Blues For Allah

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia

Arabian wind, the needle's eye is thin
The ships of state sail on mirage and drown in sand
Out in no man's land, where Allah does command
What good is spilling blood? It will not grow a thing
"Taste eternity", the swords sing
Blues for Allah, Insh'Allah
They lie where they fall, there's nothing more to say
The desert stars are bright tonight, let's meet as friends

The flower of Islam, the fruit of Abraham
The thousand stories have come round to one again
Arabian night, our gods pursue their flight
What fatal flowers of darkness bloom from seeds of light
Bird of Paradise fly in the white sky

Blues for Allah, Insh'Allah
Let's see with our heart these things our eyes have seen
And know the truth must still lie somewhere in between

Under eternity
Under eternity
Under eternity blue
Under eternity
Under eternity
Under eternity blue

Bird of Paradise fly in white sky
Blues for Allah, Insh'Allah
Grateful Dead Recordings
     Date Album
     studio 1975 Blues For Allah
     23 Mar 1975 Beyond Description: Bonus CD
     13 Aug 1975 One From The Vault

Recordings from dead.net Tapers Section
 
Other Recordings
     Date Album Recorded By
     Oct 1990 Eternity Blue Henry Kaiser
     1996 Blues For Allah Joe Gallant and Illuminati
     2001 Great Sky River Jazz Is Dead
      2007 Dead Symphony Lee Johnson


Futher 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 sheet music, see:
          Grateful Dead Songbook Volume 2 (piano arrangement)
          Garcia/Hunter Songbook (vocal line and chords/TAB)

 


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