Serafina Magdalena

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Robert Hunter

A Robert Hunter song that dates back to 1999, although it was only unveiled in concert until 2002. In his Road Journal for 16 June 1999, Hunter wrote "... developing half a dozen new songs (Serafina Magdalena, Ebenezer, Bolt from the Blue, Sack of Babylon, Back to the Somme, St. Agnes' Day) and working them up for performance" - of these, only Serafina Magdalena seems to have yet been played at a concert.

In a performance on 25 March 2003, Hunter explained the background to the melody:

"The melody for that came from a string quartet I wrote about 15 years ago, when I decided I was a composer and was going to write string quartets and that kind of stuff. I did a whole bunch of stuff. But what I was left with was that melody which I always thought would take words well. So I ripped that out of my string quartet, and here it was for you. [sings melody unaccompanied] It was good, it was good you know, it wasn't bad. [applause] So I sent it to Kronos Quartet, never heard from them. And I can't tell you, that was back before easy laser printering and stuff was happening, how hard it was to get four copies of that score made up. But you know ... I decided the hell with composing, I would translate Rilke. Yeah, and I did, you know. And then I thought, hell with translating Rilke, I want to start a website. Then I thought, hell with the website, I'm gonna go on the road."

These are the lyrics as posted in his road journal and which he sang from August 2002 to 2004. But see below for an earlier version.

Serafina Magdalena
Throw the potter's clay upon the wheel
Sit back, light up a cigarette
Gaze through the kitchen window
Down along the lane and far away
Sunlight falls over backyard walls (note 1)
Footsteps ring in the long empty hall

Trail of ancient footprints to your doorstep
Path way strewn with broken colored glass (note 2)
Sometimes you slip back into the past
To resurrect a daydream
You have dreamed so many times before
If you can get through one more night
The rest of it should be alright

Serafina Magdalena
Hide behind a cloudbank while the moon
Rises late then disappears too soon
To ever get to know you
All your colors fade to gray
Run run run daybreak comes
With a rush of wings and the sound of drums

I will give you love for love
Life by life, and one thing even more
I also meant to tell you
I left that set of footprints by your door
Turn turn turn while the ashes burn
We live and love but we never learn

Don't ask how long I'll love you
Could be forever and a day
Or just until the mid late afternoon
Rolls over like a raincloud (note 3)
Casting shadow bands across the bay
Time, time, time after time time time
We leave the loves of our lives behind

Serafina Magdalena
Play a tune upon your cheap guitar
Hum along, don't worry 'bout the song
The words don't really matter
It don't even need to be in tune
Play play play till it feels okay
There's some things that you just cannot say

But I will give you love for love
Life by life, and one thing even more
I also meant to tell you
I left that set of footprints by your door
Turn turn turn while the ashes burn
We live and love but we never learn

Serafina Magdalena
Serafina Magdalena

Notes
(1) in the recording I have, Hunter sings "Sunlight falls over garden walls"
(2) again, Hunter sings "Pathway made of broken glass"
(3) Hunter sings these two lines as "Rolls over like a rain storm/Chasing shadows bands across the sky"

On 8 May 2002, Robert Hunter said "How would you feel about hearing a lot of songs I've never played for anybody before?" The first one he played was Serafina Magdalena, but with different lyrics from the later versions. He explained at the end "I've got to rewrite it, I don't like the words much, but I like the tune." (thanks to Douglas Aldridge for alerting me to this recording)

These are the lyrics as best I can make them out: any help gratefully received.

Come on in and light yourself a candle
Put it in a saucer on the floor
Pull up a silver tone guitar and play me Mona Lisa
Sing a [?] before you [?]
There'll be times when we laugh again
Just like there's always been

Go away and never come again
Off aboard a steamer for Japan
Don't you ever wonder why your seasons disappear
Only when you're staring in the mirror
There'll be time like there was before
'Cause we won't be like that no more

And I will give you love for love, and life for life
Then we'll bring even more, come crawling through your window
If you will not let me through your door
Turn, turn, turn while the ashes burn
We love and we die but we never learn

Someone told me once about a woman
Who lived on cherry pie and apple wine
She drove a Cadillac DeVille
Painted like a rainbow
Robin sang upon her windowsill
Little brown house at the top of the hill
She ain't gone but she lives there still

Serafina Magdalena
I will always keep you in my heart
Sleep tight until the end of night rise up to greet the morning
Even as the robin meet the day
There'll be time when we laugh again
Just like there's always beenBR>
Don't ask how long I'll love you
Could be forever and a day
Or just until the mid late afternoon
Rolls over like a rain storm
When the heart commands we must obey
There'll be time when we laugh again
Just like there's always been

Further Information
For more information on recordings see Matt Schofield's Grateful Dead Family Discography