Grateful Dead Music Forum

Please please help, this question has bugged me for years...

What do the boys sing exactly as a backing vocal in Help on the Way?

There's some arabic sounding words in there, but the one that has always puzzled me sounds like "Althea",yes, the name not the song, and appears a couple of times, eg directly after Without love in the dream it'll never come true..."

I'm referring to 70's versions of course. They must have stopped doing it at some point later on....

Thank you!

are you talking about the whispered one word vocals after he sings his chorus lines? Hush and Yhea are what I think I hear...

Theia/Thea/θεά: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theia

Greek for "goddess"

Thank you both. Do you know whether Hunter referenced the Theia goddess and what its relevance was to the song?

JonnyBoy wrote:are you talking about the whispered one word vocals after he sings his chorus lines? Hush and Yhea are what I think I hear...

After reading this request last night, I (seriously) had this dream that there were all these lyrics that I had previously missed. I was seeing them in published sheet music. I wish I remembered what they were.......

ebick wrote:

JonnyBoy wrote:are you talking about the whispered one word vocals after he sings his chorus lines? Hush and Yhea are what I think I hear...

After reading this request last night, I (seriously) had this dream that there were all these lyrics that I had previously missed. I was seeing them in published sheet music. I wish I remembered what they were.......

Sheet music is from the live album from Nassau coliseum, spring 1990
I think it is called Without A Net, with Branford.
great shows

Where the heck is this lyric sung?

strumminsix wrote:Where the heck is this lyric sung?

Between the lines of the "I will stay/ One more day/" chorus part

tigerstrat wrote:

strumminsix wrote:Where the heck is this lyric sung?

Between the lines of the "I will stay/ One more day/" chorus part

THANKS! LOL! I wondered that too some 20 years ago, got all obsessive trying to figure out than gave up and forgot!

Wow. That's awesome. I always just thought they went "Eee-ahhh". You know... just sounds.

So what's the lyric behind the "Tssshhh" and "Hoooo" ?

I thought the lyric was Gaia.... also in line with Tigerstrat interpretation