Lazy Lightning

Lyrics: John Barlow
Music: Bob Weir

First played by Bob Weir with Kingfish but then played regularly with the Grateful Dead between 1976 and 1984. Always followed by Supplication.

Lazy lightning
That sleepy fire in your eyes
Is that desire in disguise
I keep on trying but I
I can't get through

Lazy lightning
I'd like to find the proper potion
To try to capture your emotion
[Alternative: To kind of capture your emotion]
You're right beside me but I
I can't get through

You're a loop of lazy lightning
Just a loop of lazy lighting
Must admit you're kind of frightening
But you really get me high

So exciting
When I hear your velvet thunder
You seem so near I start to wonder
Would you come closer if I
If I asked you to

So exciting
[Alternative: So inviting]
The way you're messing with my reason
It's an obsession but it's pleasing
Tell me a lie and I will swear
I will swear it's true

You're a loop of lazy lightning
Liquid loop of lazy lightning
Must admit you're kind of frightening
You're a loop of lazy lightning

Rope of fire round my heart (lightning)
Rope of fire ever tightening
Rope of fire round my heart (tightening)
[Alternative: It's either lunacy or lightning]
Come on come on lazy lightning

You're a loop of lazy lightning

Lazy lightning
You say you never start the same place
I want a double dose in any case
I'd fly a kite if I thought
Thought that would do

Here's to lightning
Well you always electrify me
Someday I know you'll satisfy me
And all that lightning will be
My lightning too

Loop of lazy lightning
(My lightning too)
[etc]

Grateful Dead Recordings
	Date	Album
	9 Jun 1976	Road Trips Volume 4, Number 5
	10 Jun 1976	June 1976 Box Set
	11 Jun 1976	June 1976 Box Set
	12 Jun 1976	30 Days Of The Dead (2011)
	14 Jun 1976	June 1976 Box Set
	17 Jun 1976	Dave's Picks Volume 28
	21 Jun 1976	Download Series Vol 4
	25 Sep 1976	Dick's Picks Vol 20
	30 Sep 1976	30 Days Of The Dead (2014) (note 4)
	9 Oct 1976	Dick's Picks Vol 33
	25 Apr 1977	30 Trips Around The Sun
	3 May 1977	Dave's Picks Volume 50
	5 May 1977	May 1977: Get Shown The Light Box
	8 May 1977	May 1977: Get Shown The Light Box
	11 May 1977	May 1977 Box Set
	15 May 1977	May 1977 Box Set
	22 May 1977	Dick's Picks Vol 3
	25 May 1977	Dave's Picks Volume 1 (note 3)
	8 Jun 1977	Winterland June 1977 - The Complete Recordings
	2 Nov 1977	Dick's Picks Vol 34
	31 Dec 1977	New Year's Eve At The Winterland
	18 Apr 1978	Dave's Picks Vol 37
	22 Apr 1978	Dave's Picks Vol 15
	11 May 1978	Dick's Picks Vol 25
	17 May 1978	30 Days Of The Dead (2022)
	5 Jul 1978	July 1978: The Complete Recordings
	3 Dec 1979	Dave's Picks Vol 31
	9 Dec 1979	Dave's Picks Vol 47
	30 Dec 1979	Road Trips Vol 3, No 1 (bonus disc)
	6 May 1980	Road Trips Volume 3, Number 4
	15 May 1980	Go To Nassau
	13 Oct 1980	Dead Set (note 2)
	31 Oct 1980	30 Days Of The Dead (2019)
	10 Mar 1981	In And Out Of The Garden

Other Bob Weir Recordings
	Date	Album	Recorded By
	studio 1976	Kingfish	Kingfish (note 1)
	3 Apr 1976	In Concert (King Biscuit Flower Hour)	Kingfish

Covers By Other Artists
	2004	Werewolves Of Atlanta: Halloween 2004	Dark Star Orchestra
	2008	Ithica 30 Years Later	Dark Star Orchestra
	2016	Zen-rhymed songs of Grateful Dead vol. 1	Warlocks of Tokyo

(1) also on the compilation Weir Here: The Best Of Bob Weir
(2) issued as a bonus track in the box set Beyond Description (1973-1990)
(3) also made available for download on 30 Days Of The Dead (2011)
(4) also included in 30 Days Of The Dead (2018)

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 2 (piano arrangement)