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 streamNotes
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
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 |