Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Phil Lesh
These are the words as set out in Robert Hunter's "Box Of Rain":
No more time to tell howIn practice, the Grateful Dead missed out some of the lines and sang the two halves interspersed. My best effort at how they sang it is:
This is the season of what
Now is the time of returning
With our thought jewels polished and gleaming
Now is the time past believing
The child has relinquished the reign
Now is the test of the boomerang
Tossed in the night of redeeming
Eight-sided whispering hallelujah hatrack
Seven-faced marble eye transitory dream doll
Six proud walkers on jingle-bell rainbow
Five men writing in fingers of gold
Four men tracking the great white sperm whale
Three girls wait in a foreign dominion
Ride in the whalebelly
Fade away in moonlight
Sink beneath the waters
To the coral sands below
Now is the time of returning
Weir & LeshNotes
No more time to tell how
This is the season of what
Garcia
Eight-sided whispering hallelujah hatrack
Weir & Lesh
Time of returning
Thought jewels polished and gleaming
Garcia
Six proud walkers on the jingle-bell rainbow (note a)
Weir & Lesh
Time past believing
The child has relinquished the reign
Garcia
Five men writing with fingers of gold (note a)
Weir & Lesh
Now is the test of the boomerang
Garcia
Three girls waiting in a foreign dominion
{Weir & Lesh
{Tossed in the night of redeeming
{Garcia
{Riding in the whalebelly, fade away in moonlight
Garcia
Sink beneath the waters to the coral sands below
Seven-faced marble eyed transitory dream dollWith "The Other Ones" Bob Weir sang the lyrics in the order Hunter set them out (using the version in the "Live/Dead" liner notes). Phil Lesh & Friends sing the lyrics with the two parts overlapping in the way the Grateful Dead did the song. With Dead & Company, Weir sings essentially the same version as with The Other Ones and Dead & Company:
Six proud walkers on the jingle-bell rainbow
Five men writing with fingers of gold
Four men tracking down the great white sperm whale
Three girls waiting in a foreign dominion
Riding in the whalebelly
No more time to tell how
This is the season of what now
Now is the time of returning
With our thought jewels polished and gleaming
Now is the time past believing
The child has relinquished the reign
Now is the test of the boomerang
Tossed in the night of redeeming
Eight-sided whispering hallelujah hatrack
Seven-faced marble-eyed transitory dream doll
Six proud walkers on the jingle-bell rainbow
Five men writing with fingers of gold
Four men tracking down the great white sperm whale
Three girls waiting in a foreign dominion
Riding in the whalebelly
Fade away in moonlight
Sink beneath the waters
To the coral sands below
Coral sand below
Coral sand below
No more time to tell how
This is the season of what now
This is the season of what now
This is the season of what now
What now
What now
What now
Grateful Dead and Related Recordings | |||||
Date | Album | ||||
23 Jan 1968 | Road Trips Volume 2, Number 2 (bonus disc) | ||||
14 Feb 1968 | Road Trips Volume 2, Number 2 | ||||
23 Feb 1968 | Dick's Picks Vol 22 | ||||
24 Feb 1968 | Dick's Picks Vol 22 | ||||
16 Mar 1968 | So Many Roads (1965-1995) | ||||
17 Mar 1968 | Download Series Vol 6 | ||||
13 Aug 1968 | Aoxomoxoa (note 1) (note 2) | ||||
21 Aug 1968 | Grateful Dead Origins | ||||
24 Aug 1968 | Two From The Vault | ||||
13 Oct 1968 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2018) | ||||
20 Oct 1968 | 30 Trips Around The Sun | ||||
7 Dec 1968 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2023) | ||||
23 Jan 1969 | Download Series Vol 12 | ||||
26 Jan 1969 | Live Dead | ||||
11 Feb 1969 | Fillmore East 2-11-69 (note 2) | ||||
22 Feb 1969 | 30 Trips Around The Sun | ||||
27 Feb 1969 | Fillmore West 1969 -The Complete Recordings | ||||
28 Feb 1969 | Fillmore West 1969 - The Complete Recordings | ||||
1 Mar 1969 | Fillmore West 1969 - The Complete Recordings | ||||
2 Mar 1969 | Fillmore West 1969 - The Complete Recordings | ||||
26 Apr 1969 | Dick's Picks Vol 26 | ||||
27 Apr 1969 | Dick's Picks Vol 26 | ||||
23 May 1969 | Road Trips Volume 4, Number 1 | ||||
24 May 1969 | Road Trips Volume 4, Number 1 | ||||
30 Aug 1969 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2024) | ||||
2 Nov 1969 | Dave's Picks Volume 43 | ||||
8 Nov 1969 | Dick's Picks Vol 16 | ||||
11 Dec 1969 | Dave's Picks Volume 10 (bonus disc) | ||||
20 Dec 1969 | Dave's Picks Volume 6 | ||||
2 Jan 1970 | Dave's Picks Volume 30 | ||||
28 Sep 1975 | 30 Trips Around The Sun (note 2) | ||||
17 Jul 1998 | The Strange Remain (The Other Ones) | ||||
Phil Lesh and Friends Recordings | |||||
30 Mar 2002 | There And Back Again (note 3) | ||||
19 May 2006 | Live At The Warfield | ||||
Other Recordings | |||||
Date | Album | Recorded By | |||
1989 | Juggling Suns | Solar Circus | |||
2001 | Great Sky River | Jazz Is Dead | |||
2015 | Twangin' The Dead | Matt Rae | |||
2018 | Don't Let Me Down | California Kind (note 5) | |||
2019 | Phantom Ships With Phantom Sails | Live Dead '69 | |||
2020 | Seeking All That's Still Unsung | Holly Bowling | |||
2021 | Grateful Deadication | David McMurray |