‘Blues for Allah’: The Grateful Dead song in tribute to an assassinated Saudi Arabian king
There aren’t many areas of the universe that the Grateful Dead haven’t explored through their songs or performances. The band made it their mission to set foot on some of the outer reaches of the rock world and conquer it as their own. While much of that trek was made with the power boost of chemical advancements, the Dead also used the subject matter of their songs to find new and interesting motifs for music-making.
While many of the group’s songs were helmed by Jerry Garcia and Bob Weir, plus a handful of ensemble compilations, much of the group’s lyricism was handled by their poet-at-large, Robert Hunter.
Few artists are as ubiquitous with some rock and roll’s best yet as comparatively unknown as Robert Hunter. The American lyricist has worked with some of the greatest artists of all time, including the unfathomable feat of composing lyrics for Bob Dylan, all within a star-studded but understated career.
Most well-known for his time as the main lyricist for the Grateful Dead, Hunter was a longstanding member of the group and one of Jerry Garcia’s oldest friends. Together, they worked seamlessly on new tracks, with Hunter providing truly poetic lyrics and Garcia interpreting them with his guitar. Hunter contributed extensively to the Dead’s colossal catalogue and started with their album Aoxomoxoa back in 1969, working alongside Garcia until his death in 1995.
One of Hunter’s more unique compositions is ‘Blues for Allah’, a song that includes Arabic and pays tribute to the assassinated King of Saudi Arabia. In Box of Rain, Hunter’s lyrics collection, the songwriter shared: “This lyric is a requiem for King Faisal of Saudi Arabia, a progressive and democratically inclined ruler (and, incidentally, a fan of The Grateful Dead) whose assassination in 1975 shocked us personally. The lyrics were printed in Arabic on the jacket of the Middle Eastern release of the album.”
While it hasn’t been confirmed elsewhere that Faisal truly was a Deadhead, Hunter clearly connected with the story, which saw the King assassinated as an apparent act of vengeance. On March 25th, 1975, Faisal met his demise at the hands of Prince Khalid bin Musaid, the son of his half-brother. The precise motive behind the assassination remains unclear, but a prevailing theory suggests a desire for revenge.
Faisal, known for his moderate political stance, endeavoured to implement secular reforms in Saudi Arabia. The introduction of television in 1966 sparked vehement protests, with Prince Khalid bin Musaid leading one of the riots and assaulting a television station. Amid the ensuing chaos, a police officer fatally shot him in the head. It would seem that this was the spark for the disastrous events and the inspiration for Robert Hunter.
With these motifs, Hunter explores the ideas of unity, war and conflict at large while also pleading for humanity to prevail. Like many of the Dead’s songs, Hunter suggests that the universe holds the key to quelling the notion of war. The lyrics read: “And know the truth must still lie somewhere in between.”
Few rock bands have trod the boards of musicality like the Grateful Dead, and only a handful could have turned the assassination of a Saud Arabian king into a rock song.
