Casey Jones

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia

This is the Hunter/Garcia original, not to be confused with the traditional song Casey Jones, which the Dead also played, as did Jerry with some of his other bands. The latter is normally called "The Ballad Of Casey Jones" in setlists.

Chorus
Driving that train, high on cocaine
Casey Jones you'd better watch your speed
Trouble ahead, trouble behind
And you know that notion just crossed my mind (note 1)

This old engine makes it on time
Leaves Central Station 'bout a quarter to nine
Hits River Junction at seventeen to
At a quarter to ten you know it's travelling again

[chorus]

Trouble ahead, the lady in red
Take my advice you'd be better off dead
Switchman's sleeping, train Hundred and Two
Is on the wrong track and headed for you

[chorus]

Trouble with you is the trouble with me
Got two good eyes but we still don't see
Come round the bend, you know it's the end
The fireman screams and the engine just gleams

[chorus - repeated]

Notes
(1) Jerry often sang "And you know that notion, it just crossed my mind."
Mike Mehan suggested to me that Jerry sometimes sang "And you know that notion just cost my mind" - I like the thought!

Grateful Dead Recordings
	Date	Album
	3 Jul 1969	30 Days Of The Dead (2020)
	26 Oct 1969	30 Days Of The Dead (2023)
	2 Nov 1969	Dave's Picks Volume 43
	8 Nov 1969	Dick's Pick's Vol 16
	12 Dec 1969	Dave's Picks Volume 10
	26 Dec 1969	Dave's Picks Volume 43
	Studio 1970	Workingman's Dead (note 2)
	2 Jan 1970	Dave's Picks Volume 30
	3 Jan 1970	Dave's Picks 2019 Bonus Disc
	23 Jan 1970	Dave's Picks Volume 19
	2 Feb 1970	Dave's Picks Volume 6
	14 Feb 1970	Dick's Pick's Vol 4
	28 Feb 1970	30 Days Of The Dead (2024)
	2 May 1970	Dick's Picks Vol 8
	15 May 1970	Road Trips Vol 3 No 3 (early show)
	24 May 1970	Long Strange Trip (DVD only, on bonus disc)
	24 Oct 1970	Dave's Picks Volume 51
	18 Feb 1971	American Beauty (50th Anniversary Edition)
	19 Feb 1971	Three From The Vault
	21 Feb 1971	Workingman's Dead (50th Anniversary Edition)
	18 Mar 1971	30 Trips Around The Sun
	20 Mar 1971	30 Days Of The Dead (2023)
	12 Apr 1971	Dave's Picks Volume 51
	13 Apr 1971	Dave's Picks Volume 51
	27 Apr 1971	Ladies And Gentlemen ... The Grateful Dead
	30 May 1971	Winterland 1971
	2 Jul 1971	Fillmore: The Last Days
	7 Aug 1971	Dick's Picks Vol 35
	22 Oct 1971	Dave's Picks Volume 3
	15 Nov 1971	Road Trips Number 3, Volume 2
	17 Nov 1971	Dave's Picks Volume 26
	20 Nov 1971	Dave's Picks Volume 48
	6 Dec 1971	Dave's Picks Volume 22 (bonus disc)
	7 Dec 1971	Dave's Picks Volume 22
	9 Dec 1971	Listen To The River: St Louis '71 '72 73
	10 Dec 1971	Listen To The River: St Louis '71 '72 73
	14 Dec 1971	Dave's Picks Volume 26 (bonus disc)
	28 Mar 1972	Dick's Picks Vol 30
	8 Apr 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	11 Apr 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	14 Apr 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	17 Apr 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	24 Apr 1972	Rockin' The Rhein (note 3)
	26 Apr 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	29 Apr 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	3 May 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	4 May 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	7 May 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	10 May 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	11 May 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	13 May 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	18 May 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	23 May 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	24 May 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	25 May 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	26 May 1972	Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
	21 Jul 1972	Download Series Vol 10
	27 Aug 1972	Sunshine Daydream (CD only)
	9 Sep 1972	Dave's Picks Volume 46
	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
	18 Oct 1972	Listen To The River: St Louis '71 '72 73
	19 Oct 1972	Listen To The River: St Louis '71 '72 73
	17 Nov 1972	Dave's Picks Volume 11
	2 Apr 1973	Dave's Picks Volume 21
	13 May 1973	Here Comes Sunshine
	20 May 1973	Here Comes Sunshine
	26 May 1973	Here Comes Sunshine
	22 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
	17 Nov 1973	Dave's Picks Volume 5
	4 Dec 1973	Winterland 1973 - The Complete Recordings (bonus disc)
	10 Dec 1973	Download Series Vol 8
	23 Feb 1974	Dave's Picks Volume 42
	23 Jun 1974	Dave's Picks Volume 34
	4 Aug 1974	Dick's Picks Vol 31
	17 Oct 1974	Steal Your Face (note 4)
	2 Oct 1977	Dave's Picks Volume 45
	11 Nov 1978	Saturday Night Live Vol 1
	31 Dec 1978	The Closing Of Winterland (DVD & CD)
	5 Nov 1979	Road Trips Full Show: Spectrum 11/5/79
	28 Dec 1979	Road Trips Vol 3, No 1
	26 Aug 1980	30 Days Of The Dead (2019)
	16 Dec 1992	Dick's Picks Vol 27
	27 Mar 1993	30 Trips Around The Sun
	1 Apr 1995	30 Days Of The Dead (2018)

