St. Stephen (song)
"St. Stephen" is a song by the Grateful Dead, written by Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh and Robert Hunter and originally released on the 1969 studio album Aoxomoxoa.[1][2][3] The same year, a live version of the song was released on Live/Dead, their first concert album. Unlike the studio version, live versions usually included a section of the song called the "William Tell Bridge", which was used to segue into "The Eleven".[4] After being played frequently in live concerts from the late 1960s to the early 1970s, the song fell out of regular performance; subsequent live performances of St. Stephen were thus considered a special event by deadheads.
| "St. Stephen" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Grateful Dead | |
| from the album Aoxomoxoa | |
| Released | 1970 |
| Recorded | June 1969 |
| Genre | Psychedelic rock |
| Length | 4:26 |
| Label | Warner Bros. |
| Songwriter(s) | Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, Robert Hunter |
| Producer(s) | Bob Matthews and Betty Cantor |
The song makes reference to the last days and trial of the 1st century AD saint, Stephen, the first martyr of the New Testament of the Bible, who was stoned to death (Acts 7:54-60).
References
- Oliver Trager (1997). "The American Book of the Dead". Simon and Schuster.
- Dodd, David (July 18, 2013). "Greatest Stories Ever Told: "Saint Stephen"". dead.net. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
- Dodd, David (March 8, 2006). "The Annotated "St. Stephen"". The Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
- Allen, Alex. ""Saint Stephen"". Grateful Dead Song and Lyric Finder. Retrieved May 11, 2017.
