Lyrics: John Barlow
Music: Bob Weir
Compass card is spinningNotes
Helm is swingin' to and fro
Ooh where's the dog star
Ooh where's the moon
You're lost sailor
You've been too long at sea (note 1)
Some days the gales are howling
Some days the sea is still as glass
Ooh reef the mainsail
Ooh lash the mast
You're lost sailor
You've been too long at sea
Now the shore-lights beckon
Yeah there's a price for being free
Yeah the sea birds cry (note 2)
There's a ghost wind blowin'
It's calling you to that misty swirling sea
Till the chains of your dreams are broken
No place in this world you can be
You're lost sailor
You've been way too long at sea
Now the shore-lights beckon
Yeah there's a price for being free
Drifting yeah drifting
Yeah drifting and dreaming
'Cause there's a place you've never been (note 3)
Maybe a place you've never seen
You can hear her calling on the wind
Go on and drift your life away
Yeah just drifting and dreaming
Maybe drift your life away
Drifting and dreaming
Yes I'm going on a dream
Maybe going on a dream
Maybe going on a dream
Maybe going on a dream
23 April 1984
Every day you got to pay
Some more time you got to pay
Two kinds of freedom
Freedom from and freedom to be
One you may know where you're going
Or maybe you're just drifting to the sea
Drifting and dreaming
Is this a place you've never seen
Maybe a voice you've never heard or a face you've never seen
But you can hear them calling on the way to [hell?]
Drifting and dreaming
[etc]
1 November 1985
Got to pay for being free
Just loose and free and drifting
Drifting and dreaming
Maybe going on a dream
Maybe going on a feeling
You gonna drift your life away
It's as though anyone
Wouldn't thank you for drifting
Yeah drifting and dreaming
Drifting and dreaming
Maybe going on a dream
Maybe going on a feeling
'Cause there's a place you've never been
Maybe a place you've never seen
You can hear them calling, oh yeah
Drifting and dreaming
[etc]
24 March 1986
Let me get into a short discourse about the nature of freedom
There are two kinds of freedom
Freedom from and freedom to be
The first kind of freedom is where you wan't to go now
What do you want to do now, freedom to be
Then there's the other kind of freedom
And that's the freedom from man
You could be a poet
You may be just drifting
Drifting and dreaming anyway
[etc]
| Grateful Dead Recordings | |||||
| Date | Album | ||||
| 27 Oct 1979 | 30 Trips Around The Sun (note 5) | ||||
| 31 Oct 1979 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2015) | ||||
| 5 Nov 1979 | Road Trips Full Show: Spectrum 11/5/79 | ||||
| 8 Nov 1979 | Road Trips Volume 1, Number 1 | ||||
| 3 Dec 1979 | Dave's Picks Vol 31 | ||||
| 9 Dec 1979 | Dave's Picks Vol 47 | ||||
| studio 1980 | Go To Heaven | ||||
| 6 May 1980 | Road Trips Volume 3, Number 4 | ||||
| 16 May 1980 | Go To Nassau | ||||
| 26 Aug 1980 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2019) | ||||
| 3 Sep 1980 | Download Series Vol 7 | ||||
| 2 Oct 1980 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2016) | ||||
| 25 Oct 1980 | Go To Heaven (note 4) | ||||
| 31 Oct 1980 | Dead Ahead (video/DVD) | ||||
| 30 Nov 1980 | Dave's Picks Volume 8 | ||||
| 13 Dec 1980 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2023) | ||||
| 10 Mar 1981 | In And Out Of The Garden | ||||
| 6 May 1981 | Dick's Picks Vol 13 | ||||
| 16 May 1981 | 30 Trips Around The Sun | ||||
| 11 Jul 1981 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2012) | ||||
| 6 Apr 1982 | Road Trips Volume 4, Number 4 | ||||
| 23 Sep 1982 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2014) | ||||
| 12 Oct 1984 | 30 Trips Around The Sun | ||||
| 4 Apr 1985 | 30 Days Of The Dead (2021) | ||||
| 1 Nov 1985 | Dick's Picks Vol 21 | ||||
| 4 Jul 2015 | Fare Thee Well (CD and DVD) | ||||
| Bob Weir Recordings | |||||
| Date | Album | Recorded By | |||
| Jun 2021 | Live In Colorado | Bob Weir & Wolf Bros | |||
| Other Recordings | |||||
| Date | Album | Recorded By | |||
| 2004 | Werewolves Of Atlanta: Halloween 2004 | Dark Star Orchestra | |||
| 2006 | Barlow Shanghai - Live in Chicago | Mr Blotto | |||
| 2019 | Live At The Old Church | Holly Bowling | |||
| 2020 | Seeking All That's Still Unsung | Holly Bowling | |||