Lazy River Road
Lyrics:
Robert Hunter
Music:
Jerry Garcia
Reprinted with permissions copyright
Ice Nine Publishing
Recorded on
So Many Roads (1965-1995) (rehearsal 18 Feb 1993).
First performance: February 21, 1993, at the
Oakland Coliseum Arena.
This song was one of the last written by Hunter/Garcia. It can be considered a companion piece to
So Many Roads, but take another sweeter tack than the outright longing and gloom of the former.
Way down upon Sycamore Slough
A white man sings the blues
selling roses of paper mache
with flecks of starlight dew
I swiped a bunch and threw it your way
where hazy moonlight glowed
Way down down along Lazy River Road
Way down upon Shadowfall Ward
End of the avenue
Run, hide, seek in your own backyard
Mama's backyard won't do
All night long I sang Love's Sweet Song
down where the water flowed
Way down down along Lazy River Road
Moonlight wails as hound dogs bay
but never quite catch the tune
Stars fall down in buckets like rain
till there ain't no standing room
Bright blue boxcars train by train
clatter where dreams unfold
Way down down along Lazy River Road
Way down upon Seminole Square
belly of the river tide
call for me and I will be there
for the price of a taxi ride
Night double-clutches into today
like a truck downshifting its load
Way down down along Lazy River Road
Thread the needle
right through the eye
The thread that runs so true
All the others I let pass by
I only wanted you
Never cared for careless love
but how your bright eyes glowed
Way down down along Lazy River Road