Wharf Rat

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia

Old man down (note 1)
Way down, down by the docks of the city (note 2)
Blind and dirty
Asked me for a dime, a dime for a cup of coffee
I got no dime, but I got some time to hear his story

My name is August West
And I love my Pearly Baker best, more than my wine
More than my wine (note 3)
More than my maker, though he's no friend of mine

Everyone said
I'd come to no good
I knew I would
Pearly, believed them
Half of my life
Spent doing time for some other fucker's crime (note 4)
The other half found me
Stumbling around, drunk on burgundy wine

But I'll get back on my feet someday
The good lord willing, if he says I may
I know that the life I'm living's no good
I'll get a new start, live the life I should
I'll get up and fly away
I'll get up and fly away

Pearly's been true
True to me, true to my dying day, he said
I said to him
I said to him, I'm sure she's been
I said to him, I'm sure she's been true to you

I got up and wandered
Wandered downtown, nowhere to go but just to hang around
I've got a girl
Named Bonny Lee, I know that girl's been true to me (note 5)
I know she's been, I'm sure she's been true to me

Notes
(1) Hunter's lyric book has "Wharf rat down" but Jerry never sang that.
(2) the first time it was played, on 18 February 1971, Jerry sang "... down by the docks of the river", but that seems to be the only occasion. (thanks to Mike Scheier for this)
(3) Jerry sometimes missed out these two lines, for example in the version on "Ladies And Gentlemen ..." (28 April 1971). Thanks to Ed Abahoonie and Mike Scheier for pointing this out
(4) there are several recordings where it sounds as if Jerry sang "... some motherfucker's crime," though it's very hard to tell. (thanks to John Sarjeant for pointing this out)
(5) the sheet music wrongly has this as "Named Benny Lee ..."

Hunter's handwritten lyrics show some variations from what finally emerged:

Wharf rat down in
The docks by the city
Got no home
He's blind and dirty
Asks me a dime
For a cup of coffee
I got no dime
But ~~he tells~~ I hear his story
But I listen to his story
'Cause I got nowhere to go [myself]

He says "my name is August West
And I loved my Pearly Baker best
Better than I loved my wine
Better than my maker, though he's none of mine

Everyone said I'd come to no good
Pearly believed 'em ~~'cause she knew~~ though [?] I would
But half my life spent doin' time
The other half drunk on burgundy wine

But I'll get back on my feet someday
The good lord willing, if he says I may
'Cause I know the life I lead's no good
I'll get a new start and live the life I should

I'll just up and fly away, my friend
I'll just up and fly away

That's all that's on the page in Hunter's archive. It's not clear to me whether the rest was written on the back or added later.