(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	Recorded By	Album
	1973	King's Road	Watkin's Glen
	1991	Warren Zevon	Deadicated
	1996	Billy & Terry Smith	Long Live The Dead
	1996	Wailing Souls	Fire On The Mountain: Reggae Celebrates The Grateful Dead
	1997	David West et al	Pickin' On The Dead ... A Tribute
	1999	Steve Marsh et al	Swingin' To The Grateful Dead
	2000	McEuen & Salazar	Tie-Die Yippie Ki Yay
	2000	Vassar Clements	Dead Grass
	2001	Various (Michael Hill)	Blues Tribute To The Grateful Dead
	2003	Grateful Guitar	David Cullen
	2004	Live t The Rendevous, Seattle 2004	Sweeter Than The Day
	2005	Deadgrass	Deadgrass
	2005	On The Road October 23 2005	String Cheese Incident (note 6)
	8 Feb 2006	Live At The Fillmore	Grateful Grass
	2007	At Fine Arts Center, UMass	The American Beauty Project
	2009	December 31 2009, Portland, OR	Railroad Earth
	2009	Yoga Tribute To Grateful Dead	Yoga Pop Ups (note 5)
	2010	One Step Back In Time	D.T. Worthy
	2010	At Page Auditorium, Duke University	The American Beauty Project
	2010	One Hesher, Two Punks And A Hippy	Punk Is Dead
	2011	The Wheel: A Musical Celebration of Jerry Garcia	Jesse McReynolds, David Nelson et al
	2011	Sessions, Vol. 1	Jah Grateful Dead
	?2012	Karaoke Legends, Vol. 45	Unknown
	2012	Psychocountry	Maciej Malenczuk
	2013	Feb 9 2013, Riviera Theatre, Chicago, IL	moe. (note 6)
	2014	Grateful Dead Bluegrass Tribute	David Holodiloff
	2015	Apr 17 2015, Morrison, CO	Disco Biscuits
	2015	Feb 21 2015, Omaha, NE	Twiddle (note 6)
	2018	Grateful Dub	Roots of Creation
	2019	Dead Air	Free Union

Notes
(2) also on the compilations Skeletons From The Closet, The Very Best Of The Grateful Dead and The Best Of The Grateful Dead.
(3) also on the box set Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
(4) also released on The Grateful Dead Movie (video, DVD and CD)
(5) also released as "Lullaby Versions of Grateful Dead"
(6) 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.

Roots
See the section in The Ballad Of Casey Jones for information on the background to the traditional song.

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 1 (piano arrangement)
          Grateful Dead Authentic Guitar Classics Volume 1 (guitar TAB)
          Grateful Dead Songbook Volume 1 (piano arrangement)
          Very Best Of The Grateful Dead (guitar TAB)
          Garcia/Hunter Songbook (vocal line and chords/TAB)