Cassidy

Lyrics: John Barlow
Music: Bob Weir

Played frequently by Bob Weir with the Grateful Dead and more recently with Ratdog and other bands. . Also with Phil Lesh & Friends. Introduced by Bob Weir in Europe '72 as "Time for a crying song".

I have seen where the wolf has slept by the silver stream
I can tell by the mark he left, you were in his dream
Ah child of countless trees
Ah child of boundless seas
What you are, what you're meant to be
Speaks his name, though you were born to me
Born to me, Cassidy

Lost now on the country miles in his Cadillac
I can tell by the way you smile, he is rolling back
Come wash the night-time clean
Come grow the scorched ground green
Blow the horn, tap the tambourine
Close the gap of the dark years in between
You and me, Cassidy

Quick beats in an icy heart
Catch colt draws a coffin cart
There he goes and now here she starts
Hear her cry

Flight of the seabirds
Scattered like lost words
Wheel to the storm and fly

Faring thee well now
Let your life proceed by its own designs
Nothing to tell now
Let the words be yours, I'm done with mine

Faring thee well now
Let your life proceed by its own designs
Nothing to tell now
Let the words be yours, I'm done with mine

Flight of the seabirds (note a)
Scattered like lost words
Wheel to the storm and fly
Notes
(a) This repeat verse was not sung on 'Ace' or on the first time it was played live on 23 March 1974. But it was added whrn the song was next played in 1976 and in subsequent performances.

Dennis McNally records this about the writing of Cassidy in his book "A Long Strange Trip":
Weir ... rejected Barlow's first take, written the previous fall. Barlow had been in a dark mood, born of, among other things, the war in Vietnam, and an experience he'd had in a cafe in Rawlins, Wyoming, where as a longhair he'd asked for lamb chops and been served a skinned lamb's head, eyes intact, in a pool of blood. His first version of "Cassidy" included lines like "ten pound rat in a trashcan, nuclear war neanderthal man". "I thought it was a little heavy-handed for the melody", observed Weir. [p415]
See also Barlow's piece on the background to the song

Grateful Dead Recordings
     Date Album
     23 Mar 1974 Dick's Picks Vol 24
      9 Jun 1976 Road Trips Volume 4, Number 5
     10 Jun 1976 June 1976 Box Set
     11 Jun 1976 June 1976 Box Set
     14 Jun 1976 June 1976 Box Set
     15 Jun 1976 June 1976 Box Set
     17 Jun 1976 Dave's Picks Volume 28
     18 Jun 1976 Download Series Vol 4
     19 Jun 1976 June 1976 Box Set
     24 Sep 1976 Dave's Picks Vol 4
     25 Sep 1976 Dick's Picks 20
     28 Sep 1976 Dick's Picks 20
      1 Oct 1976 30 Days Of The Dead (2024)
      9 Oct 1976 Dick's Picks Vol 33
     10 Oct 1976 Dick's Picks Vol 33
      7 May 1977 May 1977: Get Shown The Light Box
      9 May 1977 May 1977: Get Shown The Light Box
     12 May 1977 May 1977 Box Set
     13 May 1977 May 1977 Box Set
     21 May 1977 Dick's Picks Vol 29
     25 May 1977 Dave's Picks Volume 1
     1 Oct 1977 Dave's Picks Volume 45
      9 Jun 1977 Winterland June 1977 - The Complete Recordings
      4 Nov 1977 Dave's Picks Volume 12
     22 Jan 1978 Dave's Picks Volume 23
      7 Apr 1978 Friend Of The Devils: April 1978
     10 Apr 1978 Friend Of The Devils: April 1978
     16 Apr 1978 Friend Of The Devils: April 1978
     24 Apr 1978 Dave's Picks Volume 7
     10 May 1978 Dick's Picks Vol 25
     14 May 1978 30 Trips Around The Sun
      3 Jul 1978 July 1978: The Complete Recordings
      7 Jul 1978 July 1978: The Complete Recordings
      5 Nov 1979 Road Trips Full Show: Spectrum 11/5/79
      9 Dec 1979 Dave's Picks Vol 47
      7 May 1980 Road Trips Volume 3, Number 4
      9 Oct 1980 The Warfield, San Francisco, CA 10/9/80 & 10/10/80
     14 Oct 1980 Reckoning (note 2)
     23 Oct 1980 Reckoning (note 3)
     30 Nov 1980 Dave's Picks Volume 8
      6 May 1981 Dick's Picks 13
      7 May 1981 The Tomorrow Show (DVD)
     30 Nov 1981 30 Days Of The Dead (2023)
      9 Dec 1981 Dave's Picks Volume 20 (note 5)
     31 Aug 1983 30 Days Of The Dead (2010)
     12 Oct 1983 In And Out Of The Garden
     21 Oct 1983 30 Trips Around The Sun
     14 Jun 1984 30 Days Of The Dead (2018)
     10 Nov 1985 So Many Roads (1965-1995)
      1 Apr 1986 30 Days Of The Dead (2021)
     24 Jul 1987 View From The Vault IV (DVD & CD soundtrack)
     13 Aug 1987 30 Days Of The Dead (2024)
     6 Feb 1989 30 Days Of The Dead (2022)
     12 Jul 1989 RFK Stadium 1989 Box
     19 Oct 1989 Without A Net
     16 Mar 1990 Terrapin Station (Limited Edition)
     28 Mar 1990 Spring 1990 (The Other One)
     16 Jun 1990 View From The Vault III (video/DVD & CD soundtrack)
     23 Jun 1990 Dave's Picks Volume 44
     18 Jul 1990 Dave's Picks Volume 40
     16 Sep 1990 Dick's Picks Vol 9
     17 Jun 1991 Giants Stadium 1987, 1989, 1991 Boxed Set (CD and DVD)
     10 Sep 1991 30 Trips Around The Sun
     27 Mar 1993 30 Trips Around The Sun
     27 May 1993 Road Trips Vol 2, No 4
     13 Jun 1993 (official YouTube video only)
      5 Jul 2015 Fare Thee Well (CD and DVD)
 