Grateful Dead Recordings
	Date	Album
	18 Feb 1971	American Beauty (50th Anniversary Edition)
	19 Feb 1971	Three From The Vault
	21 Feb 1971	Workingman's Dead (50th Anniversary Edition)
	18 Mar 1971	30 Trips Around The Sun
	26 Apr 1971	Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses) (note 8)
	28 Apr 1971	Ladies And Gentlemen ... The Grateful Dead
	23 Aug 1971	Road Trips Number 1, Volume 3
	14 Nov 1971	Road Trips Number 3, Volume 2 (bonus disc)
	17 Nov 1971	Dave's Picks Volume 26
	6 Dec 1971	Dave's Picks Volume 22
	14 Dec 1971	Dave's Picks Volume 26 (bonus disc)
	21 Mar 1972	Dave's Picks Vol 14 (bonus disc)
	26 Mar 1972	Dave's Picks Vol 14
	7 Apr 1972	Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead: England '72 (note 6)
	24 Apr 1972	Rockin' The Rhein (note 6)
	3 May 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	10 May 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	25 May 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	3 Sep 1972	Dick's Picks Vol 36
	15 Nov 1972	Dave's Picks Volume 11 (filler) (note 9)
	10 Jun 1973	Here Comes Sunshine
	22 Jun 1973	Pacific Northwest '73-'74
	29 Oct 1973	Listen To The River: St Louis '71 '72 73
	10 Nov 1973	Winterland 1973 - The Complete Recordings
	14 Nov 1973	30 Trips Around The Sun
	21 Nov 1973	Road Trips Volume 4, Number 3
	2 Dec 1973	Dick's Picks Vol 14
	23 Mar 1974	Dick's Picks Vol 24
	19 May 1974	Pacific Northwest '73-'74
	21 May 1974	Pacific Northwest '73-'74
	16 Jun 1974	Road Trips Number 2, Volume 3 (bonus disc)
	22 Jun 1974	Dave's Picks Volume 34 (bonus disc)
	26 Jun 1974	Dick's Picks Vol 12
	29 Jul 1974	Dave's Picks Volume 2 (Bonus disc) (note 7)
	31 Jul 1974	Dave's Picks Volume 2
	4 Aug 1974	Dick's Picks Vol 31
	9 Sep 1974	Dick's Picks Vol 7
	20 Oct 1974	Grateful Dead Movie (CD only)
	9 Jun 1976	Road Trips Volume 4, Number 5
	17 Jun 1976	Dave's Picks Volume 28
	10 Oct 1976	Dick's Picks Vol 33
	31 Dec 1976	Live At The Cow Palace
	25 Apr 1977	30 Trips Around The Sun
	3 May 1977	Dave's Picks Volume 50
	7 May 1977	May 1977: Get Shown The Light Box
	11 May 1977	May 1977 Box Set
	17 May 1977	May 1977 Box Set
	22 May 1977	Dick's Picks Vol 3
	25 May 1977	Dave's Picks Volume 1
	28 May 1977	To Terrapin: Hartford '77
	8 Jun 1977	Winterland June 1977 - The Complete Recordings
	2 Oct 1977	Dave's Picks Volume 45
	7 Oct 1977	Road Trips Volume 1, Number 2
	6 Nov 1977	Dave's Picks Volume 25
	5 Feb 1978	Dick's Picks Vol 18
	22 Apr 1978	Dave's Picks Vol 15
	10 May 1978	Dick's Picks Vol 25
	1 Jul 1978	July 1978: The Complete Recordings
	5 Jul 1978	July 1978: The Complete Recordings
	8 Jul 1978	July 1978: The Complete Recordings
	31 Dec 1978	The Closing Of Winterland (DVD & CD)
	9 Nov 1979	Road Trips Volume 1, Number 1
	3 Dec 1979	Dave's Picks Vol 31
	30 Dec 1979	Road Trips Vol 3, No 1 (bonus disc)
	6 May 1980	Road Trips Volume 3, Number 4
	4 Sep 1980	Download Series Vol 7
	6 May 1981	Dick's Picks Vol 13
	21 Oct 1983	30 Trips Around The Sun
	19 Apr 1984	Dave's Picks Volume 35
	28 Apr 1985	Dave's Picks Vol 49
	24 Jun 1985	30 Trips Around The Sun
	31 Dec 1987	Ticket To New Year's (video/DVD only)
	1 Apr 1988	Road Trips Volume 4, Number 2
	7 Jul 1989	Crimson, White and Indigo (DVD & CD)
	13 Jul 1989	RFK Stadium 1989 Box
	15 Mar 1990	Terrapin Station (Limited Edition)
	21 Mar 1990	Spring 1990 (The Other One)
	28 Mar 1990	Spring 1990 (The Other One)
	6 Jul 1990	(official YouTube video only)
	16 Jul 1990	(official YouTube video only)
	20 Jun 1991	Download Series Vol 11

Notes
(6) also on the box set Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
(7) also made available for download on 30 Days Of The Dead (2011) and 30 Days Of The Dead (2019)
(8) also on the compilation The Best Of The Grateful Dead Live
(9) also made available for download on 30 Days Of The Dead (2021) and 30 Days Of The Dead (2019)


(Plus live recordings by The Dead, Furthur, Dead & Company, Ratdog, Phil Lesh & Friends etc not listed here. See Grateful Dead Family Discography for a full list.)

Covers
	Date	Album	Recorded By
	1991	Deadicated	Midnight Oil
	1996	Fire On the Mountain	Reggae Celebrates the Grateful Dead (Michael Rose)
	1999	Swingin' To The Grateful Dead	Steve Marsh et al
	2001	Built To Grass	Grass Is Dead
	11 Jul 2002	Live: Salt Lake City, UT	Bruce Hornsby
	2005	Jerry Jams, Jerry Cares	Swampadelica
	2006	The Best of the Jammys, Vol 1	Ryan Adas and the Cardinals
	17 Mar 2007	Oriental Theatre, Denver, CO	KVMH
	2010	Live At The Blue Light	Charlie Shafter & The Gnomes
	2010	Spun	Lauren Pennington
	2010	At Page Auditorium, Duke University	The American Beauty Project
	2013	Keys	Keller Willams
	2013	Surrender	Jon Wayne And The Pain
	2015	It's A Hand-Me-Down	David Gans
	2015	Songs Of Their Own	Pete Pidgeon
	17 Apr 2015	Live: Morrison, CO	Disco Biscuits
	2016	Better Left Unsung	Holly Bowling
	2016	Day Of The Dead	Moses Sumney, Jenny Lewis & Friends
	22 Mar 2016	Live: Mill Valley, CA	Jackie Greene
	2018	Cut The Dead Some Slack	Stephen Inglis
	2019	Dead Air	Travis Elliott
	2019	Phantom Ships With Phantom Sails	Live Dead '69
	2019	Chip's Picks Vol 2	High Time

Further Information
For an online discussion of the lyrics to this song see the deadsongs.vue conference on The Well.
For more information on recordings see Matt Schofield's Grateful Dead Family Discography
For information on references in the lyrics see David Dodd's Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics
For David Dodd's discussion of this song on dead.net see Greatest Stories Ever Told
For online chords and TAB see www.rukind.com
For sheet music, see:
Grateful Dead Anthology Volume 1 (piano arrangement)
Garcia/Hunter Songbook (vocal line and chords/TAB)