Passenger

Lyrics: Peter Monk
Music: Phil Lesh

Firefly
Can you see me?
Shine on, glowing
Brief and brightly

Could you imagine (note 1)
One summer day
That same night
Be on your way

Do you remember?
Hearts were too cold
Seasons had frozen us (note 2)
Into our souls

People were saying
The whole world is burning
Ashes were scattered
Too hard to turn (note 3)

Chorus
Upside out
Or inside down
False alarm, the only game in town
No man's land, the only game in town (note 4)
Terrible, the only game in town

Passenger
Don't you hear me?
Destination
Seen unclearly

What is a man
Deep down inside
But a raging beast
With nothing to hide

[chorus]
Out-takes from the Terrapin Station album sessions reveal that when the song was being developed, the lyrics after the first chorus were sung in a different order and included additional verses:
Jet plane shadows
Under the sky
Just like the elephant
Planning to die

What is a man
Deep down inside
But a raging beast
With nothing to hide

[chorus]

Passenger
Don't you hear me?
Destination
Seen unclearly

Ask me no questions
Sing you no names
No more mysteries
Simple games
Notes
(1) it sounds to me as if this line may sung as be "Can you measure"
(2) Ted Syrett suggests this couplet should be "Seasons had frozen ice into our souls" - that would fit well and it sounds as if it's what the Dead sing in the recording on "Dead Set." But earler recordings definitely sound like "Seasons had frozen us" as in the sheet music - and Larry Bingo says it's definitely "us" noy "ice" in the version on Terrapin Station.
(3) this is the line in the sheet music, but I'm not sure it's right. It sounds more like "Too far in to turn."
(4) Ted Syrett suggests that on Dead Set, these two lines are sung as "You and I, the only game in town/Now we're the only game in town." I'm not sure I hear that, but it's an interesting variation.

Grateful Dead Recordings
     Date Album
     Studio 1977 Terrapin Station (note 5)
     19 May 1977 Dick's Picks Vol 29 (note 6)
     21 May 1977 Dick's Picks Vol 29
     28 May 1977 To Terrapin: Hartford '77
      8 Jun 1977 Winterland June 1977 - The Complete Recordings
      5 Feb 1978 Dick's Picks Vol 18
     21 Oct 1978 Road Trips Volume 1, Number 4 ("From Egypt With Love")
      5 Nov 1979 Road Trips Full Show: Spectrum 11/5/79
     10 Nov 1979 Road Trips Volume 1, Number 1
      ? Oct 1980 Dead Set

Recordings from dead.net Tapers Section

"The Dead" Concert Recordings
 
Phil Lesh and Friends Recordings
      Jan 2002 There And Back Again
     19 May 2006 Live At The Warfield

Phil Lesh and Friends Digital Download Series
 
Other Recordings
     Date Album Recorded By
     1999 Terrapin Joe Gallant & Illuminati

Notes
(5) also on the compilation "The Arista Years"
(6) also included on the Best Of The Grateful Dead Hour. It was intended as a track on "So Many Roads (1965-1995)" but left off due to lack of space--though included on a sampler circulated to radio stations. It was for a while available as a free download from Amazon, but no longer seems to be.


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 1 (piano arrangement)

 

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