Grateful Dead

[fox69]

"Tennessee Jed"

"Tennessee Jed"



Cold iron shackles, ball and chain,
Listen to the whistle of the evenin' train.
You know you bound to wind up dead,
If you don't head back to Tennessee Jed.

Rich man step on my poor head,
When you get back you better butter my bread.
Well, do you know it's like I said,
You better head back to Tennessee Jed.

Tennessee, Tennessee, there ain't no place I'd rather be,
Baby won't you carry me back to Tennessee.

Drink all day and rock all night,
The law come to get you if you don't walk right
Got a letter this morning, baby all it read,
You better head back to Tennessee Jed.

I dropped four flights and cracked my spine,
Honey, come quick with the iodine,
Catch a few winks, baby, under the bed
Then you head back to Tennessee Jed.

Tennessee, Tennessee, there ain't no place I'd rather be,
Baby won't you carry me back to Tennessee.

I run into Charlie Fog,
Blacked my eye and he kicked my dog,
My doggie turned to me and he said,
Let's head back to Tennessee Jed.
I woke up a felin' mean,
Went down to play the slot machine,
The wheels turned around, and the letters read,
You better head back to Tennessee Jed.

Tennessee, Tennessee, there ain't no place I'd rather be,
Baby won't you carry me back to Tennessee.

 

[fox69]

"Terrapin Station: At A Siding"

"Terrapin Station: At A Siding"



While you were gone
these spaces filled with darkness
The obvious was hidden
With nothing to believe in
the compass always points to Terrapin

The sullen wings of fortune beat like rain
You're back in Terrapin for good or ill again
For good or ill again

 

[fox69]

"Terrapin Station: Lady With A Fan"

"Terrapin Station: Lady With A Fan"



Let my inspiration flow
in token lines suggesting rhythm
that will not forsake me
till my tale is told and done

While the firelight's aglow
strange shadows in the flames will grow
till things we've never seen
will seem familiar

Shadows of a sailor forming
winds both foul and fair all swarm
down in Carlisle he loved a lady
many years ago

Here beside him stands a man
a soldier by the looks of him
who came through many fights
but lost at love

While the storyteller speaks
a door within the fire creaks
suddenly flies open
and a girl is standing there

Eyes alight with glowing hair
all that fancy paints as fair
she takes her fan and throws it
in the lion's den

"Which of you to gain me, tell
will risk uncertain pains of Hell?
I will not forgive you
if you will not take the chance"

The sailor gave at least a try
the soldier being much too wise
strategy was his strength
and not disaster

The sailor coming out again
the lady fairly lept at him
that's how it stands today
you decide if he was wise

The storyteller makes no choice
soon you will not hear his voice
his job is to shed light
and not to master

Since the end is never told
we pay the teller off in gold
in hopes he will come back
but he cannot be bought or sold

 

[fox69]

"Terrapin Station: Terrapin Station"

"Terrapin Station: Terrapin Station"



Inspiration, move me brightly
light the song with sense and color,
hold away despair
More than this I will not ask
faced with mysteries dark and vast
statements just seem vain at last
some rise, some fall, some climb
to get to Terrapin

Counting stars by candlelight
all are dim but one is bright:
the spiral light of Venus
rising first and shining best,
From the northwest corner
of a brand-new crescent moon
crickets and cicadas sing
a rare and different tune

Terrapin Station
in the shadow of the moon
Terrapin Station
and I know we'll be there soon

Terrapin - I can't figure out
Terrapin - if it's an end or the beginning
Terrapin - but the train's got its brakes on
and the whistle is screaming: TERRAPIN

 

[fox69]

"That's It For The Other One I: Cryptical Envelopment"

"That's It For The Other One I: Cryptical Envelopment"



The other day they waited, the sky was dark and faded,
Solemnly they stated, "He has to die, you know he has to die."
All the children learnin', from books that they were burnin',
Every leaf was turnin', to watch him die, you know he had to die.

The summer sun looked down on him,
His mother could but frown on him,
And all the other sound on him,
He had to die, you know he had to die.

