My Band, The Dead

I am enthralled by the music of the Grateful Dead. Not only is it their unique, "jam band" style that I love, but the Grateful Dead was different in the way that they did not take stands on hot issues that were fueling the movement such as civil rights and the Vietnam War. They were just modern transcendentalists, using the contemporary tools of electronically amplified music and, yes, large quantities of psychedelic drugs. They laughed at the social movement, and Jerry Garcia once stated, “Why enter this closed society and make an effort to liberalize it when that's never been its function? Why not leave and go somewhere else?” I just appreciate the stand off position that the Dead took when it came to social or political issues as I read about the flamboyant stances many popular bands are taking today amidst the Iraq War.