Lyrics: Jerry Garcia
Music: Grateful Dead
One of the songs played in 1965-66 by the Dead but then dropped
from their repertoire. Revived by Phil Lesh & Friends in 2012.
Bob Weir described the writing of the song in an interview: "Well, we wrote all the music and Jerry wrote the lyrics.
Jerry excused himself for a moment and went off. He came back with a couple of verses and we put together a chorus."
I'm flying down deserted streetsNotes
Wrapped in mother's winding sheets
Asbestos boots on flaming feet
Dreaming of forbidden treats
When uniforms on nighttime beats
Ask me where I'm going and what I eat
I answer them with a voice so sweet
Chorus
I can't come down, it's plain to see
I can't come down, I've been set free
Who you are and what you do don't make no difference to me
Well someone trying to tell me where it's at
And how I do this and why I do that
With secret smiles like a Cheshire cat
And leather wings like a vampire bat
I fly away to my cold water flat
And eat my way through a bowl of fat
And I say to the man with the funny hat (note 1)
[chorus]
They say I've begun to lose my grip
My hold on reality is starting to slip
They tell me to get off this trip
They say that it's like a sinking ship
Life's sweet wine's too warm to sip (note 2)
And if I drink I'll surely flip
I just say as I take a nip
[chorus]
So as I dream of forgotten seas
And granite walls and redwood trees
And of the eye that only sees
Endless mirrors and infinite me's
About the winter's coming freeze
This afterthought I say with ease
To all of you who made your pleas
[chorus]
Grateful Dead Recordings | |||||
Date | Album | ||||
3 Nov 1965 | So Many Roads (1965-1995) (note 1) | ||||
Other Recordings | |||||
Date | Album | Recorded By | |||
2013 | Keys | Keller Willams |