Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Robert Hunter
I've been balling a shiny black steel jack-hammerNotes
Been chipping up rocks for the great highway (note 1)
I'll live five years if I take my time
Balling that jack and drinking my wine
I been chipping them rocks from dawn till doom
While my rider hide my bottle in the other room (note 2)
Doctor say better stop balling that jack
If I live five years I'm gonna bust my back, yes I will (note 3)
Chorus
Easy wind, cross the Bayou today (note 4)
'Cause there's a whole lotta women, Mama
Out in red on the streets today (note 5)
And the river keeps a talking
But you never heard a word it said
Gotta find a woman be good to me
Won't hide my liquor, try to serve me tea
'Cause I'm a stone jack baller and my heart is true
And I'll give everything that I got to you, yes I will
[chorus]
Grateful Dead Recordings | |||||
29 Aug 1969 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2017) | ||||
30 Aug 1969 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2019) | ||||
8 Nov 1969 | Dick's Picks Vol 16 | ||||
12 Dec 1969 | Dave's Picks Volume 10 | ||||
studio 1970 | Workingman's Dead (note 6) | ||||
2 Jan 1970 | Dave's Picks Volume 30 | ||||
16 Jan 1970 | Workingman's Dead (note 7) | ||||
27 Feb 1970 | So Many Roads (note 9) | ||||
15 May 1970 | Road Trips Vol 3 No 3 (early show) (note 8) | ||||
Jun/Jul 1970 | Festival Express (DVD) | ||||
31 Dec 1970 | New Year's Eve At The Winterland | ||||
19 Feb 1971 | Three From The Vault | ||||
21 Feb 1971 | Workingman's Dead (50th Anniversary Edition) | ||||
(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 | Album | Recorded By | |||
1985 | Live '85 | Robert Hunter | |||
20 May 2005 | Live At The Sweetwater Saloon | Mark Karan's Buds | |||
2007 | At Fine Arts Center, UMass | The American Beauty Project | |||
2009 | Walk Through The Fire | Mark Karan | |||
2010 | At Page Auditorium, Duke University | The American Beauty Project | |||
2011 | Carriage House Sessions | Jeff Ray and Hurricane Harold | |||
9 Jul 2011 | Oakland, CA | Widespread Panic | |||
12 Jul 2012 | Live At The Iridium | Donna Jean Godchaux Band | |||
2015 | Songs Of Their Own | The Record Company | |||
2016 | Day Of The Dead | Bill Callahan | |||
2019 | Dead Air | Kenneka Cook | |||
2024 | The Mouse That Rocked: A Tribute to Stanley Mouse | Charlie Musselwhite |