RIP Vince Welnick

Chronicle Obituary for VW

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Another loss to our family

June 2, 2006

The Wheel is turning almightily fast. Life is loss, but our times have turned sorrowful indeed. It is with very heavy hearts that we must tell you that Vince Welnick passed away today, June 2, 2006. His service to and love for the Grateful Dead were heart-felt and essential. He had a loving soul and a joy in music that we were lucky to share. We grieve especially for his widow Lori, his sister Nancy, and the rest of his family.
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I remember VW from when he was in The Tubes. They were one of my very favorite groups when I was in High School. I wasnt from the flower power generation so I always took some of the Hippy values with a grain of salt. The Tubes though, were born in the cynical 70's and at the time they were outrageous, hilarious and songs like "White Punks on Dope" and "What do you want from life?" spoke to me and my circle of friends. We were upper middle class kids, we were given everything by our overly permissive parents. Most of my gang had parents going through divorces and were left to fill in the blanks with sex and drugs. Experimentation with sex and drugs during that small gap of time were considered normal- even our parents were exploring.
Only a lucky few knew from the start what we wanted from life. The rest of us either struggled with following through on our parents expectations or experimented and explored the alternatives.
Thirty years later, we are almost all still around. Almost all landing on our feet and looking at turning 50.

{{{{ Vince}}}}

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What Do You Want From Life?
Spooner/Evans

What do you want from life
To kidnap an heiress
or threaten her with a knife
What do you want from life
To get cable TV
and watch it every night

There you sit
a lump in your chair
Where do you sleep
and what do you wear
when you're sleeping

What do you want from life
An Indian guru
to show you the inner light
What do you want from life
a meaningless love affair
with a girl that you met tonight

How can you tell when you're doin' alright
Does your bank account swell
While you're dreaming at night
How do know when you're really in love
Do violins play when you're touching the one
That you're loving

What do you want from life
Someone to love
and somebody that you can trust
What do you want from life
To try and be happy
while you do the nasty things you must

Well, you can't have that, but if you're an American citizen you are entitled to:
a heated kidney shaped pool,
a microwave oven--don't watch the food cook,
a Dyna-Gym--I'll personally demonstrate it in the privacy of your own home,
a king-size Titanic unsinkable Molly Brown waterbed with polybendum,
a foolproof plan and an airtight alibi,
real simulated Indian jewelry,
a Gucci shoetree,
a year's supply of antibiotics,
a personally autographed picture of Randy Mantooth
and Bob Dylan's new unlisted phone number,
a beautifully restored 3rd Reich swizzle stick,
Rosemary's baby,
a dream date in kneepads with Paul Williams,
a new Matador, a new mastodon,
a Maverick, a Mustang, a Montego,
a Merc Montclair, a Mark IV, a meteor,
a Mercedes, an MG, or a Malibu,
a Mort Moriarty, a Maserati, a Mac truck,
a Mazda, a new Monza, or a moped,
a Winnebago--Hell, a herd of Winnebago's we're giving 'em away,
or how about a McCulloch chainsaw,
a Las Vegas wedding,
a Mexican divorce,
a solid gold Kama Sutra coffee pot,
or a baby's arm holding an apple?

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