Lyrics to
Uncle John’s Band

Released by Grateful Dead in 1970
From the Album: Workingman's Dead |

This version of Uncle John’S Band was released by Grateful Dead in 1970.

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Well the first days are the hardest days, don’t you worry any more,
‘Cause when life looks like Easy Street, there is danger at your door.
Think this through with me, let me know your mind,
Wo, oh, what I want to know, is are you kind?

It’s a buck dancer’s choice my friend; better take my advice.
You know all the rules by now and the fire from the ice.
Will you come with me? Won’t you come with me?
Wo, oh, what I want to know, will you come with me?

Goddamn, well I declare, have you seen the like?
Their wall are built of cannonballs, their motto is “Don’t tread on me”.
Come hear Uncle John’n Band playing to the tide,
Come with me, or go alone, he’s come to take his children home.

It’s the same story the crow told me; it’s the only one he knows.
Like the morning sun you come and like the wind you go.
Ain’t no time to hate, barely time to wait,
Wo, oh, what I want to know, where does the time go?

I live in a silver mine and I call it Beggar’s Tomb;
I got me a violin and I beg you call the tune,
anybody’s choice, I can hear your voice.
Wo, oh, what I want to know, how does the song go?

Come hear Uncle John’s Band by the riverside,
Got some things to talk about, here beside the rising tide.

Come hear Uncle John’s Band playing to the tide,
Come on along, or go alone, he’s come to take his children home.
Wo, oh, what I want to know, how does the song go.


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Grateful Dead has released many songs over the years besides Uncle John’S Band. 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.

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About Lyrics and Uncle John’S Band by Grateful Dead

The lyrics to Uncle John’S Band are the words, verses and chorus for the song released by Grateful Dead in 1970. Elements of the lyrics to Uncle John’S Band are both direct in meaning and also metaphorical with the real meanings of the song only known by Grateful Dead and any collaborating writers working on the lyrics for Uncle John’S Band back when it was created.

Some people have an interest in the etymology behind words and phrases. You can take apart the lyrics to Uncle John’S Band by Grateful Dead in a number of ways. 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 Uncle John’S Band" means the words set to the music of Uncle John’S Band, 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 Uncle John’S Band and the lyrics to Uncle John’S Band 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 Uncle John’S Band, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

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