Weather Report Suite Part II: Let It Grow

Lyrics: John Barlow
Music: Bob Weir

Morning comes, she follows the path to the river shore
Lightly sung, her song is the latch on the morning's door (note 1)
See the sun sparkle in the reeds; silver beads pass into the sea

She comes from a town where they call her the woodcutter's daughter
She's brown as the bank where she kneels down to gather her water
And she bears it away with a love that the river has taught her
Let it flow, greatly flow, wide and clear

Round and round, the cut of the plow in the furrowed field
Seasons round, the bushels of corn and the barley meal (note 2)
Broken ground, open and beckoning to the spring; black dirt live again

The plowman is broad as the back of the land he is sowing
As he dances the circular track of the plow ever knowing
That the work of his day measures more than the planting and growing
Let it grow, let it grow, greatly yield (note 3)

Chorus
What shall we say, shall we call it by a name
As well to count the angels dancing on a pin
Water bright as the sky from which it came
And the name is on the earth that takes it in
We will not speak but stand inside the rain
And listen to the thunder shout
I am, I am, I am, I am

So it goes, we make what we made since the world began
Nothing more, the love of the women, work of men
Seasons round, creatures great and small, up and down, as we rise and fall

[chorus]
Notes
(1) outtakes from the "Wake Of The Flood" studio sessions show that this line was originally "Stepping free, she places her feet where they fell before" (Thanks to Neal Miskin for pointing this out to me.)
(2) this line originally started "Harvest dreams ..." instead of "Seasons round ..."
(3) this line was originally "Let it grow, richly grow, greatly yield"

Grateful Dead Recordings
     Date Album
     (studio) 4 Aug 1973 Wake Of The Flood   (note 4)
     (studio) Aug 1973 Wake Of The Flood
      9 Nov 1973 Winterland 1973 - The Complete Recordings
     10 Nov 1973 Winterland 1973 - The Complete Recordings
     11 Nov 1973 Winterland 1973 - The Complete Recordings
     30 Nov 1973 Dick's Picks Vol 14
      2 Dec 1973 Dick's Picks Vol 14
     19 Dec 1973 Dick's Picks Vol 1
     23 Mar 1974 Dick's Picks Vol 24
     28 Jun 1974 Dick's Picks Vol 12
      4 Aug 1974 Dick's Picks Vol 31
     10 Sep 1974 Dick's Picks Vol 7
     17 Oct 1974 Beyond Description: Bonus CD
     18 Oct 1974 Grateful Dead Movie (DVD and CD)
     25 Sep 1976 Dick's Picks Vol 20
     28 Sep 1976 Dick's Picks Vol 20
      2 Oct 1976 Live At The Cow Palace (note 5)
     11 Oct 1977 Road Trips Volume 1, Number 2
     10 May 1978 Dick's Picks Vol 25
      3 Sep 1980 Download Series Vol 7
     26 Oct 1980 Dead Set (note 4)
      6 May 1981 Dick's Picks Vol 13
      7 Aug 1982 Dick's Picks Vol 32
     27 Mar 1988 Download Series Vol 5
     16 Oct 1989 Nightfall Of Diamonds
     14 Mar 1990 Without A Net
      8 Jul 1990 View From The Vault (video/DVD & CD soundtrack)
     16 Dec 1992 Dick's Picks Vol 27

Recordings from dead.net Tapers Section

"The Dead" Concert Recordings

Ratdog Live CD Series
 
Other Recordings
     Date Album Recorded By
     1999 Laughing Water Jazz Is Dead

Notes
(4) issued as a bonus track on the version in the box set Beyond Description (1973-1990)
(5) on bonus disc Spirit Of '76 issued with advance orders from GDStore


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 online chords and TAB see www.rukind.com
For sheet music, see:
          Grateful Dead Anthology Volume 2 (piano arrangement)
          Grateful Dead Songbook Volume 2 (piano arrangement)
          Without A Net Songbook (piano arrangement)

 


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