Lyrics: John Barlow
Music: Brent Mydland
The Grateful Dead don't seem ever to have played this, at least in full.
But they may have experimented with the chorus, with slightly different lyrics -
see Shit Happens.
See also Picasso Moon for comments on the origins of this song.
Finished up my masterpiece
Gave it to the thought-police
Wanta two-way ticket for a one-way ride
Nothing lasts nor ever will
You get born, then you're over the hill
Try you might, but no one's leavin' alive
They say what goes up will always come back down
Looks to me like it just goes around
And around and around
It doesn't matter, doesn't matter
It's alright, it's alright
The Universe
Is workin' fine tonight
It doesn't matter, doesn't matter
It's OK
Whatever comes to pass
Will just pass right on away
The future is a sea of dreams
The past a pack of lies it seems
Walk in glory or crawl to fame
I only own the surrounding minute
Borrowin' everything that's in it
Step out on the stage and lose your name
They say what goes out will always come back in
I don't know, I just like to watch it spin and spin and spin
It doesn't matter, doesn't matter
Have a little faith
I burn my maps
So I can navigate
It doesn't matter, doesn't matter
Have a little hope
You can't see tomorrow
With a telescope
We tear down nations with fits and rages
For a paragraph on history's pages
See those towers in the desert, torn in half
Whenever you mention Destiny
You better get rid of that capital D
Whenever Man plans, it makes God laugh
Where all this is heading, I can't even guess
I close my eyes and I just say "yes"
I say "yes, yes, yes"
It doesn't matter, doesn't matter
Gotta be here now
Gotta learn to live
In the present somehow
It doesn't matter, doesn't matter
Your big designs
Look mighty damned small
In the endless halls of time