Worried Song

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Robert Hunter

A Hunter lyric in Box of Rain and recorded on his album "Liberty". It clearly draws on the traditional song 'Worried Man Blues' but elaborates it in Hunter's own way.

It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now but I won't be worried long (note 1)

It takes a worried man
Four in the morning with a road map in his hand
It takes a worried man
To summon the demon of love from a bottle
And I know you understand
It takes a worried man
To love someone who just don't give a damn
Worried man
To walk in on the woman he loves in the arms of another man
It takes a worried man - to sing a worried song

If I thought we had a chance
I'd stick around and sweat
Try to work the small stuff out
The other - just forget
I can't stand a long good-bye
So I'll just say: So long!
You know it takes a worried man
To sing a worried song

It takes a worried man
Nothing less to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man
To come to terms with the facts of life in the light of a cold grey dawn
Takes a worried man
Worried now but I won't be worried long
Worried man
I'd like to think
I got an open mind but you know I ain't that strong (note 2)
Takes a worried man - to sing a worried song

Don't ask me to compromise
Accept and learn to trust (note 3)
You're only wasting words on me
I'm doing what I must
I can't do no other way
I been this way too long
You know it takes a worried man
To sing a worried song

It takes a worried man
Bed you made ain't wide enough for three
It takes a worried man
Oh babe, I'm just gonna cut you free
Worried man
Worried now but I won't be worried soon (note 4)
It takes a worried man
Devil rode out in the saddle of a full black moon (note 5)
Takes a worried man - to sing a worried tune

It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now but I won't be worried long

Hunter sang a different, simpler version on 9 October 1978, well before the version recorded on "Liberty". Apart from the opening (which I haven't found any source for), the verses come from the traditional versions of the song:

I wonder why the jail is cold and damp and the rats they cover the floor
If you get the money to go my bail I'll be gone for ever more
Bom-do-i, bom-do-i, bom-do-i, o-ho
Bom-do-i, bom-do-i, baby I don't know

I wonder why the jail is cold and damp and the rats they cover the floor
If you get the money to go my bail I'll be gone for ever more

It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now but I won't be worried long

I went across the river to lay me down to sleep
I went across the river to lay me down to sleep
I went across the river to lay me down to sleep
When I awoke, there were shackles on my feet

Twenty-nine links of chain around each leg, oh Lordy me
Twenty-nine links of chain around each leg, oh Lordy me
Twenty-nine links of chain around each leg, oh Lordy me
And on each link the initial of my name

It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
It takes a worried man to sing a worried song
I'm worried now but I won't be worried long

Notes
(1) this verse appears in the many variants of "Worried Blues" or "Worried Man Blues." An account of the history of the song is here.
(2) on the recording on "Liberty," Hunter sings "Open-minded but I still know right from wrong"
(3) Hunter sings something different here, hard to make out but something like "Ashes ... dust"
(4) this is as in "Box Of Rain," but Hunter in fact sings "... won't be worried long"
(5) Hunter sings "Devil took that woman and left this song"

Robert Hunter Recordings
	Date	Album
	1988	Liberty

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