lkk@mit-eddie.UUCP (Larry Kolodney) (05/12/85)
Ramble On Rose by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter 4/75
Just like Jack the Ripper, just like Mojo Hand,
just like Billy Sunday, in a shotgun ragtime band,
Just like New York City, just like Jerico,
pace the halls and climb the walls and get out when they blow.
Did you say your name was Ramblin Rose?
Ramble on baby, settle down easy
Ramble on Rose.
Just like Jack and Jill, Momma told the sailor
One heat up, and one cool down, leave nothing for the tailor.
Just like Jack and Jill, Poppa told the jailer
One go up, and one go down, do yourself a favor.
Did you say your name was Ramblin Rose?
Ramble on baby, settle down easy
Ramble on Rose.
I am going to sing you a hundred verses in ragtime,
I know this song it ain't never gonna end.
I'm gonna march you up and down along the county line,
Take you to the leader of a band.
Just like Crazy Otto, just like Wolfman Jack,
Sittin plush with a royal flush, aces back to back.
Just like Mary Shelly, just like Frankenstein,
Clank your chains and count your change and try to walk the line.
Did you say your name was Ramblin Rose?
Ramble on baby, settle down easy
Ramble on Rose.
I am going to sing you a hundred verses in ragtime,
I know this song it ain't never gonna end.
I'm gonna march you up and down along the county line,
Take you to the leader of a band.
Goodbye Momma and Poppa
Goodbye Jack and Jill
The grass ain't greener
The wine ain't sweeter
Either side of the hill.
Did you say your name was Ramblin Rose?
Ramble on baby, settle down easy
Ramble on Rose.
Ripple by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter 8/74
If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine,
and my tunes were played on the harp unstrung,
would you hear my voice come thru the music,
would you hold it near as it were your own?
It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken,
perhaps they're better left unsung.
I don't know, don't really care
let there be songs to fill the air.
Ripple in still water,
when there is no pebble tossed,
nor wind to blow.
Reach out your hand if your cup be empty,
if your cup is full may it be again,
let it be known there is a fountain,
that was not made by the hands of men.
There is a road, no simple highway,
Between the dawn and the dark of night,
and if you go no one may follow,
that path is for your steps alone.
Ripple in still water,
when there is no pebble tossed,
nor wind to blow.
You who choose, to lead must follow,
but if you fall you fall alone,
if you should stand then who's to guide you?
If I knew the way I would take you home.
Rosemary by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter 12/74
Sweet whiff of heather,
a breath of cologne
the mirror was a window she sat by alone.
All around her the garden grew
scarlet and purple and crimson and blue.
She came dead, she lived, and at last went away,
the garden was sealed when the flowers decayed.
On the wall of the garden a legend did say,
no one may come here since no one may stay.
'Round and 'Round by Chuck Berry
Well the joint was jumpin'
going 'round and 'round
Hey! Reelin' and a rockin'
what a crazy sound,
well, they never stopped rockin'
til the moon went down.
Well it sounds so sweet
I had to take me a chance
I rose out of me seat
Lord, I had to dance,
started moving my feet
Lord an' clapping my hands.
Well I kept on dancin'
going 'round and 'round
Hey! Reelin' and a rockin'
what a crazy sound,
well, they never stopped rockin'
til the moon went down.
Well at tweleve o'clock
Lord, the place was packed
the front doors was locked
Lord, the place was packed
when the police knocked--
those doors flew back.
Well I kept on dancin'
going 'round and 'round
Hey! Reelin' and a rockin'
what a crazy sound,
well, they never stopped rockin'
til the moon went down.
Well the joint was jumpin'
going 'round and 'round
Hey! Reelin' and a rockin'
what a crazy sound,
well, they never stopped rockin'
til the moon went down.
Well I kept on dancin'
going 'round and 'round
Hey! Reelin' and a rockin'
what a crazy sound,
well, they never stopped rockin'
til the moon went down.
Row Jimmy by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter 10/75
Julie catch a rabbit by his hair
Come back steppin' like to walk on air
Get back home where you belong
And don't you run off no more
Don't hang your head and let the two time roll
Grass shack nailed to a pine wood floor
Ask the time baby I don't know
Come back later, gonna let it show
I say row Jimmy row
Gonna get there, I don't know
Seems a common way to go
Get down and row,row,row,row,row
Here's a half a dollar if you dare
Double twist when you hit the air
Look at Julie down below
The levee doin' the do-pas-o
I say row Jimmy row
Gonna get there, I don't know
Seems a common way to go
Get down and row,row,row,row,row
Broken heart don't feel so bad
Ya ain't got half of what you thought you had
Rock you baby to and fro
Not too fast and not too slow
I say row Jimmy row
Gonna get there, I don't know
Seems a common way to go
Get down and row,row,row,row,row
That's the way it's been in town
Ever since they tore the juke box down
Two bit piece don't buy no more
Not so much as it done before
I say row Jimmy row, gonna get there, I don't know
Seems a common way to go, get out and row,row,row,row,row.
