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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/7a077432025fa8a52e0770ef1f25605d.jpg]]
2[[caption-width-right:350: ''Think I'll come back here again, every now and then from time to time'']]
3
4''Anthem of the Sun'' is a 1968 album by Music/TheGratefulDead, the second in their catalogue, the first to feature their second drummer Mickey Hart, and the first to feature their second keyboard player Tom Constanten. Together with ''Music/AmericanBeauty'' (1970) it's often called their best. Therefore both albums have been featured together in an episode of the documentary series ''Series/ClassicAlbums''.
5
6'''Tracklist'''
7
8[[AC:Side One]]
9# "That's It for the Other One" (7:40)
10## Cryptical Envelopment
11## Quadlibet for Tenderfeet
12## The Faster We Go, the Rounder We Get
13## We Leave the Castle
14# "New Potato Caboose" (8:26)
15# "Born Cross-Eyed" (2:04)
16
17[[AC:Side Two]]
18# "Alligator" (11:20)
19# "Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)" (9:37)
20
21'''Personnel'''
22* Jerry Garcia: vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar, kazoo, vibraslap
23* Tom Constanten: piano, electronic tape
24* Mickey Hart: drums, orchestra bells, gong, chimes, crotales, prepared piano, finger cymbals
25* Bill Kreutzmann: drums, glockenspel, gong, chimes, crotales, prepared piano, finger cymbals
26* Phil Lesh: bass guitar, trumpet, harpsichord, kazoo, piano, timpani, vocals
27* Ron "Pigpen" [=McKernan=]: organs, celesta, claves, vocals
28* Bob Weir: rhythm guitar, 12-string guitar, acoustic guitar, kazoo, vocals
29
30!! ''Caution! Do Not Stop on Tropes''
31* AnimalMotifs: "Alligator"
32-->''Out of the river all ugly and green,\
33Came the biggest old alligator that I've ever seen!\
34Teeth big and pointy and his eyes were buggin' out,\
35Contracted the union, put the beggars to rout.\
36Screamin' and yellin', he was pickin' his chops,\
37He never runs he just stumbles and hops.\
38Just out of prison on ten dollars bail,\
39Mumblin' bitches and waggin' his tail.''
40* AvantGardeMusic: Certain portions of this album are very experimental. Electronic tape effects, influenced by Music/JohnCage, can be heard, along with piano pieces which seem like three gamelan orchestras are playing all at once. Many different instruments were used, including kazoos, crotales, a harpsichord, timpani, guiro and a trumpet.
41* ConceptAlbum: While it doesn't have a concrete story, it's sometimes considered an early example of one.
42* CueTheSun: "Born Cross-Eyed"
43--> '' 'Bout the time the sun rises west''
44* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The psychedelic album cover by Bill Walker.
45* EpicRocking: Apart from "Born Cross-Eyed" every track is between 7 and 12 minutes long!
46* FaceOnTheCover: The band members are seen in the artwork of the album cover.
47* FadingIntoTheNextSong: "That's It for the Other One" fades into "New Potato Caboose" and "Alligator" fades into "Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)".
48* GriefSong: "That's It for the Other One"
49-->''And when the day had ended, with rainbow colors blended\
50Their minds remained unbended\
51He had to die, oh, you know he had to die''
52* HotGypsyWoman: "Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)", where the protagonist visits a gypsy woman to find help with his relationship troubles.
53-->''I went down to see this gypsy woman, you understand,\
54I told her my story, i told her what was goin' on.\
55And she told me, man she said, all you need, all you need,\
56She said all you got to have, oh lord,\
57Just a touch of mojo's hand, oh bring it back on,\
58And it feels pretty good, yes indeed.''
59* LiveAlbum: Portions of the album were recorded live and mixed in with studio recordings to create a magnificent soundscape.
60* {{Medley}}: The opening track "That's It for the Other One" is a four-parter according to the subtitles on the back cover, but this was only done to get [[MoneyDearBoy more publishing royalty points]]. On the other hand, the band didn't always perform all four parts of the song live (but on the ''other'' other hand, live performances of it also sometimes got to half an hour or longer in length). "Cryptical Envelopment" was mostly dropped after 1971, apart from a few performances in 1985; "The Faster We Go, the Rounder We Get" was performed throughout the band's career, though it's usually labelled simply as "The Other One" on live releases. Some live releases, such as ''Dick's Picks Vol. 4'', include the entire song as one track, while others, such as ''Dick's Picks Vol. 8'', split it up into multiple tracks (four, in this case). "Quadlibet for Tenderfeet" is a brief section connecting the first and third movements, while "We Leave the Castle" is a brief outro performed by keyboardist Tom Constanten.
61* MultipleHeadCase: The six headed god on the album cover.
62* NewSoundAlbum: The band was determined to make a more complicated recorded work than their debut, as well as trying to translate their live sound into the studio.
63* NonAppearingTitle: The title doesn't appear in any of the lyrics, though the sun itself is mentioned briefly in "That's It For Today", "Born Cross-Eyed" and "New Potato Caboose".
64* OneWordTitle: "Alligator"
65* ProgressiveRock: An often overlooked candidate for UrExample with its multi-movement suites and complicated compositions that incorporate influence from many disparate genres, including modern classical, musique concrete, and jazz.
66* PsychedelicRock: The album cover already gives you a pretty good indication of how this record sounds.
67* StockSoundEffects: A car horn is heard at the end of "Caution (Do Not Stop on Tracks)".
68* WordSaladLyrics: Apart from "Alligator" and "Caution" most lyrics are pretty surreal.
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