Terrapin Station

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia

This is the second song in Robert Hunter's Terrapin Station Suite. In setlists, the first song in the suite, "Lady With A Fan," is often lumped together with "Terrapin Station" rather than shown as a separate song.

Inspiration, move me brightly
Light the song with sense of colour
Hold away despair
More than this I will not ask
Faced with mysteries dark and vast
Statements just seem vain at last
Some rise, some fall, some climb (note 1)
To get to Terrapin

Counting stars by candlelight
All are dim but one is bright
The spiral light on Venus
Rising first and shining best
Oh, from the north-west corner
Of a brand new crescent moon
Where crickets and cicadas sing
A rare and different tune
Terrapin Station
In the shadow of the moon
Terrapin Station
And I know we'll be there soon

(Terrapin)
I can't figure out
(Terrapin)
If it's the end or beginning (note 2)
(Terrapin)
But the train's put it brakes on
(Terrapin)
And the whistle is screaming
Terrapin
Notes
(1) in his 1980 recording, Hunter sang "Some rise, some climb, some crawl" and then (in the repeat) "Some rise, some climb, some fall"
(2) this is what Garcia sings. But the published lyrics are "if it's an end or the beginning." And Hunter sang "is this an end or a beginning."

Grateful Dead Recordings
     Date Album
     Studio 1977 Terrapin Station (3)
     30 Apr 1977 Download Series Vol 1
     19 May 1977 Dick's Picks Vol 29
     22 May 1977 Dick's Picks 3 (1)
      3 Sep 1977 Dick's Picks 15 (2)
     16 Oct 1977 Road Trips Volume 1, Number 2
     29 Dec 1977 Dick's Picks 10 (2)
     31 Dec 1978 The Closing Of The Winterland (DVD & CD)
      6 Nov 1979 Road Trips Volume 1, Number 1
     24 Jul 1987 View From The Vault IV (DVD & CD soundtrack)
     31 Dec 1987 Ticket To New Year's (video/DVD only)
      4 Jul 1989 Truckin' Up To Buffalo (DVD & CD soundtrack)
     15 Mar 1990 Terrapin Station (Limited Edition) (2)
     24 Mar 1990 Dozin' At The Knick
     16 Jun 1990 View From The Vault III (video/DVD & CD soundtrack)
      8 Jul 1990 View From The Vault (2) (video/DVD & CD soundtrack)
     12 Sep 1991 So Many Roads (1965-1995) (2)
     25 Sep 1991 Dick's Picks Vol 17 (2)

Recordings from dead.net Tapers Section

"The Dead" Concert Recordings

Ratdog Live CD Series

Phil Lesh and Friends Digital Download Series
 
Other Recordings
     Date Album Recorded By
     studio 1980 Jack O'Roses Robert Hunter
     1996 Play Terrapin Station The Mudkats
     1999 Terrapin Joe Gallant & Illuminati
     2001 Solo Acoustic David Gans
     2001 Great Sky River Jazz Is Dead
     15 Sep 2002 Live At The Powerhouse David Gans (DVD only)
     2006 Release The Medicine Sylvia Bagge
     2006 Piano Impressions Lore Constantine
     2007 Seeing Spots Paradise Island (Jenny Hoyston)
Notes
(1) this is the only recording of "Terrapin Station" not preceded by "Lady With A Fan" (it segues out of "Wharf Rat" instead)
(2) the CD lists only "Terrapin Station" but this includes "Lady With A Fan"
(3) also on the compilation The Arista Years
(4) a short intrumental version of "Terrapin Station" recorded on 26 Sep 1990 at a rehearsal at Club Front is included on Best Of The Grateful Dead Hour


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)
          Garcia/Hunter Songbook (vocal line and chords/TAB)

 


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