From 1982 to 1995, my Grateful Dead years, I would certainly have said that my favorite cover song the band played was Bonnie Dobson’s 1962 folk song “Morning Dew”. The Dead’s electrified arrangement of Dobson’s apocalyptic song, sung by Jerry Garcia, provided many of my cathartic moments at concerts. Even now, I would still call it my favorite cover song in the band’s repertoire. But lately, I have been appreciating one that I didn’t really take notice of back in the day: Chuck Berry’s 1964 rocker “Promised Land”, sung by Bob Weir. The sheer exuberance of Berry’s traveling song fills me with joy, instead of the sorrow of Dobson’s post-nuclear landscape. (Andrew Shields, #111words, 22 January 2026)