Ship Of Fools

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia

Went to see the captain, strangest I could find
Laid my proposition down, laid it on the line (note 5)
I won't slave for beggar's pay, likewise gold and jewels
But I would slave to learn the way to sink your ship of fools

Chorus
Ship of fools on a cruel sea
Ship of fools sail away from me
It was later than I thought when I first believed you (note 1)
But now I cannot share your laughter, ship of fools (note 4)

Saw your first ship sink and drown from rocking of the boat
And all that could not sink or swim was just left there to float (note 6)
I won't leave you drifting down but whoa it makes me wild
With thirty years upon my head to have you call me child (note 2)

[chorus]

The bottles stand as empty now, as they were filled before
Time there was and plenty, but from that cup no more
Though I could not caution all, I still might warn a few (note 3)
Don't lend your hand to raise no flag atop no ship of fools

[chorus]

Notes
(1) On 28 March 1981 Jerry sang "... when I still believed you" in one of the choruses (thanks to David Gans for pointing this out)
(2) Jerry subsequently changed this line to "With forty years upon my head ..." and, I believe, occasionally to "fifty years" - though in the last performance, on 25 June 1995 he was back to "thirty years".
(3) Apparently, Jerry sometimes sang "Though I could not caution all it's still my point of view" - not confirmed, and I'd be grateful if anyone could point me to an instance of this.
(4) It certainly sounds as if Bob Weir in 2016 sang "I cannot bear your laughter".
(5) On 12 Jul 1989 (and perhaps other occasions), Jerry sang "Turned my proposition down".
(6) I'd had this line as "... were just left there to float" but Michael Scroggins pointed out that Jerry sings "was" not "were", and that is indeed the lyric as Hunter wrote it in his book Box Of Rain. Something for grammarians to discuss!

Grateful Dead Recordings
	Date	Album
	studio 1974	Mars Hotel
	22 Feb 1974	Dave's Picks Volume 42 (bonus disc)
	23 Feb 1974	Dave's Picks Volume 42
	24 Feb 1974	Dave's Picks Volume 13
	12 May 1974	From The Mars Hotel (50th anniversary bonus disc) (note d)
	17 May 1974	Pacific Northwest '73-'74
	19 May 1974	Pacific Northwest '73-'74
	21 May 1974	Pacific Northwest '73-'74
	23 Jun 1974	Dave's Picks Volume 34
	28 Jun 1974	Dick's Picks Vol 12
	25 Jul 1974	30 Days Of The Dead (2020)
	31 Jul 1974	Dave's Picks Volume 2
	4 Aug 1974	Dick's Picks Vol 31
	18 Sep 1974	30 Trips Around The Sun
	16 Oct 1974	Steal Your Face
	9 Jun 1976	Road Trips Volume 4, Number 5
	11 Jun 1976	June 1976 Box Set
	17 Jun 1976	Dave's Picks Volume 28
	25 Apr 1977	30 Trips Around The Sun
	3 May 1977	Dave's Picks Volume 50
	9 May 1977	May 1977: Get Shown The Light Box
	15 May 1977	May 1977 Box Set
	22 Jan 1978	Dave's Picks Volume 23
	7 Apr 1978	Friend Of The Devils: April 1978
	10 Apr 1978	Friend Of The Devils: April 1978
	14 Apr 1978	Friend Of The Devils: April 1978
	16 Apr 1978	Friend Of The Devils: April 1978
	14 May 1978	30 Trips Around The Sun
	5 Jul 1978	July 1978: The Complete Recordings
	8 Jul 1978	July 1978: The Complete Recordings (note c)
	4 May 1979	Live At The Coliseum
	30 Nov 1980	Dave's Picks Volume 8
	9 Mar 1981	In And Out Of The Garden
	30 Sep 1981	30 Days Of The Dead (2023)
	5 Apr 1982	Road Trips Volume 4, Number 4
	7 Aug 1982	Dick's Picks Vol 32
	31 Mar 1986	30 Days Of The Dead (2018)
	4 Jul 1989	Truckin' Up To Buffalo (DVD & CD soundtrack)
	12 Jul 1989	RFK Stadium 1989 Box
	16 Mar 1990	Spring 1990
	1 Apr 1990	Spring 1990 (The Other One)
	16 Jul 1990	(official YouTube video only)
	19 Sep 1990	Road Trips Number 2, Volume 1
	17 Jun 1991	Giants Stadium 1987, 1989, 1991 Boxed Set (CD and DVD)
	16 Dec 1992	Dick's Picks Vol 27

(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.)

Other Recordings
	Date	Album	Recorded By
	16 Apr 1987	Stolen Roses	Elvis Costello
	1991	Deadicated	Elvis Costello (note a)
	1996	Costello and Nieve	Elvis Costello and Steve Nieve
	1999	Swingin' To The Grateful Dead	Steve Marsh et al
	2000	Might As Well	The Persuasions (note b)
	2001	Gratefully Yours	Jim Hudak
	2002	Rocking Horse To Mars	Kim Cheshire
	2003	Ukelele Summit 5	Various (Herb Ohta Jr.)
	2004	20 Degrees Of Solitude	The Grass Is Dead
	2004	The Thief	David Thom Band
	2005	Sight	Keller Williams (DVD)
	2007	Twisted Love Songs	David Gans
	2007	U Liners	U Liners
	2013	Move Me Brightly	Bob Weir et al (Blu-ray - bonus track)
	2015	The Promised Land: Acoustic Sessions	Sagol 59 & Ami Yares
	2015	It's A Hand-Me-Down	David Gans
	2016	Day Of The Dead	Tallest Man On Earth & Friends
	2016	Dead Giveaway	Be Gulls
	2018	Cut The Dead Some Slack	Stephen Inglis

Notes
(a) Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil told me that they'd originally wanted to record "Ship Of Fools" for the Deadicated album project, but then found that Elvis Costello had already picked it. So they chose Wharf Rat instead.
(b) re-released in 2011 on "Persuasions of the Dead"
(c) also released on 30 Days Of The Dead (2015)
(d) also released on 30 Days Of The Dead (2014)

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 details of every time played, see Chris Edwards Grateful Sets site
For sheet music, see:
          Grateful Dead Anthology Volume 1 (piano arrangement)
          Grateful Dead Songbook Volume 2 (piano arrangement)
          Garcia/Hunter Songbook (vocal line and chords/TAB)