Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia
Played by the Dead from 1968 to 1995, almost invariably seguing into I Know You Rider.
More recently played by The Other Ones, Ratdog and Phil & Friends.
Look for a while at the China Cat SunflowerRobert Hunter played Saint Stephen>Alligator>China Cat Sunflower>The Eleven>China Cat Sunflower on 18 March 2003 to illustrate how the songs had originally been conceived. This included what seems to be an extra verse to "China Cat Sunflower" just before "The Eleven":
proud-walking jingle in the midnight sun
Copper-dome bodhi drip a silver kimono
like a crazy-quilt star gown
through a dream night wind
Chorus (note a)
China cat
China cat
China cat
China cat
Krazy Kat peeking through a lace bandana
like a one-eyed Cheshire
like a diamond-eyed jack
A leaf of all colors plays
a golden string fiddle
to a double-e waterfall over my back
[chorus]
Comic book colors on a violin river
crying Leonardo words
from out a silk trombone
I rang a silent bell
beneath a shower of pearls
in the eagle winged palace
of the queen Chinee
[chorus]
Come out of the snow into my single-room cabinNotes
There you're sitting with your windows wide open
And the sound of doors collapsing in the breeze
And the sound of violins
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