Grateful Dead

[fox69]

"Big Boss Man"

"Big Boss Man"



Big boss man, can't you hear me when I call?
Big boss man, can't you hear me when I call?
You ain't so big, you just tall, that's just about all.

You got me working boss man, a workin' around the clock,
I want a little drink of whiskey, you sure won't let me stop.
Big boss man, can't you hear me when I call?
You ain't so big, you just tall, that's just about all.

I'm gonna get me a boss man, one gonna treat me right,
I work hard in the daytime, sure get drunk at night.

You ain't so big, you just tall, that's just about all.

 

[fox69]

"Big Railroad Blues"

"Big Railroad Blues"



Well my mama told me, my papa told me too,
Now my mama told me, papa told me too,
Well I shouldn't be here tryin' to sing these railroad blues.

Wish I had a'listened to what my mama said,
Wish I had a'listened to what my mama said,
Well I wouldn't be here tryin' to sleep in this cold iron bed.

Well I went to the depot, I never got there on time,
Went down to the depot, never got there on time.
Well my train done left, she's a rollin' down the line.

Mister jailer go away now, don't tell me no lies,
Mister jailer go away, don't tell me no lies,
When the train's going down, she's rollin' down the line.

Well my mama told me, my papa told me too,
Now my mama told me, papa told me too,
Well I shouldn't be here tryin' to sing these railroad blues.

 

[fox69]

"Big River"

"Big River"



Well I taught that weeping willow how to cry cry cry,
Taught the clouds how to cover up a clear blue sky.
Tears I cried for that woman are gonna flood you big river,
And I'm a gonna sit right here until I die.

I met her accidentally in St. Paul, Minnesota,
She tore me up everything I heard her drawl, that southern drawl.
Well I heard my dream went back downstream, cavortin' in Davenport,
And I follow you big river when you called.

Well I followed her down to St. Louie, later on down the river,
Trader said she's been here, but she's gone, boy, she's gone.
Well I followed her down to Memphis, but she just walked off the bus,
She raised a few eyebrows and she went on down alone.

Well I've gotten on down to Baton Rouge, River Queen roll on,
Take that woman down to New Orleans, New Orleans.
I give up, I've had enough, followed my blues on down to the gulf,
She loves you big river more than me.

 

[fox69]

"Bird Song"

"Bird Song"



All I know is something like a bird within her sang,
All I know she sang a little while and then flew on,
Tell me all that you know, I'll show you snow and rain.

If you hear that same sweet song again, will you know why?
Anyone who sings a tune so sweet is passin' by,
Laugh in the sunshine, sing, cry in the dark, fly through the night.

Don't cry now, don't you cry, don't you cry anymore.
Sleep in the stars, don't you cry, dry your eyes on the wind.

All I know is something like a bird within her sang,
All I know she sang a little while and then flew off,
Tell me all that you know, I'll show you snow and rain.

 

[fox69]

"Black Muddy River"

"Black Muddy River"



When the last rose of summer pricks my finger
And the hot sun chills me to the bone
When I can't hear the song for the singer
And I can't tell my pillow from a stone

I will walk alone by the black muddy river
And sing me a song of my own
I will walk alone by the black muddy river
And sing me a song of my own

When the last bolt of sunshine hits the mountain
And the stars start to splatter in the sky
When the moon splits the southwest horizon
With the scream of an eagle on the fly

I will walk alone by the black muddy river
And listen to the ripples as they moan
I will walk alone by the black muddy river
And sing me a song of my own

Black muddy river
Roll on forever
I don't care how deep or wide
If you got another side
Roll muddy river
Roll muddy river
Black muddy river roll

When it seems like the night will last forever
And there's nothing left to do but count the years
When the strings of my heart start to sever
And stones fall from my eyes instead of tears

I will walk alone by the black muddy river
And dream me a dream of my own
I will walk alone by the black muddy river
And sing me a song of my own
And sing me a song of my own

 

[fox69]

"Black Peter"

"Black Peter"



All of my friends come to see me last night
I was laying in my bed and dying
Annie Beauneu from Saint Angel
say "the weather down here so fine"

Just then the wind
came squalling through the door
but who can
the weather command?
Just want to have
a little peace to die
and a friend or two
I love at hand

Fever roll up to a hundred and five
Roll on up
gonna roll back down
One more day
I find myself alive
tomorrow
maybe go
beneath the ground

See here how everything
lead up to this day
and it's just like
any other day
that's ever been
Sun goin up
and then the
sun it goin down
Shine through my window and
my friends they come around
come around
come around

People may know but
the people don't care
that a man could be
as poor as me...
"Take a look at poor Peter
he's lyin in pain
now let's go run
and see"

Run and see
hey, hey,
run and see

 

[fox69]

"Black-Throated Wind"

"Black-Throated Wind"



Bringing me down,
I'm running aground
Blind in the light of the interstate cars.
Passing me by,
The busses and semis,
Plunging like stones from a slingshot on Mars.

