a folk object was pretty astounding.”
Timestamps for Key Segments
| Timestamp | Segment | |-----------|---------| | 04:25 | Franklin’s Tower—A “smash” in Dead World | | 07:22 | Listener story: Franklin’s as the “gateway” Dead song | | 13:14 | Workshop tape: Garcia sings lyrics for (possibly) first time | | 15:51 | Sean O’Donnell on the harmonic “timelessness” | | 29:25 | Franklin’s live debut; the unusual sequence of recording | | 38:00 | The song’s evolution as a live “free agent” | | 44:07 | The suite as a journey from “dark to light” | | 46:53 | Jurgen Fauth discusses his essay and lyric ambiguity | | 53:15 | Robert Hunter’s direct response to lyric “meaninglessness” | | 59:48 | Hunter on the “listen to the music play” line | | 72:25 | Hannah Grabenstein’s new generation Franklin's Tower story | | 75:07 | David Lemieux’s skipping record story |
Tone & Style
The discussion is both scholarly and conversational—peppered with fond reminiscence, inside jokes, musical analysis, and lyric quoting—making it accessible for newcomers and deeply satisfying for veteran Deadheads. The hosts and guests keep the vibe warm, curious, and reverent towards the song’s legacy.
Final Thought
Franklin’s Tower remains an open invitation: “If you get confused, listen to the music play”—a song whose groove, lyrics, and history bridge generations, creating new moments of clarity, joy, and communion with every fading echo of the bell.
“You can’t unring or uncrack a bell, but if you listen hard enough, you might be able to still hear it echoing.”
— [77:03] Jesse Jarnow
End of Summary