I say row Jimmy row, gonna get there, I don't know
Seems a common way to go, get out and row,row,row,row,row.
I say row Jimmy row, gonna get there, I don't know
Seems a common way to go, get out and row,row,row,row,row.
St. Stephen by Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, and Robert Hunter 4/75
Saint Stephen with a rose,
in and out of the garden he goes,
country garland in the wind and the rain,
wherever he goes the people all complain.
Stephen prospered in his time,
well he may and he may decline.
Did it matter, does it now?
Stephen would answer if he only knew how.
Wishing well with a golden bell,
bucket hanging clear to hell,
hell halfway twixt now and then,
Stephen fill it up and lower down and lower down again.
Lady finger, dipped in moonlight,
writing "What for?" across the morning sky.
Sunlight splatters, dawn with answer,
darkness shrugs and bids the day goodbye.
Speeding arrow, sharp and narrow,
what a lot of fleeting matters you have spurned,
several seasons with their treasons,
wrapped the babe in scarlet covers, call it your own.
Did he doubt or did he try?
Answers aplenty in the bye and bye,
talk about your plenty, talk about your ills,
one man gathers what another man spills.
Saint Stephen will remain, all he's lost he shall regain,
seashore walk by the suds and the foam,
been there so long, he's got to calling it home.
Fortune comes a calling, calliope woman,
spinning that curious sense of your own.
Can you answer, "Yes I can"?
but what would be the answer to the answer-man?
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 til it won't stretch
no furthermore and/or it may require a change that hasn't come before.
Samson and Delilah by the Reverend Gary Davis 2/79
If I had my way,
I would tear this old building down.
Well Delilah was a woman, she was fine and fair,
She had good looks, God knows, and coal black hair,
Delilah she gained old Samson's mind,
When first he saw this woman, you know she looked so fine.
Delilah she climbed up on Samson's knee
Said tell me where your strength lies if you please
She spoke so kind and she talked so fair
And Samson said, Delilah cut off my hair.
You can shave my head, clean as my hand
And my strength will become as natural as any old man.
If I had my way, if I had my way, if I had my way,
I would tear this old building down.
You read about Samson, ever since his birth
He was the strongest man that ever had lived on earth
So one day when Samson was walking along
He looked down on the ground, he saw an old jawbone
He stretched out his arm, God knows, chains broke like a thread
When he got to moving, ten thousand was dead.
If I had my way, if I had my way, if I had my way,
I would tear this old building down.
Now Samson and the lion, they got in a tack,
Samson he crawled up on the lion's back
You read about this lion, he killed a man with his paws
But Samson he got his hands around that lion's jaws
He ripped that beast til he killed him dead
The bees made honey in the lion's head.
If I had my way, if I had my way, if I had my way,
I would tear this old building down.
Scarlet Begonias by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter 4/75
As I was walking round Grosvenor Square,
not a chill to the winter but a nip to the air,
from the other direction, she was calling my eye,
it could be an illusion, but I might as well try, might as well try.
She had rings on her fingers and bells on her shoes,
and I knew without asking she was into the blues.
She wore scarlet begonias tucked into her curls,
I knew right away she was not like other girls, other girls.
In the thick of the evening when the dealin' got rough,
she was too pat to open and too cool to bluff.
As I picked up my matches and was closing the door,
I had one of those flashes I'd been there before, been there before.
Well, I ain't always right but I've never been wrong,
seldom turns out the way it does in a song.
Once in a while you get shown the light
in the strangest of places if you look at it right.
Well there ain't nothing wrong with the way she moves,
or scarlet begonias or a touch of the blues.
And there's nothing wrong with the look that's in her eyes,
I had to learn the hard way to let her pass by, let her pass by.
The wind in the willows played tea for two,
the sky was yellow and the sun was blue,
strangers stopping strangers just to shake their hand,
everybody's playing in the heart-of-gold band, heart-of-gold band.
Shakedown Street by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter 1/79
You tell me this town ain't got no heart
well, well, well, you can never tell
the sunny side of the street is dark.
well, well, well, you can never tell
Maybe that's cuz it's midnight
in the dark of the moon besides
Maybe the dark is from your eyes,
Maybe the dark is from your eyes,
Maybe the dark is from your eyes,
Maybe the dark is from your eyes,
Maybe the dark is from your eyes,
Maybe the dark is from your eyes,
You know you got such dark eyes!
Nothing shakin' on Shakedown Street
used to be the heart of town
don't tell me this town ain't got no heart
just gotta poke around.
