Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh
I can't stay here much longer, Melinda
The sun is getting high
I can't help you with your troubles
If you won't help with mine
I gotta get down
I gotta get down
Gotta get down to the mine
You keep me up just one more night
I can't stop here no more
Little Ben clock says quarter to eight
You kept me up till four
I gotta get down
I gotta get down
Or I can't work there no more
Lotta poor man make a five dollar bill
Will keep him happy all the time
Some other fellow's making nothing at all
And you can hear him cry
Can I go, buddy, can I go down
Take your shift at the mine
Gotta get down to the Cumberland mine
That's where I mainly spend my time
Make good money, five dollars a day
If I made any more I might move away
Lotta poor man got the Cumberland Blues
He can't win for losing
Lotta poor man got to walk the line
Just to pay his union dues
I don't know now, I just don't know
If I'm going back again
I don't know now, I just don't know
If I'm going back again
| Grateful Dead Recordings | |||||
| Date | Album | ||||
| 8 Nov 1969 | Dick's Picks Vol 16 | ||||
| studio 1970 | Workingman's Dead | ||||
| 17 Jan 1970 | Workingman's Dead (note 1) | ||||
| 2 May 1970 | Dick's Picks Vol 8 | ||||
| 19 Feb 1971 | Three From The Vault | ||||
| 28 Apr 1971 | Ladies And Gentlemen ... The Grateful Dead | ||||
| 6 Aug 1971 | Road Trips Number 1, Volume 3 (bonus disc) | ||||
| 7 Aug 1971 | Dick's Picks Vol 35 | ||||
| 24 Aug 1971 | Dick's Picks Vol 35 | ||||
| 26 Oct 1971 | Download Series Vol 3 | ||||
| 28 Mar 1972 | Dick's Picks Vol 30 | ||||
| 8 Apr 1972 | Europe '72 (note 2) | ||||
| 21 Jul 1972 | Download Series Vol 10 | ||||
| 21 Sep 1972 | Dick's Picks Vol 36 | ||||
| 27 Sep 1972 | Dick's Picks Vol 11 | ||||
| 27 Mar 1988 | Download Series Vol 5 | ||||
| 17 Jul 1989 | Downhill From Here (video/DVD only) | ||||
Recordings from dead.net Tapers Section
"The Dead" Concert Recordings
Phil Lesh and Friends Digital Download Series
Furthur Digital Downloads and CDs
| Other Recordings | |||||
| Date | Album | Recorded By | |||
| 1980 | Step Up To Big Pay | Cache Valley Drifters (note 3) | |||
| 1993 | Dead Ringers | Dead Ringers | |||
| 1997 | Pickin' On The Grateful Dead | David West et al | |||
| 1998 | High Adventures In Japan | David Nelson Band (note 4) | |||
| 1999 | Swingin' To The Grateful Dead | Steve Marsh et al | |||
| 2005 | Jerry Jams, Jerry Cares | Only Footprints | |||
| 2006 | I Don't Miss Trains | The Orchard Boys | |||
| 2007 | Live in the Northeast | Hot Buttered Rum | |||