High Time

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia

You told me goodbye
How was I to know
You didn't mean goodbye
You meant please don't let me go
I was having a high time
Living the good life
Well I know

The wheels are muddy
Got a ton of hay
Now listen here baby
'Cause I mean what I say (note 1)
I'm having a hard time
Living the good life
Well I know

I was losing time, I had nothing to do
No-one to fight, I came to you
Wheels broke down, the leader won't draw
The line is busted, the last one I saw

Tomorrow comes trouble (note 2)
Tomorrow comes pain
Now don't think too hard, baby
'Cause you know what I'm saying
I could show you a high time
Living the good life (note 3)
Don't be that way

Nothing's for certain
It could always go wrong
Come in when it's raining
Go on out when it's gone
We could have us a high time
Living the good life
Well I know
Notes
(1) on a demo recorded in 1969, Jerry sang "What else can I say"
(2) on some occasions (eg DP4) Garcia sang the last two verses in the opposite order
(3) on the 1969 demo, Jerry sings "Trying to show you the good life", but that may just have been a mistake

Grateful Dead Recordings
     Date Album
     28 Jun 1969 30 Days Of The Dead (2019)
     16 Aug 1969 Woodstock - Back To The Garden
      7 Nov 1969 30 Days Of The Dead (2021)
      8 Nov 1969 Dick's Picks Vol 16
     12 Dec 1969 Dave's Picks Volume 10
     20 Dec 1969 Dave's Picks Volume 6
     26 Dec 1969 Dave's Picks Volume 43
     studio 1970 Workingman's Dead (note a)
      2 Jan 1970 Dave's Picks Volume 30
      7 Feb 1970 Fillmore West 1969 - The Complete Recordings (note b)
     14 Feb 1970 Dick's Picks Vol 4
     28 Feb 1970 30 Days Of The Dead (2023)
      9 Jun 1976 Road Trips Volume 4, Number 5
     14 Jun 1976 June 1976 Box Set
     19 Jun 1976 June 1976 Box Set
     28 Jun 1976 Download Series Vol 4 (note f)
     16 Jul 1976 Dave's Picks Volume 18 (bonus disc)
     17 May 1977 30 Days Of The Dead (2012) (note d)
     26 May 1977 Dave's Picks Volume 41 (note g)
      9 Dec 1979 Dave's Picks Vol 47
     28 Dec 1979 Road Trips Vol 3, No 1
     16 May 1980 Go To Nassau
      3 Sep 1980 Download Series Vol 7
     25 Oct 1980 Dead Set (note c)
      6 May 1981 Dick's Picks Vol 13
     16 May 1981 30 Trips Around The Sun
     21 Sep 1982 In And Out Of The Garden
      1 Nov 1985 Dick's Picks Vol 21
      3 May 1986 30 Trips Around The Sun
     16 Sep 1987 30 Days Of The Dead (2019) (note h)
     28 Mar 1990 Spring 1990 (The Other One)
     16 Jul 1990 (official YouTube video only)
     10 Sep 1991 30 Trips Around The Sun (note e)
     27 May 1993 Road Trips Vol 2, No 4
 
(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
     Sep 1995 Eternity Blue Henry Kaiser
     1998 Stolen Roses Cast of "Cumberland Blues"
     2007 At Fine Arts Center, UMass The American Beauty Project
     2010 At Page Auditorium, Duke University The American Beauty Project
     2012 Lock Stock & Soul Alyssa Graham
      7 Dec 2013 Dos Grateful Grass
     2015 Songs Of Their Own The Kind Buds
     2016 Songs To Fill The Air (WFMU Pledge Drive) Itasca
     2016 Day Of The Dead Daniel Rossen and Christopher Bear
     2019 Phantom Ships With Phantom Sails Live Dead '69
     2021 Alive And Grateful Bert Keely and Friends (Bert's Brew)
Notes
(a) also on the compilation What A Long Strange Trip It's Been
(b) released on the bonus disc issued with advance orders
(c) issued as a bonus track in the box set Beyond Description (1973-1990)
(d) also in the May 1977 Box Set
(e) also on the compilation 30 Trips Around The Sun: The Definitive Live Story 1965-1995
(f) also released on Dave's Picks Volume 28
(g) also released on 30 Days Of The Dead (2013)
(h) also released on 30 Days Of The Dead (2023)


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 Songbook Volume 1 (piano arrangement)
          Garcia/Hunter Songbook (vocal line and chords/TAB)

 


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