Loser

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia

If I had a gun for every ace that I had drawn
I could arm a town the size of Abilene
Don't you push me baby, 'cause I'm moaning low
And you know I'm only in it for the gold

All that I am asking for is ten gold dollars (note 1)
And I could pay you back with one good hand
You can look around at the wide world over
But you'll never find another honest man

Last fair deal in the country, sweet Susie (note 2)
Last fair deal in the town
Put your gold money where your love is baby
Before you let my deal go down

Don't you push me baby, 'cause I'm moaning low
Well I know a little something you won't ever know
Don't you touch hard liquor, just a cup of cold coffee
Gonna get up in the morning and go

Everybody's bragging and drinking that wine
I can tell the Queen of Diamonds by the way she shines
Come to daddy on an inside straight
Well I got no chance of losing this time
Well I got no chance of losing this time
Notes
(1) at some point, this changed from "one gold dollar" - inflation!
(2) after a while, Garcia dropped "sweet Susie" from this line, though he occasionally seemed to forget and bring it back again! It rarely appears after 1972, but instances are 5/14/74, 6/18/74 and 1/10/79.

Grateful Dead & Jerry Garcia Recordings
     Date Album
     19 Feb 1971 Three From The Vault
     28 Apr 1971 Ladies And Gentlemen ... The Grateful Dead
     24 Aug 1971 Dick's Picks Vol 35
     26 Oct 1971 Download Series Vol 3
     studio 1972 Garcia (note 3)
     studio 1972 Garcia (alternate take) (note 4)
     24 Apr 1972 Rockin' The Rhein
     21 Jul 1972 Download Series Vol 10
     21 Sep 1972 Dick's Picks Vol 36
     17 Sep 1972 Dick's Picks Vol 23
     21 Sep 1972 Dick's Picks Vol 36
     26 Feb 1973 Dick's Picks Vol 28
     10 Nov 1973 Winterland 1973 - The Complete Recordings
     25 Sep 1976 Dick's Picks Vol 20
     10 Oct 1976 Dick's Picks Vol 33
     19 May 1977 Dick's Picks Vol 29
      3 Sep 1977 Dick's Picks Vol 15
     14 Oct 1977 Road Trips Volume 1, Number 2
     29 Dec 1977 Dick's Picks Vol 10
     11 May 1978 Dick's Picks Vol 25
      ? Oct 1980 Dead Set

Recordings from dead.net Tapers Section

"The Dead" Concert Recordings
 
Robert Hunter Concert Recordings
     20 Jun 2004 Red Rocks Amphitheater, Morrison, CO 
     26 Jun 2004 Shoreline Amphitheater, Mountain View, CA 
     29 Jun 2004 USANA Amphitheater, Salt Lake City, UT 
     2 Jul 2004 Columbia Meadows, Portland, OR 
     8 Aug 2004 Tweeter Waterfront, Camden, NJ 
     11 Aug 2004 PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ 

Ratdog Live CD Series
 
Bob Weir Recordings
     25 Apr 2001 Live At The Roseland Ratdog
 
Other Recordings
     Date Album Recorded By
      1989 No Regrets Danny Carnahan & Robin Petrie
      1993 Kerosene Hat Cracker
      1994 Warriors: KFOG Jam Cracker   (note 5)
      May 1999 Furthur Most Bruce Hornsby
      2001 Pickin' On Jerry Garcia David West et al
      2005 Grass Keller and The Keels
      2006 Here In California Dave Alvin

Notes
(3) also on the compilation The Best Of Jerry Garcia
(4) bonus track on the version of the album reissued in the box set All Good Things.
(5) this is a live version, not the studio version recorded on "Kerosene Hat"


Futher 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 online chords and TAB see www.rukind.com
For sheet music, see:
          Grateful Dead Anthology Volume 2 (piano arrangement)
          Garcia Songbook (piano arrangement)
          Garcia/Hunter Songbook (vocal line and chords/TAB)

 


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