Mission in the Rain

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History

One of Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter’s most poignant and personal collaborations, “Mission in the Rain” appeared on Garcia’s third solo album, Reflections (1976), during a period of transition and artistic growth for the iconic musician. A melancholy love letter to San Francisco’s Mission District, the song was only performed five times by the Grateful Dead, in June of 1976, but would become a beloved staple of Jerry Garcia Band concerts, with more than 200 performances through 1995.

The first time the song appears in the phish.net database was after Mike performed with Bob Weir and others at TRI Studios in on August 3, 2012, in celebration of what would have been Jerry's 70th birthday two days before. More notably, exactly 12 years later, Trey Anastasio Band performed “Mission in the Rain” during his opening set for Dead & Company’s Grateful Dead 60th anniversary celebration at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. “I really don’t believe that anybody can sing this song except for him,” Anastasio remarked, offering tribute to Garcia.

Trey Anastasio Band “Mission in the Rain” 08/03/25. Video by Todd Norris

Garcia and Hunter both described the song as autobiographical. In the evocative first person narrative, the lonely protagonist describes walking through the Mission’s rainy streets late at night. The lyrics suggest he’s searching for something–a fix, perhaps, or companionship–as he ponders past regrets and broken dreams. His lofty plans unfulfilled, the narrator finally appeals to the Almighty for “any dreams at all.” In the end, the fleeting nature of youthful dreams and the ups and downs of life give way to the redemptive familiarity of rain and the reassuring permanence of the old neighborhood. “There's some satisfaction in the San Francisco rain / No matter what comes down the Mission always looks the same.”

When it was released, “Mission in the Rain” offered a kind of coda to the tumultuous decade from 1965 to 1975, a period that began with the Grateful Dead’s birth in the Haight Ashbury and ended with the band’s farewell concert at Winterland in 1974 before their 1975 touring hiatus. During the previous ten years, the exuberant early days of the counterculture had given way to the disillusionment of Watergate and Vietnam, as the movement–and the band–collapsed under the weight of excess and exhaustion.

With rain, however, comes rebirth and renewal. New opportunities for growth emerge. After a break in 1975, the Grateful Dead returned with replenished energy before reaching new heights of performance in the late 1970s. Garcia himself seemed rejuvenated, and Reflections would coincide with the emergence of the Jerry Garcia Band as a formidable act in its own right, presaging the album that would become his personal favorite, Cats Under the Stars (1978).

Jerry Garcia Band “Mission In The Rain” – 03/17/1978, Passaic, NJ. Video by Wolfgang's Grateful Dead.

Last significant update: 12/7/25

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