 

[fox69]

"That's It For The Other One III: The Faster We Go, The Rounder We Get"

"That's It For The Other One III: The Faster We Go, The Rounder We Get"


Spanish lady come to me, she lays on me this rose.
It rainbow spirals round and round,
It trembles and explodes
It left a smoking crater of my mind,
I like to blow away.
But the heat came round and busted me
For smilin on a cloudy day

[Chorus]

Comin', comin', comin' around, comin' around, comin' around in a circle
Comin', comin', comin' around, comin' around, in a circle,
Comin', comin', comin' around, comin' around, in a circle.

Escapin' through the lily fields
I came across an empty space
It trembled and exploded
Left a bus stop in its place
The bus came by and I got on
That's when it all began
There was cowboy Neal
At the wheel
Of a bus to never-ever land

[Chorus]

 

[fox69]

"That's It For The Other One IV: We Leave The Castle"

"That's It For The Other One IV: We Leave The Castle"



And when the day had ended, with rainbow colors blended,
Their minds remained unbended,
He had to die, oh, you know he had to die.

 

[fox69]

"The Eleven"

"The Eleven"



High green chilly winds and windy vines
In loops around the twisted shafts of lavender,
They're crawling to the sun.

Underfoot the ground is patched
With arms of ivy wrapped around the manzanita,
Stark and shiny in the breeze.

Wonder who will water all the children of the garden
When they sigh about the barren lack of rain and
Droop so hungry neath the sky.

William Tell has stretched his bow till it won't stretch
No furthermore and/or it may require a change that hasn't come before.

No more time to tell how, this is the season of what,
Now is the time of returning with our thought
Jewels polished and gleaming.
Now is the time past believing the child has relinquished the rein,
Now is the test of the boomerang tossed in the night of redeeming.

Seven faced marble eyed transitory dream doll,
Six proud walkers on the jingle bell rainbow,
Five men writing with fingers of gold,
Four men tracking down the great white sperm whale,
Three girls waiting in a foreign dominion
Riding in the whalebelly, fade away in moonlight,
Sink beneath the waters to the coral sands below.

 

[fox69]

"The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)"

"The Golden Road (To Unlimited Devotion)"



See that girl, barefootin' along,
Whistlin' and singin', she's a carryin' on.
There's laughing in her eyes, dancing in her feet,
She's a neon-light diamond and she can live on the street.

Hey hey, hey, come right away
Come and join the party every day.

Well everybody's dancin' in a ring around the sun
Nobody's finished, we ain't even begun.
So take off your shoes, child, and take off your hat.
Try on your wings and find our where it's at.

Hey hey, hey, come right away
Come and join the party every day.

Take a vacation, fall out for a while,
Summer's comin' in, and it's goin' outa style.
Well lite up smokin' buddy, have yourself a ball.
Cause your mother's down in Memphis, won't be back 'till the fall.

Hey hey, hey, come right away
Come and join the party every day.

 

[fox69]

"The Music Never Stopped"

"The Music Never Stopped"



There's mosquitoes on the river Fish are rising up like birds
It's been hot for seven weeks now,
Too hot to even speak now, Did you hear what I just heard?

Say it might have been a fiddle or it could have been the wind
But there seems to be a beat now I can feel it my feet now
Listen here it comes again!

There's a band out on the highway, They're high steppin' into town
It's a rainbow full of sound, It's fireworks, calliopes and clowns
Everybody dancin' C'mon children, C'mon children, Come on clap your hands.

Sun went down in honey and the moon came up in wine,
You know stars were spinnin' dizzy, Lord
The band kept us too busy we forgot about the time.

They're a band beyond description, Like Jehovah's favorite choir
People joining hand in hand While the music played the band, Lord
They're setting us on fire.

Crazy rooster crowin' midnight, Balls of lightin' roll along
Old men sing about their dreams, Women laugh and children scream
And the band keeps playin' on.

Keep on dancin' thru the daylight, Greet the mornin' air with song
No ones's noticed, but the band's all pack and gone. Was it ever there at all?
But they keep on dancin' C'mon children, C'mon children, Come on clap your hands
Well the cool breeze came on Tuesday, And the corn's a bumper crop
And the fields are full of dancin' Full of singin' and romancin'
The music never stopped.