Dave Matthews Band
"#34"
From Weekend on the Rocks [2005]
I have actually given this one some thought before, macabre as that may seem.
I usually thought of a different DMB song, though.
The one song that never fails to plaster a grin across my face when I see it live is "Lie in Our Graves."
The sound of Boyd Tinsley starting the solo in that song is what summer sounds like to me. If I wasn't attending shows and seeing the song, I was downloading shows and listening to it.
I think because people so frequently think of me as "The DMB Guy" that connecting them to something which always made me think of summers with my favorite band would be an instant connection.
It'd have to be a live version, of course.
And that's when I started thinking that maybe it isn't such a great idea.
Most live renditions of "Lie in Our Graves" stretch out beyond the 10-minute mark, and I can just see my friends who don't enjoy the group rolling their eyes.
It's sort of funny to think about, actually. I get this picture of my friends and family sitting and listening to the song on some sort of sound system.
As it begins, they're sad, crying and holding each other, thinking about me and the band and some memories from throughout my life.
As the song goes on and on and on, one minute stretches into the next and Tinsley's violin solo turns into Butch Taylor on the keyboards taking a turn in the spotlight before handing the baton over to LeRoi Moore for a sax solo.
After about six or seven minutes, they start twiddling their thumbs and wondering when, mercifully, it will be over.
As it drags toward the 10-minute mark, they start thinking, "OK, Nick. Really? This is enough already. Is this really what you liked?"
Then they're all sort of looking at each other uncomfortably and waiting impatiently for the song to end together.
This is why I think if someone does decide to play "Lie in Our Graves" at my funeral, it's gotta be the rendition from Sept. 13, 2000. It's from a gig they played at The Woodlands, Texas, with Bela Fleck.
It's also 18 minutes long. Ha!
To the person choosing such a song, do not play DMB's "Say Goodbye." I don't think that title means what you think it means.
All kidding aside, I don't see how it could be anything other than a DMB song. While I love the sentiment of "Graves" — "I can't believe that we would lie in our graves wondering if we had spent our living days well" — there is something peaceful, reflective and mournful about "#34."
But, as a nod to the 50-plus shows I've seen, it can't be the Under the Table and Dreaming rendition.
It's a rarity and I've been lucky enough to see it three times.
The rendition in the YouTube clip above is from the band's Weekend on the Rocks set, recorded at Red Rocks Amphitheater in Morrison, Colo., in 2005.
I was there, seated about 30 rows up, with my friend and fellow DMB diehard, Chris. We've been to nine of the same shows, including this one.
It was a wonderful moment, seeing our favorite band play such a rare song in a beautiful, natural mountain venue. Because of our vantage point, we could see beyond the stage and, glowing in the distance, was the Denver skyline.
At just under six minutes long, I think those I leave behind will avoid the awkward, but comical waiting-for-the-song-to-end moment by playing "#34" instead.
In my honorable mention list is "Spirit in the Sky," which I can see being played in the funeral scene of a movie some day, much to the surprise of the mourners in attendance.
Honorable mention:
· Louis Armstrong, "What a Wonderful World" from What a Wonderful World [1968]
· The Beatles, "The End" from Abbey Road [1969]
· Dave Matthews Band, "The Last Stop [Reprise]" from Before These Crowded Streets [1998]
· Dave Matthews Band, "Lie in Our Graves" from Crash [1996]
· Norman Greenbaum, "Spirit in the Sky" from Spirit in the Sky [1969]
· Pearl Jam, "Man of the Hour" from Big Fish soundtrack [2003]
· Sigur Ros, "Hoppipolla" from Takk... [2005]
· Van Morrison, "Into the Mystic" from Moondance [1970]
· U2, "One Step Closer" from How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb [2004]
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