Weather Report Suite Part II: Let It Grow

Lyrics: John Barlow
Music: Bob Weir

Part 2 of the Weather Report Suite, but played on its own after 1974

Morning comes, she follows the path to the river shore
Lightly sung, her song is the latch on the morning's door (note 1)
See the sun sparkle in the reeds; silver beads pass into the sea

She comes from a town where they call her the woodcutter's daughter
She's brown as the bank where she kneels down to gather her water
And she bears it away with a love that the river has taught her
Let it flow, greatly flow, wide and clear

Round and round, the cut of the plow in the furrowed field
Seasons round, the bushels of corn and the barley meal (note 2)
Broken ground, open and beckoning to the spring; black dirt live again

The plowman is broad as the back of the land he is sowing
As he dances the circular track of the plow ever knowing
That the work of his day measures more than the planting and growing
Let it grow, let it grow, greatly yield (note 3)

Chorus
What shall we say, shall we call it by a name
As well to count the angels dancing on a pin
Water bright as the sky from which it came
And the name is on the earth that takes it in
We will not speak but stand inside the rain
And listen to the thunder shout
I am, I am, I am, I am

So it goes, we make what we made since the world began
Nothing more, the love of the women, work of men
Seasons round, creatures great and small, up and down, as we rise and fall

[chorus]
Notes
(1) outtakes from the "Wake Of The Flood" studio sessions show that this line was originally "Stepping free, she places her feet where they fell before" (Thanks to Neal Miskin for pointing this out to me.)
(2) this line originally started "Harvest dreams ..." instead of "Seasons round ..."
(3) this line was originally "Let it grow, richly grow, greatly yield"

Grateful Dead Recordings
     Date Album
     (studio) 4 Aug 1973 Wake Of The Flood   (note 4)
     (studio) Aug 1973 Wake Of The Flood
      7 Sep 1973 Dave's Picks Volume 38 (bonus disc)
      8 Sep 1973 Dave's Picks Volume 38
     30 Oct 1973 Listen To The River: St Louis '71 '72 73
     1 Nov 1973 Wake Of The Flood (50th Anniversary Edition bonus disc)
      9 Nov 1973 Winterland 1973 - The Complete Recordings
     10 Nov 1973 Winterland 1973 - The Complete Recordings
     11 Nov 1973 Winterland 1973 - The Complete Recordings
     21 Nov 1973 Road Trips Volume 4, Number 3
     23 Nov 1973 30 Days Of The Dead (2021)
     30 Nov 1973 Dick's Picks Vol 14
      2 Dec 1973 Dick's Picks Vol 14
     19 Dec 1973 Dick's Picks Vol 1
     23 Feb 1974 (note 10)
     24 Feb 1974 Dave's Picks Volume 13
     23 Mar 1974 Dick's Picks Vol 24
     19 May 1974 Pacific Northwest '73-'74
     21 May 1974 Pacific Northwest '73-'74
     18 Jun 1974 Road Trips Number 2, Volume 3
     23 Jun 1974 Dave's Picks Volume 34
     28 Jun 1974 Dick's Picks Vol 12
     19 Jul 1974 Dave's Picks Volume 17 (note 8)
     29 Jul 1974 Dave's Picks Volume 2 (Bonus disc)
     31 Jul 1974 Dave's Picks Volume 2
      4 Aug 1974 Dick's Picks Vol 31
     10 Sep 1974 Dick's Picks Vol 7
     17 Oct 1974 Beyond Description: Bonus CD
     18 Oct 1974 Grateful Dead Movie (DVD and CD)
      9 Jun 1976 Road Trips Volume 4, Number 5
     10 Jun 1976 June 1976 Box Set
     15 Jun 1976 June 1976 Box Set
     17 Jun 1976 Dave's Picks Volume 28
     19 Jun 1976 June 1976 Box Set
     25 Sep 1976 Dick's Picks Vol 20
     28 Sep 1976 Dick's Picks Vol 20
      2 Oct 1976 Live At The Cow Palace (note 5) (note 11)
     2 Oct 1977 Dave's Picks Volume 45
     11 Oct 1977 Road Trips Volume 1, Number 2
     29 Oct 1977 Dave's Picks Vol 33
      4 Nov 1977 Dave's Picks Volume 12
     15 Apr 1978 Dave's Picks Volume 37
     10 May 1978 Dick's Picks Vol 25
     14 May 1978 30 Trips Around The Sun
     30 Dec 1979 Road Trips Vol 3, No 1 (bonus disc)
      3 Sep 1980 Download Series Vol 7
     26 Oct 1980 Dead Set (note 4)
     28 Nov 1980 30 Trips Around The Sun
     28 Feb 1981 30 Days Of The Dead (2012)
      6 May 1981 Dick's Picks Vol 13
     16 May 1981 30 Trips Around The Sun
     30 Nov 1981 30 Days Of The Dead (2020)   (note 12)
      7 Aug 1982 Dick's Picks Vol 32
     29 Aug 1982 30 Days Of The Dead (2019)
     23 Sep 1982 30 Days Of The Dead (2011)
     26 Apr 1983 Dave's Picks Volume 39
     20 Apr 1984 Dave's Picks Volume 35
     24 Jun 1985 30 Trips Around The Sun (note 7)
     16 Sep 1987 30 Days Of The Dead (2013)
     27 Mar 1988 Download Series Vol 5
     31 Mar 1988 Road Trips Volume 4, Number 2
      7 Jul 1989 Crimson, White and Indigo (DVD & CD)
     13 Jul 1989 RFK Stadium 1989 Box
     16 Oct 1989 Nightfall Of Diamonds
     23 Oct 1989 30 Days Of The Dead (2010)
     14 Mar 1990 Without A Net   (note 11)
     25 Mar 1990 Spring 1990 (The Other One)
      2 Apr 1990 Spring 1990
      8 Jul 1990 View From The Vault (video/DVD & CD soundtrack)
     16 Jul 1990 (official YouTube video only) (note 9)
     19 Sep 1990 Road Trips Number 2, Volume 1
      9 Jun 1991 (official YouTube video only) Grateful Dead (note d)
     16 Jun 1991 Giants Stadium 1987, 1989, 1991 Boxed Set
     16 Dec 1992 Dick's Picks Vol 27
      3 Jul 2015 Fare Thee Well (CD and DVD)
 
(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
     1999 Laughing Water Jazz Is Dead
     2003 Lost & Profound Otter Lunacy
     2005 The 1000th Show Dark Star Orchestra
     2012 New Morning Waltz: Sounds Of Mandolin Americana Sam Lyman
     2019 Live At The Old Church Holly Bowling
     31 Dec 2018 Rising Up To Paradise Big Swell
     2020 Seeking All That's Still Unsung Holly Bowling

Notes
(4) issued as a bonus track on the version in the box set Beyond Description (1973-1990)
(5) on bonus disc Spirit Of '76 issued with advance orders from GDStore
(6) also in the box set Spring 1990 (The Other One)
(7) also on the compilation 30 Trips Around The Sun: The Definitive Live Story 1965-1995
(8) also included on Best Of The Grateful Dead Hour Vol 2.
(9) also released in 30 Days Of The Dead (2010)
(10) also on 30 Days Of The Dead (2016)
(11) also on 30 Days Of The Dead (2023)
(12) also 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 Anthology Volume 2 (piano arrangement)
          Grateful Dead Songbook Volume 2 (piano arrangement)
          Without A Net Songbook (piano arrangement)

 


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