Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia
Played by the Dead from 1968 to 1995, almost invariably seguing into I Know You Rider.
More recently played by The Other Ones, Ratdog and Phil & Friends, Dead & Company etc.
Look for a while at the China Cat SunflowerNotes
proud-walking jingle in the midnight sun
Copper-dome bodhi drip a silver kimono
like a crazy-quilt star gown
through a dream night wind
Chorus (note a)
China cat
China cat
China cat
China cat
Krazy Kat peeking through a lace bandana (note b)
like a one-eyed Cheshire
like a diamond-eyed jack
A leaf of all colors plays
a golden string fiddle
to a double-e waterfall over my back
[chorus]
Comic book colors on a violin river
crying Leonardo words
from out a silk trombone
I rang a silent bell
beneath a shower of pearls
in the eagle winged palace
of the queen Chinee
[chorus]
Come out of the snow into my single-room cabinIn the Grateful Dead Hour no. 1477, David Gans played an interview with Robert Hunter from 15 November 1977 in which he discusses the writing of China Cat Sunflower and sang the following to illustrate how rhythmically different his original version had been. This has two new verses, and also includes what became part of The Eleven (where he later said "The Eleven when I wrote it was originally part of China Cat Sunflower ... the out-verse for it.
There you're sitting with your windows wide open
And the sound of doors collapsing in the breeze
And the sound of violins
Ever been ten thousand miles away from home, sweet SusieHunter sang variations of this in many of his 1978 performances. This is from 14 October 1978, with all three additional verses:
A drummer drums the waves up on the shore
With a cllatter and the tingle and the rush and the roar
Light up the ocean from the palace to the shore
Ever been to see a comical collection of gears
Grinding out galactical illusions of years
Yellow haired Madonna with the yellow silk ribbon
Been waiting, been waiting for years
Look for a while at the China Cat Sunflower
Proud-walking jingle in the midnight sun
Copper-dome bodhi drip a silver kimono
Like a crazy-quilt star gown through a dream night wind
Comic book colors on a violin river
Crying Leonardo words from out a silk trombone
I rang a silent bell beneath a shower of pearls
In the eagle winged palace of the queen Chinee
Eight-sided whispering hallelujah hatrack
Seven-faced marble eyed transitory dream doll
Six proud walkers on the jingle-bell rainbow
Five men writing in fingers of gold
Four men tracking down the great white sperm whale
Three girls waiting in a foreign dominion
Riding in the whalebelly, fade away in moonlight
Sink beneath the waters to the coral sands below
[ first verse of China Cat]variations in other 1978 performances include:
[ second verse of China Cat]
Ever been ten thousand miles away from home, sweet Susie
Where drummer drums the waves up on the shore, glory, glory
With a clatter and a tingle and the rush and the roar
Light up the palace from the ocean to the floor
Ever been to see a comical collection of gears
Grinding out galactical illusions of years
Silver silk Madonna with the gold reveller rhythm
They're waiting, they're waiting for years
Come out of the room into my single room cabin
There you sit a-grinning with the windows wide open
Sound of the thunder and the breeze in the sky
To the sound of distant doors collapsing
[The Eleven]
[Third verse of China Cat]
[Third verse of China Cat repeated]
light up the ocean from the palace to the floor/shoreIn a 1988 interview, Robert Hunter said:
Yellow-haired Madonna in a silver silk ribbon
"You know, I've written things which are so personal nobody could ever have the slightest idea, like, you know, look at - 'look for a while at the China Cat Sunflower proud walking jingle in the midnight sun'. Now that gets into kind of Joycean word salad. And some people strangely enough know just what I mean by it. But don't - I couldn't explain that."
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