Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Robert Hunter
The only reference to this I know is a quote from Robert Hunter in Blair Jackson's and David Gans' book "This Is All A Dream
We Dreamed: An Oral History of the Grateful Dead" (p129)
ROBERT HUNTER: I remember Phil once saying "Can you write anything without cards, trains and crows in it?" So I wrote a song called "Cards, Trains, and Crows", but I don't think I handed it over.There are, as Phil indicated, a lot of Hunter songs with card, train and crow references. E.g.
Watch each card you play and play it slow
The wolf came in, I got my cards, we sat down for a game
Sometimes the cards ain't worth a dime if you don't lay them down
Driving that train, high on cocaine
Gotta go to Tulsa, first train we can ride
Listen to the whistle of the evening train
It's the same story the crow told me, it's the only one he knows
Hi-ho, the carrion crow, bow and bend to me