Loser

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia

If I had a gun for every ace that I had drawn
I could arm a town the size of Abilene
Don't you push me baby, 'cause I'm moaning low
And you know I'm only in it for the gold

All that I am asking for is ten gold dollars (note 1)
And I could pay you back with one good hand
You can look around at the wide world over
But you'll never find another honest man

Last fair deal in the country, sweet Susie (note 2)
Last fair deal in the town
Put your gold money where your love is baby
Before you let my deal go down

Don't you push me baby, 'cause I'm moaning low
Well I know a little something you won't ever know
Don't you touch hard liquor, just a cup of cold coffee
Gonna get up in the morning and go

Everybody's bragging and drinking that wine
I can tell the Queen of Diamonds by the way she shines
Come to daddy on an inside straight
Well I got no chance of losing this time
Well I got no chance of losing this time

Notes
(1) at some point, this changed from "one gold dollar" - inflation!
(2) after a while, Garcia dropped "sweet Susie" from this line, though he occasionally seemed to forget and bring it back again! It rarely appears after 1972, but instances are 5/14/74, 6/18/74 and 1/10/79.

Grateful Dead & Jerry Garcia Recordings
	Date	Album
	18 Feb 1971	American Beauty (50th Anniversary Edition) (note 9)
	19 Feb 1971	Three From The Vault
	21 Feb 1971	Workingman's Dead (50th Anniversary Edition)
	18 Mar 1971	30 Trips Around The Sun
	13 Apr 1971	Dave's Picks Volume 51
	28 Apr 1971	Ladies And Gentlemen ... The Grateful Dead
	24 Aug 1971	Dick's Picks Vol 35
	22 Oct 1971	Dave's Picks Volume 3
	26 Oct 1971	Download Series Vol 3
	31 Oct 1971	30 Days Of The Dead (2018)
	14 Nov 1971	30 Days Of The Dead (2020)
	15 Nov 1971	Road Trips Number 3, Volume 2
	6 Dec 1971	Dave's Picks Volume 22 (bonus disc)
	10 Dec 1971	Listen To The River: St Louis '71 '72 73
	14 Dec 1971	Dave's Picks Volume 26
	studio 1972	Garcia (note 3)
	studio 1972	Garcia (alternate take) (note 4)
	26 Mar 1972	Dave's Picks Vol 14
	7 Apr 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	14 Apr 1972	Europe '72: Vol. 2 (note 5)
	16 Apr 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	24 Apr 1972	Rockin' The Rhein (note 5)
	26 Apr 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	29 Apr 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	10 May 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	13 May 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	26 May 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	21 Jul 1972	Download Series Vol 10
	25 Aug 1972	Dave's Picks Volume 24
	9 Sep 1972	Dave's Picks Volume 46
	17 Sep 1972	Dick's Picks Vol 23
	21 Sep 1972	Dick's Picks Vol 36
	24 Sep 1972	30 Trips Around The Sun
	18 Oct 1972	Listen To The River: St Louis '71 '72 73
	26 Feb 1973	Dick's Picks Vol 28
	24 Mar 1973	Dave's Picks Volume 32
	28 Mar 1973	Dave's Picks Volume 16
	13 May 1973	Here Comes Sunshine
	20 May 1973	Here Comes Sunshine
	26 May 1973	Here Comes Sunshine
	9 Jun 1973	Here Comes Sunshine
	24 Jun 1973	Pacific Northwest '73-'74
	26 Jun 1973	Pacific Northwest '73-'74
	29 Oct 1973	Listen To The River: St Louis '71 '72 73
	10 Nov 1973	Winterland 1973 - The Complete Recordings
	24 Feb 1974	Dave's Picks Volume 13
	14 May 1974	Dave's Picks Volume 9
	24 Sep 1976	Dave's Picks Vol 4
	25 Sep 1976	Dick's Picks Vol 20
	3 Oct 1976	30 Trips Around The Sun
	10 Oct 1976	Dick's Picks Vol 33
	8 May 1977	May 1977: Get Shown The Light Box
	11 May 1977	May 1977 Box Set
	19 May 1977	Dick's Picks Vol 29
	25 May 1977	Dave's Picks Volume 1
	9 Jun 1977	Winterland June 1977 - The Complete Recordings
	3 Sep 1977	Dick's Picks Vol 15
	14 Oct 1977	Road Trips Volume 1, Number 2
	29 Oct 1977	Dave's Picks Vol 33
	29 Dec 1977	Dick's Picks Vol 10
	31 Dec 1977	30 Days Of The Dead (2019)
	7 Apr 1978	Friend Of The Devils: April 1978
	12 Apr 1978	Friend Of The Devils: April 1978
	11 May 1978	Dick's Picks Vol 25
	3 Jul 1978	July 1978: The Complete Recordings
	4 May 1979	Live At The Coliseum
	6 May 1980	Road Trips Volume 3, Number 4
	11 Oct 1980	Dead Set
	30 Nov 1980	Dave's Picks Volume 8
	21 Sep 1982	In And Out Of The Garden
	11 Oct 1983	In And Out Of The Garden
	21 Oct 1983	30 Trips Around The Sun
	24 Jun 1985	30 Trips Around The Sun
	12 Jun 1987	Giants Stadium 1987, 1989, 1991 Boxed Set
	7 Jul 1989	Crimson, White and Indigo (DVD & CD)
	16 Mar 1990	Spring 1990
	24 Mar 1990	Spring 1990 (note 7)

