Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia
Well the first days are the hardest days, don't you worry any moreNotes
'Cause when life looks like easy street, there is danger at your door
Think this through with me, let me know your mind
Wo-oh, what I want to know is, are you kind?
It's a buck dancer's choice my friend, better take my advice
You know all the rules by now, and the fire from the ice
Will you come with me, won't you come with me?
Wo-oh, what I want to know, will you come with me?
God damn, well I declare, have you seen the like?
Their walls are built of cannon balls
Their motto is "don't" tread on me"
Come hear Uncle John's Band, playing to the tide
Come with me or go alone
He's come to take his children home (note 1)
It's the same story the crow told me, it's the only one he knows
Like the morning sun you come and like the wind you go
Ain't no time to hate, barely time to wait
Wo-oh, what I want to know, where does the time go?
I live in a silver mine and I call it beggar's tomb
I got me a violin and I beg you call the tune
Anybody's choice, I can hear your voice
Wo-oh, what I want to know, how does the song go?
Come hear Uncle John's Band, by the river side
Got some things to talk about
Here beside the rising tide
Come hear Uncle John's Band, playing to the tide
Come with me or go alone
He's come to take his children home
Wo-oh what I want to know, how does the song go?
Come hear Uncle John's Band, by the river side
Got some things to talk about
Here beside the rising tide
"Bolden would be out at Johnson Park to attract the crowd would point his cornet in the direction of Lincoln Park. That, as [bassist] Willy Cornish explain was 'Callin' Our Chillun Home'--home where the rags were played in brighter tempos, as stomps or joys, where the blues dragged and wailed, and where there was 'jazz in brass' even before they called it that."(2) According to The Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics, the manuscript of the handwritten lyrics up for auction in 2002 included these additional lyrics:
Why wait in the dark for dawn when the sun's still going down
Maybe I'll dust off your chair if you say you're comin' round
Keep your place in line, all things come in time
Whoa-oh,all I need to know, do these coals glow?
Would you carry me uphill back the way I carried you?
Take me further, if you can, (you know) I'd do the same for you
Think this through with me, let me know your mind
Whoa-oh all I want to know is, will you be kind?
Well now, I can hear the flutter of their wings
Standin' still or run like hell, can you hear the sirens sing?
Grateful Dead Recordings | |||||
Date | Album | ||||
8 Nov 1969 | Dick's Picks Vol 16 (jam only) | ||||
12 Dec 1969 | Dave's Picks Volume 10 | ||||
26 Dec 1969 | Dave's Picks Volume 43 | ||||
studio 1970 | Workingman's Dead (note 1) | ||||
2 Jan 1970 | Dave's Picks Volume 30 | ||||
3 Jan 1970 | Dave's Picks 2019 Bonus Disc | ||||
2 Feb 1970 | Dave's Picks Volume 6 | ||||
11 Feb 1970 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2010) (note 7) | ||||
1 Mar 1970 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2014) | ||||
1 May 1970 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2012) | ||||
2 May 1970 | Dick's Picks Vol 8 | ||||
15 May 1970 | Road Trips Vol 3 No 3 (late show) | ||||
23 Dec 1970 | Workingman's Dead (note 2) | ||||
18 Feb 1971 | American Beauty (50th Anniversary Edition) | ||||
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 (note 12) | ||||
27 Apr 1971 | Ladies And Gentlemen ... The Grateful Dead | ||||
30 May 1971 | Winterland 1971 | ||||
31 Jul 1971 | Road Trips Number 1, Volume 3 | ||||
24 Aug 1971 | Dick's Picks Vol 35 | ||||
6 Dec 1971 | Dave's Picks Volume 22 | ||||
22 Mar 1972 | Rockin' The Rhein (bonus disc) | ||||
29 Apr 1972 | Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings | ||||
4 May 1972 | Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings | ||||
11 May 1972 | Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings | ||||
23 May 1972 | Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead: England '72 (note 6) | ||||
25 May 1972 | Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings | ||||
22 Jul 1972 | Download Series Vol 10 | ||||
17 Sep 1972 | Dick's Picks Vol 23 | ||||
27 Sep 1972 | Dick's Picks Vol 11 | ||||
17 Oct 1972 | Listen To The River: St Louis '71 '72 73 | ||||
17 Nov 1972 | Dave's Picks Volume 11 | ||||
1 Nov 1973 | Wake Of The Flood (50th Anniversary Edition bonus disc) | ||||
10 Nov 1973 | Winterland 1973 - The Complete Recordings | ||||
11 Nov 1973 | Winterland 1973 - The Complete Recordings | ||||
17 Nov 1973 | Dave's Picks Volume 5 | ||||
21 Nov 1973 | Road Trips Volume 4, Number 3 | ||||
22 Feb 1974 | Dave's Picks Volume 42 (bonus disc) | ||||
23 Mar 1974 | Dick's Picks Vol 24 | ||||
23 Jun 1974 | Dave's Picks Volume 34 | ||||
