Picasso Moon

"Picasso Moon"
Song by Grateful Dead
from the album Built to Last
ReleasedOctober 31, 1989
Length6:40
LabelArista
Songwriters
Producers

"Picasso Moon" is a song by the American rock band Grateful Dead, released as the eighth track on their thirteenth and final studio album Built to Last (1989).

Background and composition

Credited to Bob Weir, John Perry Barlow and Bob Bralove, "Picasso Moon" began in the studio one day when Weir randomly said "Picasso moon" before commenting that he didn't know why he said that, it kept bothering him so much that he almost fell off of his bike, as he mentioned during an interview included with a promotional, not-for-sale copy of the album. Weir, alongside Barlow, and Bralove kept writing the song between February and May of 1989. Weir had initially written the music to another set of lyrics, but when Brent Mydland wrote a new arrangement for those lyrics, as Weir told Blair Jackson, "So I took the music and went on a vision quest— I went on a good, long bicycle ride is what it amounted to, and in the middle of it, I came up with what I wanted the song to be about."

Release and reception

In a review of Road Trips Vol 2. No. 4 for the Music Box, John Metzger writes that "although Picasso Moon was laced with an inspired guitar accompaniment from Garcia, there’s still no way of denying the fact that it is one of the lesser tunes in the collective’s repertoire." John Metzger also mentioned in Built to Last review for the Music Box, he called it "edgy", noting that "the Grateful Dead never sounded comfortable performing it". The song has been performed at least 80 times, with live performances being released on the following live albums:

References

  1. ↑ David, G. Dodd; Trist, Alan (December 16, 2014). The Complete Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics. Simon and Schuster. p. 367. ISBN 978-1-4391-0334-0.
  2. ↑ Dodd, Davis (June 26, 2014). "Grateful Dead Greatest Stories Ever Told - "Picasso Moon"". Grateful Dead. Retrieved August 2, 2026.
  3. ↑ Trager, Oliver (December 4, 1997). The American Book of the Dead. Simon and Schuster. p. 305. ISBN 978-0-684-81402-5.
  4. ↑ Metzger, John (February 26, 2010). "Grateful Dead - Road Trips, Vol. 2, No. 4: Cal Expo '93 (Album Review)". The Music Box. Retrieved August 2, 2026.
  5. ↑ Metzger, John (December 2004). "Grateful Dead - Built to Last / Beyond Description (Box Set / Album Review)". The Music Box. Retrieved August 2, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Grateful Dead Family Discography: Picasso Moon". www.deaddisc.com. Retrieved August 2, 2026.
  7. ↑ "'Dave's Picks Vol. 59' Travels to Boston Garden". Jambands. July 29, 2026. Retrieved August 2, 2026.