How The CIA Inspired Grateful Dead Lyricist Robert Hunter

If you are a conspiracy theorist or simply into that kind of stuff, then you are surely familiar with the CIA experiment, MK Ultra. In short, MK Ultra was a study launched in 1953 that utilized psychedelic drugs to develop mind control. While it is primarily a conspiracy, bits and pieces have been confirmed true. One source who has confirmed the project was the Grateful Dead lyricist, Robert Hunter.

Hunter became involved with the CIA’s experimentation after they were searching for human test subjects. Consequently, Hunter volunteered and was administered copious amounts of psychedelic drugs for the sake of the study. Luckily, Hunter’s volunteering did not help the CIA develop mind control. However, it did inadvertently help him find inspiration for the Grateful Dead’s metaphysically transcendent lyrics and culture.

Robert Hunter Recollects The Experience

In an interview with Reuters, Hunter recalled the experience in detail and divulged the practices it entailed. He started the story by stating, “I couldn’t figure out why they were paying me good money to take these psychedelics.” He continued, “At first, they gave me L—, then the next week, I think it was m—, the next week it was p—, and the fourth week it was all three at once.”

The CIA was never fully transparent as to why they were dosing him with these drugs. However, he had a clue, and it all regarded his submissiveness under the drugs. “If I was more hypnotizable when I was on them than I was when I wasn’t on them” and “I didn’t find that to be the case. I didn’t find myself being hypnotized,” stated Hunter.

The Psychedelic Wave of The Grateful Dead

Following his dismission from the study, Hunter would tag along with the Grateful Dead. And well, everybody knows the counter-culture they upheld and perpetuated. That being so, one has to believe that Hunter’s presence in the band helped develop this kind of culture. After all, Robert Hunter was very acquainted with L— prior to it becoming a widely popular and monetized street drug.

Regarding his drug use and influence on the band, Hunter never openly divulged a correlation between the two. When Reuters posed a similar question to him, he simply stated, “Who can say?” Despite Hunter’s lack of belief in his inspiration, there was surely a subconscious influence that directed Hunter and the Grateful Dead in the direction they headed—A Direction of a Long Strange Trip.

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