A Hart-Felt Apology 6/7/00
mhart.com
I said some things in an interview a few days
ago that I really regret. There is definitely a
difference of opinion between Phil and the
rest of us. I, myself, remember Phil as my
first friend in the Grateful Dead, the guy
who would get down on the floor with me
and write out the music in a hundred
different ways. He was my compatriot in the
low end of the machine. We lived together
and laughed together for many years. But
the business stuff has overtaken our reason
and made things very gray. The music
between us has stopped and that is not
good. The music has always mediated our
differences, which were never
insurmountable. In my frustration with that,
I succumbed to negativity, and in mock jest
created this atmosphere of Phil-bashing. We
should never attack each other. My humor
perhaps doesn't look good in print, but as
the reporter who took my account agrees, it
was a tongue in cheek, ha-ha kind of thing.
It especially bums me that it came across as
having anything at all to do with the young
man, God bless him, who was thoughtful
enough to anticipate his death and make the
greatest gift anyone can make -- life. My
apologies to his family and his memory.
And, for that matter, to Phil and our greater
Dead family. I've always known that the
negative is no way to go -- I forgot myself
and my tongue took me over the line. It is
not over yet. The music will see us through.
I have to believe that.
I have to believe that. |