But I'm here by the road,
Bound to the load
That I picked up in ten thousand cafes and bars.
Alone with the rush of the drivers who won't pick me up,
The highway, the moon, the clouds, and the stars.

The black-throated wind keeps on pouring in
With its words of a life where nothing is new.
Ah, Mother American Night, I'm lost from the light.
Ohhh, I'm drowning in you.

I left St. Louis, the City of Blues,
In the midst of a storm I'd rather forget.
I tried to pretend it came to an end
Cause you weren't the woman I thought I once met.

But I can't deny that times have gone by
When I never had doubts or thoughts of regret
And I was a man when all this began
Who wouldn't think twice about being there yet.

The black-throated wind keeps on pouring in.
And it speaks of a life that passes like dew.
It's forced me to see that you've done better by me,
Better by me than I've done by you.

What's to be found, racing around,
You carry your pain wherever you go.
Full of the blues and trying to lose
You ain't gonna learn what you don't want to know.

So I give you my eyes, and all of their lies
Please help them to learn as well as to see
Capture a glance and make it a dance
Of looking at you looking at me.

The black-throated wind keeps on pouring in
With its words of a lie that could almost be true.
Ah, Mother American Night, here comes the light.
I'm turning around, that's what I'm gonna do

Goin back home that's what I'm gonna do
Turnin' around,
That's what I'm gonna do

'Cause you've done better by me
Than I've done by you. . .

 

[fox69]

"Blow Away"

"Blow Away"


A man and a woman come together as strangers
When they part they're usually strangers still
It's like a practical joke played on us by our Maker
Empty bottles that can't be filled

[Chorus]
Baby who's to say it could have been different now that it's done
Baby who's to say that it should have been, anyway
Baby who's to say that it even matters in the long run
Give it just a minute
And it will blow away
It'll blow away

You fancy me to be the master of your feelings
You barely bruise me with your looks to kill
Though I admit we were sometimes brutal in our dealings
I never held you against your will

[Chorus]

Your case against me is so very clearly stated
I plead no contest, I just turn and shrug
I've come to figure all importance overestimated
You must mean water when you beg for blood (note 1)

[Chorus]

Like a feather in a whirlwind
Blow away
Just as sure as the world spins
Blow away
[etc]

 

[fox69]

"Blues For Allah"

"Blues For Allah"



Arabian wind, The needle's eye is thin, The ships of state sail on mirage,
And drown in sand, Out in no-man's land where Allah does command.

What good is spilling blood? It will not grow a thing;
Taste eternity the swords sing: Blues of Allah In 'sh'Allah.

They lie where they fall, There's nothing more to say,
The desert stars are bright tonight lets meet as friends,
The Flower of Islam, The Fruit of Abraham.

The thousand stories have come round to one again,
Arabian night, Our Gods pursue their fight,
What fatal flowers of darkness bloom from seeds of light.

Bird of paradise fly in white sky, Blues for Allah In 'sh'Allah,
Let's see with our heart, These things our eyes have seen,
And know the truth must still lie somewhere in between.

Under eternity, under eternity, under eternity blue,
Bird of paradise fly in white sky, Blues for Allah In 'sh'Allah.

 

[fox69]

"Born Cross-Eyed"

"Born Cross-Eyed"



Seems like I've been here before,
Fuzzy then and still so obscure, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye.
And I don't want to see anybody cry,
Meet me some mornin' in the sweet by and by, by and by, by and by.

Song commin' on,
So pleasin' to see, come and gone, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye,
You don't have to tell me why,
Meet me some mornin' in the sweet by and by, by and by, by and by.

It ain't cause I'm the only one left darlin',
Bout the time the sun rises west,
Feelin' groovy, lookin' fine.

Think I'll come back here again,
Every now and then from time to time.
My how lovely you are, my dear,
The ball game has gone much too far my dear,
Sing to me, do your thing to me,
I'll meet you some mornin', meet you some mornin',
In the sweet by and by, by and by, by and by.