R.I.P. John Barlow, co-author of the Dead's "Throwing Stones," "Estimated Prophet," and more

[Miles Archer]

John Perry Barlow, poet, activist and longtime lyricist for the Grateful Dead, has passed away at the age of 70. The news was confirmed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which Barlow founded in 1990.

“With a broken heart I have to announce that EFF’s founder, visionary, and our ongoing inspiration, John Perry Barlow, passed away quietly in his sleep this morning,” EFF’s statement reads. “We will miss Barlow and his wisdom for decades to come.”

Barlow was born in 1947 in Wyoming and met and became friends with Bob Weir in high school in Colorado. Starting in the early ’70s, Barlow became the primary lyricist and co-songwriter for Weir’s contributions to the Dead catalog, eventually amassing a collection of songs that included “Mexicali Blues,” “Cassidy,” “Estimated Prophet,” “The Music Never Stopped,” “Hell in a Bucket,” “I Need A Miracle,” “Black-Throated Wind” and “Throwing Stones,” among others.

Barlow and Weir’s lifelong friendship also included spending time on Barlow’s Wyoming ranch, which helped to inspire Weir’s so-called “cowboy songs” and the tracks on his recent solo album Blue Mountain. Barlow also worked with Dead keyboardists Brent Mydland and Vince Welnick and others, later writing lyrics for The String Cheese Incident’s Michael Kang.

https://www.relix.com/news/detail/john_perry_barlow_19472018

[htuttle]

1. "Governments of the Industrial World, you weary giants of flesh and steel, I come from Cyberspace,..

Back at the dawn of the public internet, around the time of the EFF's internet 'blackout' in protest of proposed US censorship laws, Barlow published what felt like a revolutionary statement called the "Declaration of Independence of Cyberspace" that formally declared Cyberspace to be sovereign.

https://www.eff.org/cyberspace-independence


I look back at it now and then, and think about how optimistic so many felt about the future, and the potential of the internet. But like so many speculative 'cyberpunk' stories from that time, it underestimated humanities proclivities for, well, just about every bad thing you can imagine (and made porn about all of it to boot, cf Rule #34...).

But still, The Declaration was a hopeful thought and worthy goal at the time.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

2. Let's not forget The EFF helped DU with that phoney baloney "copyright infringement" case.