A Theme Time Radio Hour take on Dylan’s Outlaw Tour Covers Part 3: “Stella Blue”
Stella Blue (1973) Artist: The Grateful Dead. Lyrics by Robert Hunter, with music by Jerry Garcia
“Stella Blue” is a poignant and introspective song appearing on the Dead’s 1973 studio album “Wake of the Flood.” The Dead first performed “Stella Blue” live on June 17, 1972, at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, also the final show of founding member Pigpen (Rod McKernan). The song appeared regularly in their live performances thereafter.
”Stella Blue” was often placed by the Dead in their setlist to provide a moment of quiet after more energetic songs, similar to what Dylan is doing on the “Outlaw Music” tour, usually placing his version between “Things Have Changed” and his cover of Dave Dudley’s “Six Days on the Road.”
Hunter composed the lyrics in 1970 at the Chelsea Hotel in New York City, adding the song to the list of the many iconic works written at or about the hotel — including Dylan’s “Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands,” Leonard Cohen’s “Chelsea Hotel №2”, Arthur Miller’s “After the Fall, and Arthur C. Clarke’s screenplay for 2001: A Space Odyssey.
As with all great songs, “Stella Blue’s” meaning is open to interpretation, but it can be seen as a reflection on the passage of time, lost dreams, and the enduring power of music by a weary man looking back at his life on the road.
It all rolls into one
And nothing comes for free
There’s nothing you can hold
For very long
And when you hear that song
Come crying like the wind
It seems like all this life
Was just a dream
The song’s title might have multiple inspirations, the most popular theory being that it’s a reference to a Stella guitar, a low-cost alternative to pricier Gibson and Martin guitars, and which was often sold in a cheap, blue-lined case. Leadbelly played a Stella, as did many street musicians of the 1920s and ‘30s.
Or perhaps Hunter was inspired by Picasso’s “Blue Period” painting of an elderly musician, a haggard man with threadbare clothing, who is hunched over his guitar while playing in the streets of Barcelona, incidentally where Bob Dylan debuted his cover of “Stella Blue.”
All these things are interconnected, as the Host of “Theme Time Radio Hour” liked to point out.
Played live by Dylan before? Yep. He first covered “Stella Blue” in June 2023 in Spain (audio above), then four more times on the “Rough & Rowdy Ways” Tour. And almost a year to the day since first introducing his version of “Stella Blue,” he brought the song back in his second performance on the 2024 “Outlaw Music” tour.
At least for the time being “Stella Blue” seems to be a staple of Dylan’s set, usually appearing in the 10th slot on his playlist, followed by the set’s other “on the road” cover, “Six Days on the Road.” We can only wonder whether “Truckin’” and “On the Road Again” might also make appearances before the “Outlaw Music” tour is over.
Song played on Theme Time Radio Hour? Nope, although you could imagine it appearing in on the “Colors;” “Women’s Names;” or even the “Musical Instruments” (Stella Guitars) episodes.
Artist(s) played on Theme Time Radio Hour? Many a time, including “The Devil;” “Trains;” and “Sugar & Candy” episodes.
