Lyrics to
Tennessee Jed

This version of Tennessee Jed was released by Grateful Dead in 1972.

Our Grateful Dead Songs profile has Tennessee Jed lyrics from 1972 and most if not all of the lyrics by Grateful Dead that we have here at Decade Lyrics.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Grateful Dead or about the 1970s in general.

“Tennessee Jed” is a song by the Grateful Dead, an American rock band. It was first recorded in 1971 and has been performed by the band many times since then. The song is a bluegrass-inspired tune that features fast-paced picking on acoustic guitar, banjo, and mandolin.

The lyrics to “Tennessee Jed” are not specific and are open to interpretation. The song is generally seen as a lighthearted, upbeat tune that paints a picture of life in Tennessee. It mentions different places and sights in the state, such as the Smoky Mountains, the Mississippi River, and the “Memphis girls.” The lyrics are generally seen as celebratory and joyful, and they paint a positive picture of life in Tennessee.

Overall, “Tennessee Jed” is a upbeat, feel-good song that captures the spirit and energy of Tennessee, and it remains a popular tune among fans of the Grateful Dead and bluegrass music.

Cold iron shackles, ball and chain,
Listen to the whistle of the evenin’ train.
You know you bound to wind up dead,
If you don’t head back to Tennessee Jed.

Rich man step on my poor head,
When you get back you better butter my bread.
Well, do you know it’s like I said,
You better head back to Tennessee Jed.

Tennessee, Tennessee, there ain’t no place I’d rather be,
Baby won’t you carry me back to Tennessee.

Drink all day and rock all night,
The law come to get you if you don’t walk right
Got a letter this morning, baby all it read,
You better head back to Tennessee Jed.

I dropped four flights and cracked my spine,
Honey, come quick with the iodine,
Catch a few winks, baby, under the bed
Then you head back to Tennessee Jed.

Tennessee, Tennessee, there ain’t no place I’d rather be,
Baby won’t you carry me back to Tennessee.

I run into Charlie Fog,
Blacked my eye and he kicked my dog,
My doggie turned to me and he said,
Let’s head back to Tennessee Jed.
I woke up a felin’ mean,
Went down to play the slot machine,
The wheels turned around, and the letters read,
You better head back to Tennessee Jed.

Tennessee, Tennessee, there ain’t no place I’d rather be,
Baby won’t you carry me back to Tennessee.

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Grateful Dead has released many songs over the years besides Tennessee Jed. Grateful Dead released songs from 1967 to 1989 spanning across albums like The Grateful Dead, Anthem Of The Sun, Live / Dead, Aoxomoxoa, American Beauty, Workingman's Dead, Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses), Europe '72, History Of The Grateful Dead, Vol. 1 (Bear's Choice), Wake Of The Flood, Grateful Dead From The Mars Hotel, Blues For Allah, Steal Your Face, Terrapin Station, Shakedown Street, Go To Heaven, Reckoning, In The Dark, and Built To Last. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Grateful Dead.

If you're a fan of 1970s music looking for more songs from 1972 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and Tennessee Jed by Grateful Dead

When you decide to study the lyrics to Tennessee Jed, you're looking at the words, verses and background chorus from the 1972 song by Grateful Dead. Some of the lyrics to Tennessee Jed have clear meanings and some contain metaphorical references. Like most songs, only Grateful Dead and their collaborators know the full story behind any of the their songs.

You can understand the lyrics to Tennessee Jed if you take apart the structure of the words. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to Tennessee Jed" means the words set to the music of Tennessee Jed, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Grateful Dead. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to Tennessee Jed and the lyrics to Tennessee Jed are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Grateful Dead who came here looking just for the lyrics to Tennessee Jed, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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