Bob Weir Recordings
	25 Apr 2001	Live At The Roseland	Ratdog

(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
	1989	No Regrets	Danny Carnahan & Robin Petrie
	1993	Kerosene Hat	Cracker
	1994	Warriors: KFOG Jam	Cracker (note 6)
	May 1999	Furthur Most	Bruce Hornsby
	2001	Pickin' On Jerry Garcia	David West et al
	1 Jul 2005	Live: Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO	Gov't Mule (note 8)
	2005	Grass	Keller and The Keels
	2006	Here In California	Dave Alvin
	2008	Ithica 30 Years Later	Dark Star Orchestra
	2008	Fennario: Songs by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter	Emory Joseph
	2009	Acoustic Sessions, Vol. 1	Real Eyes
	2009	Acoustic Sessions Vol 1	Real Eyes
	4 Sep 2010	House Concert, Club Meg, Missoula, MT	David Gans
	2010	Songs Of The Grateful Dead	Jesse McReynolds
	2010	Simply Tony	Tony Tale
	2012	A Word Child	Susan Kane
	2012	Solid	Damia Timoner
	2013	Rocky Mountain Honky Tonk	Haden Wofford & The Hi-Beams
	2015	Punk Is Dead	Punk Is Dead
	2015	It's A Hand-Me-Down	David Gans
	14 May 2015	Dear Jerry: Celebrating The Music Of Jerry Garcia	moe.
	2015	Songs Of Their Own	Albino Dirt
	4 Jul 2015	Mountain Jam, Hunter, NY	moe. (note 8)
	2015	The Promised Land	Sagol 59 & Ami Yares
	2015	A Grand Piano Tribute to the Grateful Dead	Rob Catterton
	2016	Day Of The Dead	Ed Droste, Binki Shapiro & Friends
	2018	The Travellin' McCourys	The Travellin' McCourys
	2021	Jerry's Smilin': Guitar Tribute To The Grateful Dead	Damià Timoner
	2021	Grateful Deadication	David McMurray (note 10)
	2021	Tempting Fate	Carolyn Wonderland
	2024	Grateful: The Music Plays The Band	Michael James Wheeler

Notes
(3) also on the compilation The Best Of Jerry Garcia
(4) bonus track on the version of the album reissued in the box set All Good Things.
(5) also on the box set Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
(6) this is a live version, not the studio version recorded on "Kerosene Hat"
(7) also on the compilation So Glad You Made It
(8) The list above includes only one illustrative example of the series of live recordings by these bands. For a full list see the Grateful Dead Family Discography.
(9) also included in 30 Days Of The Dead (2016)
(10) featuring Bettye LaVette & Bob Weir and Wolf Bros

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 2 (piano arrangement)
          Garcia Songbook (piano arrangement)
          Garcia/Hunter Songbook (vocal line and chords/TAB)