2000 Great Songs #1214: The Other One

January 19, 2026

2000 Great Songs #1214: The Other One

The loss of Bob Weir last week was a rough one. The Grateful Dead have been a big part of my life since college--dedicated a chapter in the book to my Dead conversion--and while Jerry's passing thirty years ago was particularly devastating, the end of the Grateful Dead proper, the loss of Bob so soon after Phil added the sort of finality that seemed like we might avoid forever. It won't change my musical relationship with the band, built on memories of attending shows, and captured on hundreds (maybe thousands???) of live shows in my music library; I'd stopped seeing Dead & Company a few years back, while continuing to see various Dead tribute acts (Joe Russo, Dark Star Orchestra), so maybe it won't impact my day-to-day, show-to-show listening habits.

But, still, it was Bob. A true force of nature. And, as sometimes gets left out of the equation, a truly unique guitarist--I love his jazz-oriented approach to rhythm guitar (which, as a not very good guitarist myself, I've tried to emulate when I play with others, filling in gaps more than trying to run the song).

Anyway, here we are with one of Weir's most definitive contributions to the Dead's long legacy, "The Other One." It first appeared on their second album, 1968's Anthem Of The Sun, as part of a longer suite entitled "That's It For The Other One," a hybrid live/studio track glued together from various sources. The suite opened and closed with a brief Garcia piece, melodic and lovely, sandwiching some colossal drum excursions and Bob's centerpiece (though still checking in at a relatively concise 7:40). When I was first getting over my initial disdain for the band, it was this piece (and the rest of that side of Anthem) which established the Dead as a psychedelic band. Based on their mythology, I'd assumed them to be drugged out & trippy, and found their more popular radio songs disappointingly straightforward country-flavored rock & roll--but "That's It For The Other One"? Yep, drugged out & trippy, just like I wanted my Dead to sound.

After a few years, they dropped the outer sections of the suite from their performances, with just Bob's part remaining (and the title shortened to "The Other One"), but it remained a real monster, one of the most provocative launching pads for extended jams aside from "Dark Star." The pounding rhythm section gallop sounds like nothing else out there, while the lyrics--some of the few written by Weir--capture the late 60s Bay Area vibe better than almost anything else in their catalog. You've got stoned bliss and Neal Cassady of Jack Kerouac's crew, good times right up to the moment "the heat came by and busted me for smiling on a cloudy day."

Original Anthem version: