So Many Roads

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia

Thought I heard a blackird singing
Up on Bluebird Hill
Call me a whinin' boy if you will
Born where the sun don't shine (note 1)
And I don't deny my name
Got no place to go, ain't that a shame?

Thought I heard that KC whistle
Moaning sweet and low
Thought I heard that KC when she blow
Down where the sun don't shine
Underneath the Kokomo
Whinin' boy got no place to go

So many roads I tell you
So many roads I know
So many roads, so many roads
Mountain high, river wide
So many roads to ride
So many roads, so many roads

Thought I heard a jug band playin'
"If you don't... who else will?"
From over on the far side of the hill
All I know the sun don't shine
And the rain refused to fall
And you don't seem to hear me when I call (note 2)

Wind inside and the wind outside
Tangled in the window blind
Tell me why you treat me so unkind
Down where the sun don't shine
Lonely and I call your name
No place left to go, ain't that a shame?

So many roads I tell you (note 3)
New York to San Francisco
So many roads I know
All I want is one to take me home
From the high road to the low
So many roads I know
So many roads so many roads

From the land of the midnight sun
Where the ice blue roses grow (note 4)
Along those roads of gold and silver snow
Howlin' wide or moaning low
So many roads I know
So many roads to ease my soul (note 5)

So many roads to ease my soul
So many roads to ease my soul
So many roads to ease my soul
So many roads to ease my soul
[etc]
Notes
(1) Jerry sometimes sang "All I know the sun don't shine" (thanks to Tony Sirna for pointing this out)
(2) on some occasions (eg 26 June 1994), Jerry Garcia sang "I don't seem to hear you when you call" (thanks to Michael Scroggins for pointing this out)
(3) Jerry very often left this line out
(4) Jerry sometimes sang "... wild blue roses" (thanks to Tony Sirna for pointing that out)
(5) on some occasions, Jerry Garcia sang "to heal my soul."

Grateful Dead Recordings
     Date Album
     21 Mar 1992 30 Days Of The Dead (2019) (note 8)
     23 Jun 1992 Ready Or Not
     28 Mar 1993 30 Days Of The Dead (2010)
     11 Jun 1993 (official YouTube video only)
      1 Oct 1994 30 Trips Around The Sun (note 6)
     19 Oct 1994 30 Days Of The Dead (2024)
     21 Feb 1995 30 Trips Around The Sun
      9 Jul 1995 So Many Roads (1965-1995) (note 7)
 
(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
     2000 Crazy Fingers The Grass Is Dead
     2005 The 1000th Show Dark Star Orchestra
     2016 Feb 12 2016, Albany, NY Jackie Greene (note 8)
     2024 Grateful: The Music Plays The Band John Kadlecik
Notes
(6) also on the compilation 30 Trips Around The Sun: The Definitive Live Story 1965-1995 and on 30 Days Of The Dead (2013)
(7) also on the compilation The Best Of The Grateful Dead Live
(8) The list above includes only one illustrative example of the series of live recordings by these artists. For a full list see the Grateful Dead Family Discography.
(9) also on 30 Days Of The Dead (2019)


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 online chords and TAB see www.rukind.com
For sheet music, see:
          Grateful Dead Anthology Volume 2 (piano arrangement)
          Garcia/Hunter Songbook (vocal line and chords/TAB)

 


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