25 Jul 1974 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2015) | ||||
31 Jul 1974 | Dave's Picks Volume 2 | ||||
6 Aug 1974 | Dick's Picks Vol 31 | ||||
18 Sep 1974 | 30 Trips Around The Sun (note 8) | ||||
19 Oct 1974 | Grateful Dead Movie (DVD and CD) | ||||
31 Dec 1976 | Live At The Cow Palace | ||||
18 Mar 1977 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2023) (note 13) | ||||
3 May 1977 | Dave's Picks Volume 50 | ||||
9 May 1977 | May 1977: Get Shown The Light Box | ||||
11 May 1977 | May 1977 Box Set | ||||
15 May 1977 | May 1977 Box Set | ||||
19 May 1977 | Dick's Picks Vol 29 | ||||
26 May 1977 | Dave's Picks Volume 41 (note 11) | ||||
7 Jun 1977 | Winterland June 1977 - The Complete Recordings | ||||
29 Sep 1977 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2015) | ||||
26 Dec 1979 | Dick's Picks Vol 5 | ||||
28 Dec 1979 | Road Trips Vol 3, No 1 | ||||
15 May 1980 | Go To Nassau | ||||
31 Oct 1980 | Dead Ahead (video/DVD only) (note 3) | ||||
30 Nov 1980 | Dave's Picks Volume 8 | ||||
9 Mar 1981 | In And Out Of The Garden | ||||
16 May 1981 | 30 Trips Around The Sun | ||||
12 Apr 1982 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2016) | ||||
31 Jul 1982 | 30 Trips Around The Sun | ||||
21 Oct 1983 | 30 Trips Around The Sun | ||||
12 Oct 1984 | 30 Trips Around The Sun | ||||
1987 | So Far (video only) | ||||
27 Mar 1987 | Dave's Picks Volume 36 | ||||
24 Jul 1987 | View From The Vault IV (DVD & CD soundtrack) | ||||
31 Dec 1987 | Ticket To New Year's (video/DVD only) | ||||
28 Dec 1988 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2011) (note 10) | ||||
3 Apr 1989 | Download Series Vol 9 | ||||
10 Jul 1989 | Giants Stadium 1987, 1989, 1991 Boxed Set | ||||
17 Jul 1989 | Donwhill From Here (video/DVD only) | ||||
9 Oct 1989 | Warlocks Box | ||||
16 Oct 1989 | Nightfall Of Diamonds | ||||
27 Dec 1989 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2018) | ||||
14 Mar 1990 | Spring 1990 (The Other One) | ||||
24 Mar 1990 | Dozin' At The Knick | ||||
30 Mar 1990 | Spring 1990 | ||||
23 Jun 1990 | Dave's Picks Volume 44 | ||||
19 Jul 1990 | Dave's Picks Volume 40 | ||||
19 Sep 1990 | Road Trips Number 2, Volume 1 | ||||
17 Jun 1991 | Giants Stadium 1987, 1989, 1991 Boxed Set (CD and DVD) | ||||
11 Jun 1992 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2023) | ||||
27 May 1993 | Road Trips Vol 2, No 4 | ||||
25 Jun 1993 | (official YouTube video only) | ||||
5 Oct 1994 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2016) | ||||
Phil Lesh and Friends Recordings | |||||
19 May 2006 | Live At The Warfield | ||||
(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.) | |||||
Tribute Albums | |||||
Date | Album | Recorded By | |||
1991 | Deadicated | Indigo Girls | |||
1996 | Fire On The Mountain | Reggae Celebrates The Grateful Dead (Joe Higgs) | |||
1996 | DeadBeats Acoustic | DeadBeats | |||
1996 | Long Live The Dead | Billy And Terry Smith | |||
2000 | Pickin' On The Grateful Dead Vol 2 | David West et al | |||
2001 | Gifts From The Dead | Gifts From The Dead | |||
2002 | Buckdancer's Choice | Wake The Dead | |||
2003 | Ukelele Summit 5 | Various (Luisa Finau) | |||
2003 | Grateful Guitar | David Cullen | |||
2007 | At Fine Arts Center, UMass | The American Beauty Project | |||
2009 | Yoga Tribute To Grateful Dead | Yoga Pop Ups (note 9) | |||
2010 | At Page Auditorium, Duke University | The American Beauty Project | |||
2014 | Grateful Dead Bluegrass Tribute | David Holodiloff | |||
14 May 2015 | Dear Jerry: Celebrating The Music Of Jerry Garcia | Phil Lesh & Communion | |||
2015 | Grateful Jazz | Jazz Is Dead | |||
2016 | Day Of The Dead | Lucius | |||
2018 | Dead Songs Vol 2 | Barton Hills Choir | |||
2019 | Sabertooth Plays Dead | Sabertooth | |||
Other Recordings | |||||
Date | Album | Recorded By | |||
1971 | Single | The Montanas | |||
1972 | Backporch Song | The Wheatones | |||
1972 | The Incomparable ... | Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (note 4) | |||
1973 | Watkin's Glen | King's Road | |||
1994 | Fruitcakes | Jimmy Buffet | |||
1996 | Mirth Control | Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (note 5) | |||
1998 | Inner Child Proof | Chicago Voice Exchange | |||
2001 | Beach Balls and Alcohol | Key West The Band | |||
2001 | Drhoim | Herrn Stumpfes Zieh & Zupf Kapelle | |||
2003 | The Taste Of Life Itself | Sagin' Time | |||
2007 | Last Of The Jewish Pirates | Steve Lieberman | |||
2007 | Steel Away | J. Robert | |||
2007 | Take Cover | Tomas Nicholas | |||
2007 | Last Of The Jewish Pirates | Steve Lieberman | |||
2008 | Upcountry Skies | Cyrus Clarke | |||
2010 | One Hesher, Two Punks And A Hippy | Punk Is Dead | |||
2018 | Music Of Our People | Darol Anger | |||
2019 | Tidal Tracks: Live in Champaign | The Boat Drunks | |||
2020 | Full Moonalice Vol. 2 | Moonalice | |||
2023 | Uncle John's Band | John Scofield |