You think you've seen this town clear through
well, well, well, you can never tell
nothing here that could interest you
well, well, well, you can never tell
It's not because you missed out
on the thing that we had to stop
Maybe you had too much to fast
Maybe you had too much to fast
Maybe you had too much to fast
Maybe you had too much to fast
Maybe you had too much to fast
Maybe you had too much to fast
or just over played your part.
Nothing shakin' on Shakedown Street
used to be the heart of town
don't tell me this town ain't got no heart
just gotta poke around.
Since I'm passing your way today
well, well, well, you can never tell
I just stopped in cuz I wanna say,
well, well, well, you can never tell
I recall your darkness
when it crackled like a thundercloud.
Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart
Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart
Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart
Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart
Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart
Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart
when I can hear it beat out loud!
Nothing shakin' on Shakedown Street
used to be the heart of town
don't tell me this town ain't got no heart
just gotta poke around.
Ship of Fools by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter
Went to see the captain, strangest I could find,
laid my proposition down, laid it on the line.
I won't slave for beggar's pay, likewise gold and jewels,
but I would slave to learn the way to sink your ship of fools.
Ship of fools on a cruel sea,
ship of fools sail away from me.
It was later than I thought when I first believed you,
now I cannot share your laughter, ship of fools.
Saw your first ship sink and drown, from rockin of the boat,
and all that could not sink or swim was just left there to float.
I won't leave you drifting down, but woh it makes me wild,
with thirty years upon my head to have you call me child.
Ship of fools on a cruel sea,
ship of fools sail away from me.
It was later than I thought when I first believed you,
now I cannot share your laughter, ship of fools.
The bottles stand as empty, as they were filled before.
Time there was and plenty, but from that cup no more
Though I could not caution all, I still might warn a few
Don't lend your hand to raise no flag atop no ship of fools.
Ship of fools on a cruel sea,
ship of fools sail away from me.
It was later than I thought when I first believed you,
now I cannot share your laughter, ship of fools.
It was later than I thought when I first believed you,
now I cannot share your laughter, ship of fools.
Sitting on Top of the World by Jacobs and Carter
Mississippi River so big and wide
Blond haired woman on the other side
Now she's gone, gone, gone and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sitting on top of the world.
I worked all summer, spring and fall
Blond haired woman the cause of it all
Now she's gone, gone, gone and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sitting on top of the world.
I saw her in Dallas and El Paso
Said come back baby, I need you so
Now she's gone, gone, gone and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sitting on top of the world.
Mississippi River so big and wide
Blond haired woman on the other side
Now she's gone, gone, gone and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sitting on top of the world.
So Far from Me by Brent Mydland
You say you want to try again
well you don't realize
that I have a better end in mind
It doesn't seem you really have to
close your eyes to see
Though I hope you don't need me
You are so far from me
There was something I had caught inside
? ?
? ?
It doesn't seem you really have to
close your eyes to see
you have been all you'll be
it's just you babe
and we can't relate at all
It doesn't seem you really have to
close your eyes to see
Though I hope you don't need me
You are so far from me
This time's the last time I want to say no more
this song's my last song for you
there's just nothing here to hold on to babe
nothing to hold on to
Stagger Lee by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter 1/79
1940, Xmas eve, with a full moon over town
Stagger Lee met Billy de Lion
and he Blew that `oor boy down.
Do you know what he shot him for?
What do you make of that?
Cuz Billy de Lion threw the lucky dice
won Stagger Lee's Stetson hat.
Bayo, Bayo, tell me how can this be?
You arrest the girls for turning tricks
but you're scared of Stagger Lee.
Stagger Lee is a madman and he shot my Billy dead.
Bayo go get him or give the job to me.
Delia de Lion, dear sweet Delia-D
How the hell can I arrest him? He's twice as big as me.
Well don't ask me to go downtown - I won't come back alive,
not only is that mother big but he packs a .45.
Bayo, Delia said, just give me a gun
he shot my Billy dead now I'm gonna see him hung.
She waded to the Lion's club through Billy de Lion's blood
stepped up to Stagger Lee at the bar,
said, "Buy me a gin fizz, love."
As Stagger Lee lit a cigarette she shot him in the balls
blew the smoke off her revolver, had him dragged to city hall
Bayo, Bayo, see you hang him high
he shot my Billy dead and now he's got to die.
Delia went a walking down on Singapore Street
a three-piece band on the corner played "Nearer My God to Thee"
but Delia whistled a different tune, what tune could it be?
The song that woman sung was look out Stagger Lee.
The song that Delia sung was look out Stagger Lee.
The song that woman sung was look out Stagger Lee.
The song that Delia sung was look out Stagger Lee.
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larry kolodney (The Devil's Advocate)
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