As we continue to celebrate the release of the massive Day of the Dead compilation honoring the legacy of the Grateful Dead, we asked The National guitarist and co-curator of the 59-song box set Aaron Dessner to expand on some of his favorite tunes from the set. Read his thoughts below and listen to the corresponding tunes. 

“Terrapin Station” | Daniel Rossen, Christopher Bear and The National (featuring Josh Kaufman, Conrad Doucette, So Percussion and Brooklyn Youth Chorus)

We knew it would be a lot to do, just gathering a band together; actually we did it in one day. We all kind of studied it and our approach. I think if you listen to Grizzly Bear’s music and them as players they definitely have some of the feel and some of the sensibility, the real high level musicianship and nuance in their playing. Anyways they were game to do it, Daniel was nervous at first, his voice and what he gives the song just feels timeless, I love it as much as I do when Jerry would sing it.

“If I Had the World to Give” | Bonnie “Prince” Billy

Josh Kaufman playing piano and Will [Oldham] singing, it was really one take, a bunch of mics on the room, it is one of my favorite vocal performance recordings that he’s ever made, and he’s made some of my favorite recordings. It was goosebumps for everyone that was there, mid-afternoon light shining through stained glass, it’s a very special version of that song, nothing like The Dead recording.

“Rubin and Cherise” | Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Friends

Also done in the church with Will and that song is pretty involved, it has some tricky timing. It did require some rehearsal, so we had prepared to do it and ended up just being so much fun to make and we just played it through a few times, and Will just absolutely nailed it. It’s a song The Dead didn’t play live very much, I don’t think, so to do that kind of song and show what a great Grateful Dead song it really is, a Jerry Garcia song, it’s long.

“Wharf Rat” | Ira Kaplan and Friends

[Ira Kaplan] came in on “Wharf Rat” and was directing traffic. I remember the drummer said to drown and he sort of gestured ‘No keep it down, keep it quiet’. It reminds me of some of the quiet songs–beautiful, peaceful stillness and then when his vocal comes in and there’s gravity in it, this rawness, a deep understanding, taking the lyrical content so seriously. Then it goes into the instrumental and that’s what I love about Ira, his gift for glacial, beautiful tones, so that was another moment in the church where we all just couldn’t believe it, that we were actually there.

“Touch of Grey” | The War on Drugs

To have one of the great bands of our generation who’s in the absolute prime of what they’re doing and really capable of approaching that song, and to not to like say it’s (as good as The Dead’s version of song) but Adam [Granduciel] has such a love for The Dead and such an understanding, but also brought something of his own to it. That kind of locomotion and texture that’s he’s become such a master of and to hear it in one placebut at the same time it feels like the song and that was a fun one where, from the very first rough mix, I was like ‘I could listen to that.’

“Shakedown Street” | Unknown Mortal Orchestra

It’s kind of like Prince structured through the Grateful Dead or something, direct guitars and that wily playing that really captures them and what they do well, it’s justice to the song.

“Cumberland Blues” | Charles Bradley and Menahan Street Band

It sounds like it was recorded in the early 1960s, to tape, they sent us a reel we had to master from, it just had this timeless soul to it, such an amazing performance, [Charles Bradley’s] musicianship and sound. For a long time that was the track we were most excited about that we would keep coming back to. To have this legendary soul singer singing “Cumberland Blues” and putting his spin on it and taking it to a different place then The Dead did feels very exciting for the record.

“To Lay Me Down” | Perfume Genius, Sharon Van Etten & Friends

I love the Grateful Dead’s version, I do think this version is absolutely stunning and deeply moving and two of the great singers of our generation, Sharon Van Etten. I think sonically it has one of the best recordings on the whole record. It has width and depth to it that is absolutely beautiful. I think they’re perfectly suited to the track.

“Standing on the Moon” | Phosphorescent & Friends

We kind of really wanted it to be something special for this record. It’s an absolutely beautiful song, It reminds me of the ladder day Dylan stuff with a sense of mortality in it and looking back, that “Jerry’s not here anymore but you can feel him” so much toward the end of his life.

“Black Muddy River” | Bruce Hornsby and DeYarmond Edison

Justin [Vernon] and the Cooks played that together in high school, a similar story to Bryce and I and Bryan playing Dead songs when we were 13. But having them play with Bruce Hornsby, being that connected to it where you can actually feel that, it’s obviously a very emotional song. It’s got some of the same nostalgia and mortality in it.