Good evenin’, Friends.
It’s past 10:30pm. I’m staying up late to write this and come in just under the wire for video #4 of the Days Between. I’ll try to keep this short, even though there is so much I could say about this Grateful Dead song, Loser, and the day this video was filmed.
I’ll start by saying that my dear friend Molly Healey and I have been playing this song together for more than 20 years. We already had it planned on the setlist for this show we did together back in January of this year. I played a solo set, opening the night for her full band, the Molly Healey String Project, at recordBar in Kansas City, and like we usually do, Molly and I collaborated on a few tunes. This night was much different though.
Moments, and I mean just moments, before I walked out the door to head out for the venue, I got word that Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead had passed away. It was so unexpected. None of us general fans knew he was ill, although we had noticed that he had been quiet. No New Year’s Eve show or summer tour announcement with his most recent band, Dead & Company. We felt something was off, but also knew that the gang had been goin’ hard for a lot of years and deserved some time off.
I called my husband immediately. He got the word right before I called. We had a quick cry together and then I had to go. The show must go on, especially because I know that’s what Bobby would have done in any similar situation.
My favorite part of this video is the beginning when I look at Molly, take a deep breath and she says to me, “you got this.” I can hear my nervous guitar playing in the beginning, slightly rushing the notes. I wanted to make it through the song expressing all of my emotion, but without losing control to the point that I couldn’t make it through. I wanted the music to flow, and flow it did. By the end I was in tears, but in the beautiful, vulnerable way that music has a way of bringing out of me.
It’s been hard for me to write about what it means to have lost Bob Weir in his physical form. When we lost Jerry in 1995, there was still a knowing that the rest of the band would carry on in some way, and they did. We lost bass player Phil Lesh just about a year before Bobby, and that was really difficult, too, but we knew Bobby was still out there truckin’, sharing the songs. It’s been such a huge part of my life, going to Dead shows, and now, I’m not sure that anything will fill that space in my heart. It was a year ago yesterday that Bobby played his last show, which makes today the one-year mark of never having live music from him. These things feel significant to me.
Best I can do is be grateful for the time we had, appreciate that so many others are still singing these songs, and know that I will be one of them for as long as I’m able. This is how we continue on, long after we’re gone, through our actions, our art, and our music.
Cheers, Bobby. And thanks, Jerry, for writing this fantastic tune.
Kasey Dawn
Tuesday, August 4, 2026
Parkville Home
KaseyRausch.com
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Molly Healey & Kasey Rausch - recordBar KCMO - January 10, 2026.
Jerry Garcia & Bob Weir (Peter Simon/Rolling Stone)
LOSER
(Robert Hunter/Jerry Garcia)
Hear Jerry sing it.
Hear Bobby sing it with Dead & Co. (And yes. That’s John Mayer!)
[Verse 1]
If I had a gun for every ace I have drawn
I could arm a town the size of Abilene
Don't you push me, baby, because I'm moanin' low
And you know I'm only in it for the gold
[Verse 2]
All that I am asking for is ten gold dollars
And I could pay you back with one good hand
You can look around about the wide world over
And you'll never find another honest man
[Chorus]
Last fair deal in the country, Sweet Suzie
Last fair deal in the town
Put your gold money where your love is, baby
Before you let my deal go down
[Verse 3]
Don't you push me, baby, 'cause I'm moanin' low
And I know a little something you won't ever know
Don't you touch hard liquor, just a cup of cold coffee
Gotta get up in the morning and go
[Verse 4]
Everybody's braggin' and drinkin' that wine
I can tell the Queen of Diamonds by the way she shines
Come to daddy on an inside straight
Well I got no chance of losin' this time