The Other One: The Long, Strange Trip of Bob Weir Page #8

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I had to do it for the folks,

I had to do it for Jerry.

You know, I had to do it

because the music demanded it.

By the time I was edging towards 50,

I was looking around and wondering now,

"Is it possible to be a rock and roll

tomcat and do it gracefully?"

And I looked around

and I saw, like, Mick Jagger

and guys like that, and I gotta say...

didn't look promising.

We remained friends forever

and we still are.

Except we're married now with kids.

I remember Bob out on the porch

one day at his house saying,

"You know,

I think I'm in love."

You know, she was pretty,

she was bright, she was a lot of fun.

This girl's a great catch,

why don't we try this settling down thing?

You know, he's really smart, fun.

I think he's brilliant.

Natascha's a very

loving individual.

The love he was feeling

from her is something

that just probably

filled a big void in him, too.

And then with the birth of Monet,

it was just mind-boggling for him

to have that experience.

He was present at the birth.

And that feeling of being a father

and just the incredible

miracle of creation.

Our lives changed dramatically

after Monet and Chloe.

He did a 180.

Became dedicated father, family man.

And he has so much love for me.

He's dedicated to his family.

He's just so present when he's with you,

and that's what I love about him.

I feel lucky

to have the family that I have,

and I feel lucky to have held off

as long as I did,

until I was ready for it.

I got a phone call one morning

from my office

and they said they had a lady on the phone

by the name of Phyllis.

She had some information that

I'd only seen on my birth certificate.

When I heard this, I realized

that this has got to be my mother.

And then I went and met her the next day.

She had 12 other kids.

I didn't feel like

I was a huge hole in her life

that I needed to rush right in and fill.

But we maintained a relationship.

And she, at one point, gave me some

information on my biological dad.

I didn't wanna blow up his life

'cause he probably

didn't know that I existed.

My curiosity finally got to me.

I got the phone call and I said,

"Who's calling, please?"

And he said, "Robert Weir."

And, uh...

I said, "Okay.

Doesn't mean anything to me."

So I said, "I've been doing some research"

and I've come up with some information

"that might be of considerable

interest to you."

I went back to my son, Anthony,

and I said,

"Should I know somebody

named Bob Weir?"

He says, "I don't know."

The only one I know

plays guitar for the Grateful Dead."

Then I asked him,

"Did you know and

were you, perhaps, romantically involved

with a young lady by the name of Phyllis?"

And there was a fairly long pause.

Actually, I think the blood

left my head about that time.

And I said, "Well, sir,

I don't know how many kids you have",

but there is a fairly strong likelihood

that you have one more than you know."

And he said, "You're my father."

I mean, I was stunned.

We chatted for a while

and then we met the next day.

We sat for about two hours together

and talked.

At first, we were just

sort of sniffing around,

but after a little bit,

we got to like each other.

We didn't have to.

There was no onus.

But we did.

I went away

very proud to be his dad.

We grew very close.

He's my confidant, he's my brother,

and now he's my dad.

Natascha's become a good friend of mine

and my wife's,

and I'm very fond of the whole family.

We're very close.

He had an empty space

inside him

after Jerry died,

and his dad came along.

Jack was the perfect guy to fill it.

Bobby has a great

relationship with his dad

and I feel like they have done

so much living together

and spending time together that, you know,

they're really catching up on a lot.

I had a pretty complete existence.

Um, but it...

My existence got added on to,

substantially, I'll say that.

There were days

There were days

There were days between

Jerry is an incredible legend,

but Bob is as much of a legend

and he's still alive.

Polished like a golden bowl

The brightest ever seen

Bob knows music is a passageway

to some greater part of the universe.

Why else would someone play

6,000 gigs in their life and keep going?

Hearts of summer held in trust

Still tender, young and green

Left on shelves collecting dust

Not knowing what they mean

Valentines of flesh and blood

Soft as velveteen

Hoping love would not forsake

The days that lie between

Lie between

I haven't put a lot of thought

into my legacy.

I'm not proud of anything.

If I'm proud of something,

I have to take a good look at myself

for being proud.

I don't trust pride.

But when you realize that we are all one,

you can be proud of being part of that

gigantic entity that we all are.

Life has endless depth to it,

endless resonances and reverberances

throughout time and space.

And making sense of all that is something

that I'm just sort of

taking my time doing.

My life has been kind of instructing me

to look for the timeless.

That's what I'm chasing.

Spanish lady, come to me

She lays on me this rose

Your rainbow spiraling

round and round

It trembles then explodes

You left a smoking crater of my mind

I like to blow it away

Well, the heat come round and busted me

For smilin' on a cloudy day

Comin', comin', comin' around

Comin' around y'all, now

Comin' around

Comin' around

Comin', comin', comin' around

They're comin'

Comin' around y'all, now

Comin' around

Comin' around

Escapin' through the lily fields

I came across an empty space

It rainbowed then exploded

Left a bus stop in its place

Bus come by and I got on

That's when it all began

There was cowboy Neal at the wheel

Of a bus to never-ever land

Comin', comin', comin' around

Comin' around y'all, now

Comin' around

Comin', comin', comin' around

They're comin', comin' around

Comin' around y'all, now

Comin' around

Comin' around

Well, okay, thank you all.

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