Bob Weir Recordings
     Date Album Recorded By
     studio 1972 Ace Bob Weir (note 1)
     15 Apr 1997 Furthur More Ratdog
     31 Dec 2018 Rising Up To Paradise Big Swell
 
(Plus live recordings by The Dead, Furthur, Dead & Company, Ratdog, Phil Lesh & Friends etc not listed here. See Grateful Dead Family Discography for a full list.)
 
Other Recordings
     Date Recorded By Album
     11 Oct 1981 Garcia and Weir One World Poetry
     1991 Suzanne Vega Deadicated
     1995 Pat Mallinger Monday Prayer To Tunkashila
     1996 DeadBeats Acoustic DeadBeats
     1996 Lasana Bandle Fire On The Mountain: Reggae Celebrates The Grateful Dead
     1997 Jake's Leg Jake's Leg
     2000 David West et all Pickin' On The Grateful Dead Vol 2
     2001 Gratefully Yours Jim Hudak
     2002 Electronic Tribute To The Grateful Dead Various (Issa)
     2004 Werewolves Of Atlanta: Halloween 2004 Dark Star Orchestra
     2007 Live at Bell's Greensky Bluegrass (note 6)
     2007 Twisted Love Songs David Gans
     2008 30 Years Jake's Leg
     2010 Dead To The Core Jeffrey Pepper Rodgers
     2010 Songs Of The New West David Rogers
     2013 First Reearsals Sycamore Slough String Band
     2014 Live At The Rustic Barn The Bear Bones Project
     2014 Solid Damià Timoner
     2016 Day Of The Dead Moses Sumney, Jenny Lewis & Friends
     2016 Better Left Unsung Holly Bowling
     2017 Dead Songs Vol 1 Barton Hills Choir
      2018 Cut The Dead Some Slack Stephen Inglis
     2021 Jerry's Smilin': Guitar Tribute To The Grateful Dead Damià Timoner

(1) also on the compilation Weir Here: The Best Of Bob Weir
(2) also on the compilation The Arista Years
(3) additional version issued as a bonus track in the box set Beyond Description (1973-1990)
(4) David Gans "Twisted Love Songs" has a song "Cassidy's Cat" that intermingles themes from Cassidy and China Cat Sunflower.
(5) also released on 30 Days Of The Dead (2011)
(6) The list above includes only one illustrative example of the series of live recordings by these artists. For a full list see the Grateful Dead Family Discography.


Further 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 David Dodd's discussion of this song on dead.net see Greatest Stories Ever Told
For online chords and TAB see www.rukind.com
For sheet music, see:
          Grateful Dead Anthology Volume 1 (piano arrangement)
          Without A Net Songbook (piano arrangement)

 


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