Green Grass And High Tides
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"Green Grass and High Tides" is a song by American
Southern rock Southern rock is a subgenre of rock music and a genre of Americana. It developed in the Southern United States from rock and roll, country and blues, and is focused generally on electric guitars and vocals. History 1950s and 1960s: origin ...
band Outlaws. It is the tenth and final track on the band's debut album, '' Outlaws''. The song is one of their best known, and has received extensive play on album-oriented
radio stations Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio signal, audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a lan ...
, although it was never released as a single. The song is notable for having two extended guitar solos that stretch the song to nearly 10 minutes. Outlaws founding member Hughie Thomasson said:
I wrote that song in
St. Augustine, Florida St. Augustine ( ; ) is a city in and the county seat of St. Johns County, Florida, United States. Located 40 miles (64 km) south of downtown Jacksonville, the city is on the Atlantic coast of northeastern Florida. Founded in 1565 by Spani ...
. We went to a cookout on the beach and everybody forgot to bring their guitars. I was standing by the ocean and there was a breeze and the words kept coming to me. It’s about all the rock stars I liked that died had come back and were playing a show just for me. Like
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
,
Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most iconic and successful Rock music, rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and her "electric" ...
and
Jim Morrison James Douglas Morrison (December 8, 1943 – July 3, 1971) was an American singer, songwriter, and poet who was the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band the Doors. Due to his charismatic persona, poetic lyrics, distinctive vo ...
. And eventually more of course.
Henry Paul told
Songfacts Songfacts is a music-oriented website that features articles about songs, detailing the meaning behind the lyrics, how and when they were recorded, and any other available information. The journalists who work for the site have interviewed thou ...
that this song is not about
marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
, but about deceased rock and roll luminaries, and the title, he says, was taken from the 1966 "Best Of" collection by the
Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
called ''
Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass) ''Big Hits (High Tide and Green Grass)'' is the first compilation album by the Rolling Stones. With different cover art and track listings, it was released on 28 March 1966, on London Records in the US and on 4 November 1966, by Decca Records ...
'':
From what I gather, there was an album out, the best of
The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...
, called '' High Tide and Green Grass''. That was the name of the Rolling Stones' greatest hits—this is like 1966—and I think it was a manifestation of that title turned in reverse, 'Green Grass and High Tides.' I know that much. And I know that it was a song written for rock and roll illuminaries, from
Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and songwriter. One of the most iconic and successful Rock music, rock performers of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and her "electric" ...
to
Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...
, and it had nothing to do with marijuana. But it had to do with, I think, a specific person's homasson'slyrical look at rock and roll legends. 'As kings and queens bow and play for you.' It's about Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. 'Castles of stone, soul and glory.' A lot of it is just sort of a collage of words that really don't have all that much to do with anything, they just fit and sounded right. But I have to say it's one of my favorite lyrics. My songwriting is more
Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...
, really rooted in accuracy and reality; this is definitely ''
Alice In Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...
''. It's the whole '
White Rabbit The White Rabbit is a fictional and anthropomorphic character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. He appears at the very beginning of the book, in chapter one, wearing a waistcoat, and muttering "Oh dear! Oh dea ...
.' It's sort of like one of those magic lyrical moments that will forever be mysteriously, unclearly conceived."Green Grass and High Tides" by the Outlaw
Songfacts
Retrieved on July 31, 2009.
"Green Grass and High Tides" was the usual show closer for the Outlaws and the 20 minute+ version can be found on the concert album ''
Bring It Back Alive ''Bring It Back Alive'' is a live album by American southern rock band Outlaws, released in 1978. It was released as a double album, and later re-released as a single CD. The album is best known for the twenty minute-long rendition of the song " ...
'' (1978). The Song was featured within Season 2 Episode 12 of Breaking Bad 'Phoenix', featuring as background music during a bar scene.


References

{{authority control 1975 songs Outlaws (band) songs Song recordings produced by Paul A. Rothchild Songs written by Hughie Thomasson