Lazy River Road
"Lazy River Road" debuted on February 21, 1993 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena, in Oakland, California, and is one of the last three songs written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter that was added to the Dead's repertoire. It was played sixty-five times, with the last performance being at the Dead's final show in Chicago on July 9, 1995. It was played regularly during its three years of life.
"Lazy River Road", along with several other Garcia/Hunter compositions including "Liberty", "So Many Roads", "Standing on the Moon", and "Days Between", as well as songs by Weir and by Lesh from this same period, were part of the never-completed album the Dead had been rehearsing before Garcia's untimely death in 1995.
Lyrics
Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia
Way down upon Sycamore Slough
A white man sings the blues
selling roses of paper maché
with flecks of starlight dew
I swiped a bunch and threw it your way
where hazy moonlight glowed
Way down, down along Lazy River Road
Way down upon Shadowfall Ward
End of the avenue
Run, hide, seek in your own backyard
Mama's backyard won't do
All night long I sang Love's Sweet Song
down where the water flowed
Way down, down along Lazy River Road
Moonlight wails as hound dogs bay
but never quite catch the tune
Stars fall down in buckets like rain
till there ain't no standing room
Bright blue boxcars train by train
clatter where dreams unfold
Way down, down along Lazy River Road
Way down upon Seminole Square
belly of the river tide
call for me and I will be there
for the price of a taxi ride
Night double-clutches into today
like a truck downshifting its load
Way down, down along Lazy River Road
Thread the needle
right through the eye
The thread that runs so true
All the others I let pass by
I only wanted you
Never cared for careless love
but how your bright eyes glowed
Way down, down along Lazy River Road