Lyrics: Walter Jacobs, Lonnie Carter (note a)
Music: Walter Jacobs, Lonnie Carter
Played frequently by the Grateful Dead in their earliest days,
but then more rarely until the final performances on their European tour
in 1972.
These are the lyrics as on their first album:
Mississippi river, so big and wideNotes
Blonde-headed woman on the other side
Now she's gone, gone, gone and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sittin' on top of the world
I worked all summer, spring and fall
Blonde-headed woman, she's the cause of it all
Now she's gone, gone, gone and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sittin' on top of the world
Saw her in Dallas, in El Paso
So come back baby, I need you so
Now she's gone, gone, gone and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sittin' on top of the world
Mississippi river, so big and wide
Blonde-headed woman on the other side
Now she's gone, gone, gone and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sittin' on top of the world
Mississippi river, so big and wideJerry Garcia played a version with the Hart Valley Drifters in 1962 that's basically just him with finger-style acoustic guitar, and at a much slower tempo than the Grateful Dead versions:
Blonde-headed woman on the other side
Now she's gone, gone, gone and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sittin' on top of the world
I worked all summer, spring and fall
Blonde-headed woman was the cause of it all
Now she's gone, gone, gone and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sittin' on top of the world
Don't come here running, holding out your hand
I have me a woman, you can grab your man
Now she's gone, gone, gone and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sittin' on top of the world
Saw her in Dallas, in El Paso
Blonde-headed woman, you know I need you so
Now she's gone, gone, gone and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sittin' on top of the world
Don't come here running, holding out your hand
I have me a woman, you can have your man
Now she's gone, gone, gone and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sittin' on top of the world
Mississippi river, so big and wide
Blonde-headed woman on the other side
Now she's gone, gone, gone and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sittin' on top of the world
It was in the spring, one summer's day
My baby left me, she went away
And now she's gone, but I don't worry
You know I'm sitting on top of the world
Mississippi river, so big and wide
Blonde-headed woman on the other side
And now she's gone, but I don't worry
You know I'm sittin' on top of the world
Work all summer, spring and fall
Blonde-headed woman is the cause of it all
And now she's gone, but I don't worry
You know I'm sittin' on top of the world
No need to come runnin', holding out you hand
You're my woman, you know I'll be your man
But if you go, then I won't worry
Baby I'm sittin' on top of the world
T'was in the spring, one summer's day
My baby left me, she went away
And now she's gone, but I don't worry
You know I'm sitting on top of the world
Grateful Dead Recordings | |||||
Date | Album | ||||
Fall 1962 | Before The Dead | ||||
live Jul 1966 | Birth Of The Dead (note 1) | ||||
3 Jul 1966 | 30 Trips Around The Sun | ||||
29 Jul 1966 | The Grateful Dead: 50th Anniversary Edition | ||||
studio 1967 | The Grateful Dead | ||||
Fillmore 1967 | Grateful Dead Documentary (note 2) | ||||
8 Feb 1970 | Bear's Choice (note 3) | ||||
27 Apr 1969 | Dick's Picks Vol 26 | ||||
21 Oct 1971 | Dave's Picks Volume 3 | ||||
10 Dec 1971 | Listen To The River: St Louis '71 '72 73 | ||||
18 May 1972 | Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings | ||||
23 May 1972 | Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead: England '72 (note 4) | ||||
25 May 1972 | Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings | ||||
Jerry Garcia Recordings | |||||
Date | Album | Recorded By | |||
fall 1962 | Folk Time | Hart Valley Drifters (note 5) |
"I originally heard the tune off a Carl Perkins record and he was, like, a good country guy, country guitar player, and he played finger style, and he did a kind of a rockabilly version of Sittin' on Top of the World."The other was in an interview with Ralph Gleason, reproduced in "The Grateful Dead Reader":
"Sittin' on Top of the World is another traditional song that was copyrighted some time not too long ago by some country and western guy but it's still essentially a folk song. There are just two or three verses and they're standard blues verses that turn up everywhere."The song was originally written by The Mississippi Sheiks, and recorded by them in 1930. The tune and the chorus are pretty much as the Dead played it (though the Dead's version is much faster), but the lyrics for the verses are very different, with only some fragments of verses in common:
Worked all the summer, and all the fallThe Carl Perkins' version is played at a similar fast tempo to the Dead's, and shares most of the same verses - including those not in the Mississippi Sheik's original version. But, interestingly, Carl Perkins doesn't sing the "Saw her in Dallas ..." verse that Garcia sings. The Carl Perkins lyrics are:
Just trying to find my little all in all
But now she's gone, I don't worry
I'm sitting on top of the world
Was in the spring, one summer day
Just when she left me, she's gone to stay
But now she's gone, I don't worry
I'm sitting on top of the world
Don't you come here runnin', holdin' up your hand
Can't get me a woman, quick as you get a man
But now she's gone, I don't worry
I'm sitting on top of the world
It have been days, I didn't know your name
Why should I worry and pray in vain
But now she's gone, I don't worry
I'm sitting on top of the world
Went to the station, down in the yard
Gonna get me a freight train, work done got hard
But now she's gone, I don't worry
I'm sitting on top of the world
The lonesome days, they have gone by
Why should you beg me and say goodbye
But now she's gone, I don't worry
I'm sitting on top of the world
You come here running, holding out your handSittin' On Top Of The World has been covered by a wide range of performers. Bob Wills recorded a much slower version in the 1930s, including some verses borrowed from other songs (eg "Stealing"):
I can get me a woman, you can have your man
Lord I'm gone, I don't worry
Baby I'm sitting on top of the world
Mississippi river so deep and wide
My baby's standing on the other side
Lord I'm gone, I don't worry
'Cause I'm sitting on top of the world
You come here running, holding out your hand
I can get me a woman, you can have your man
Lord I'm gone, I don't worry
Baby I'm sitting on top of the world
Work all summer, work all the fall
Blond-headed chicken, she caused it all
Lord I'm gone, I don't worry
'Cause I'm sitting on top of the world
You come here running, holding out your hand
Get me a woman, you can have your man
Lord I'm gone, I don't worry
Lord I'm sitting on top of the world
Lord I'm sitting on top of the world
All the summer, all the fallAmong others versions, Jerry Garcia would almost certainly have heard the Bill Monroe version, which included the "Dallas/El Paso" verse that the Dead sang:
Tryin' to find my little all and all
And now she's gone, I don't worry
I'm sittin' on top of the world
Yes the world
There has been days, didn't know your name
Why should I worry, sit around and blame
And now you're gone, I don't worry (not much)
I'm sittin' on top of the world
Of the world
You've seen me stealin', don't tell on me
Just stealin' back to, my same old used to be
But now she's gone, and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sittin' on top of the world
Late in the evening, honey babe, way after school
Remember darling, we broke the rule
And now you're gone, and I don't worry
I'm sittin' on top of the world
We never had one girl at a time
We always had seven eight or nine
But now they're gone, but we don't worry (at least not much)
'Cause we're sittin' on top of the world
I'm going to the station, way down in the yard
Gonna catch me a freight train, work's done got hard
And though she's gone, I don't worry
'Cause I'm sittin' on top of the world
It was in the spring one sunny dayAnother series of versions derive from that recorded by Howlin' Wolf, which formed the basis for covers by Cream and many other groups:
My good gal left me Lord she went away
But now she's gone but I don't worry
Lord I'm sitting on top of the world
She called me in Dallas, in El Paso
Said come on, daddy, I need you so
But now she's gone but I don't worry
Lord I'm sitting on top of the world
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust
Show me a woman a man can trust
But now she's gone but I don't worry
Lord I'm sitting on top of the world
The Mississippi River, long, deep and wide
The woman I'm loving is on the other side
But now she's gone but I don't worry
Lord I'm sitting on top of the world
[the next two verses were not on all Bill Monroe versions]
You don't like my peaches, don't you shake my tree
Get out of my orchard, let my peaches be
And now she's gone but I don't worry
'Cause I'm sitting on top of the world
Don't you come here running, holding out your hand
I'll get me a woman like you got your man
And now she's gone but I don't worry
'Cause I'm sitting on top of the world
One summer day, she went awayThere was a song with the same title popularised by Al Jolson in 1926, but apart from the title it has nothing in common with the Mississippi Sheiks' song. Covers of the Al Jolson song were recorded by Bobby Darin, Doris Day, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra etc.
She gone and left me, she gone to stay
But now she gone, and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sitting on top of the world
Worked all the summer, and worked all the fall
I had to take my Christmas, in my overall
But now she gone, and I don't worry
Because I'm sitting on top of the world
Goin' down to the freight yard, just to meet a freight train
I'm gonna leave this town, well it's just got too hard
But now she gone, and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sitting on top of the world
One summer day, she went away
She gone and left me, she gone to stay
But now she gone, and I don't worry
'Cause I'm sitting on top of the world