Lyrics:
Robert Hunter
Music:
Jerry Garcia
Reprinted with permissions: copyright
Ice Nine Publishing - see
Grateful Dead Lyrics
Recordings:
In The Dark (studio 1987)
Downhill From Here (video 7/19/89)
First performance:
August 28, 1982, at the Oregon Country Fair Site in Veneta, Oregon.
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Looking for a chateau
Twenty one rooms but one will do
Looking for a chateau
Twenty one rooms but one will do
I don't want to buy it
I just want to rent it for an hour or two
Met an old mistake
Walking down the street today
Met an old mistake
Walking down the street today
I didn't want to be mean about it
But I, I didn't have one good word to say
West L.A. fadeaway
West L.A. fadeaway
Little red light on the highway
Big green light on the speedway, hey, hey, hey
I had a steady job
Hauling items for the mob
I had a steady job
Hauling items for the mob
You know the pay was pathetic
It's a shame those boys couldn't be more copacetic
I met a west L.A. girl
Already know what I need to know
I met a west L.A. girl
Already know what I need to know
Name, address and phone number, Lord
And just how far to go
West L.A. fadeaway
West L.A. fadeaway
Little red light on the highway
Big green light on the speedway, hey, hey, hey
Looking for a chateau
Twenty one rooms but one will do
Looking for a chateau
Twenty one rooms but one will do
I don't want to rent it
I just what to use it for a minute or two
West L.A. fadeaway
West L.A. fadeaway
Little red light on the highway
Big green light on the speedway, hey, hey, hey
Little red light on the highway
Big green light on the speedway, hey, hey, hey
Little red light on the highway
Big green light on the speedway, hey, hey, hey
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The earliest versions of the song (eg 12 Sep 1982) included a verse that Robert Hunter sang but Garcia soon dropped from his version:
Here's what Ginger says
She walks right, she ain't nobody's fool
Here's what Ginger says
She always tries to play by the golden rule
She says if you treat other people all right
Other folks probably treat you right too
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One of my personal favs from the GD songbook. Especially the lines about working for the mob. This has special resonance for all of those Deadheads who worked with the Family, a shady group who distributed LSD and other psychtropics at dead shows.
The pay wasn't pathetic, and my co-workers were very copacetic, in fact they were a bunch of friendly freaks, but you had to watch your back... never trust a prankster and all that.
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There is also some specualtion that the chateau refered to could be the Chateau Marmont, the hotel on Sunset Strip in Los Angeles where John Belushi died on March 5, 1982.