Movin' Right Along

Robert Hunter, the lyricist for the Grateful Dead, died recently. Like George Martin with the Beatles, Hunter was an unofficial member of the band, and it's widely acknowledged that his elliptical, Americana-tinged lyrics were a key contribution to their success.

Rolling Stone reports that the David Nelson band recently recorded, "Movin' Right Along", a previously unheard song by Hunter, and they've released it as a single in tribute to him. "Movin' Right Along" is classic Hunter and would have fit perfectly in one of the Dead's sets with songs like "Jack Straw" and "Wharf Rat". It sounds like it was written yesterday.

“It impressed me how timely it was,” says Nelson, speaking to Rolling Stone the day Iran sent missiles into Iraq. “It fits in with what’s happening now: ‘Loaded my gun and went to war/Movin’ right along/I shot left and I shot right, now listen to my song.’ Boy, that just stunned me in terms how current it was.”

The lyric is also imbued with a sense of mortality: “I’m about to blow this joint/So listen to my song/I have died to prove a point/Movin’ right along.” But Nelson insists Hunter wasn’t writing about himself. “I didn’t see it as a farewell song, and I don’t think he did either,” Nelson says. “But it’s a testament to him.”

Give it a listen.