Resurrection Rag

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Merl Saunders

In Box of Rain, Robert Hunter says:

Written for the soundtrack of Armageddon Rag, which was never filmed. Merl Saunders performed this piece on the 1998 recording Dinosaurs. It is the second half of a composition titled Armageddon/Resurrection Rag.

Also played by Merl Saunders with Phil Lesh and Friends on 29 May 1999. See below for the very different lyrics in George R R Martin's novel.

In ruby light of a crescent moon
Calm in the aftermath of doom
Vines twine round
The slice of a knife
Flowers, seeds
Traces of life

A wind from the west
Plays flute on the holes
Of ash blue craters
Melody rolls
The voice of the song
So strangely like you
When the moon was white
And the sky was still blue

Resurrection Rag
The voice of the moon
I've heard it before
I remember the tune

Twelve crimson stars
Shining bright overhead
They shall make music
To wake the dead

With breath in our bodies
We sing the refrain
With flesh on our bones
We feel softness and pain

With hope in our hearts
With trust in our eyes
We arise
We have risen
We arise
We have risen
We arise

Recordings
	Date	Album	Recorded By
	1998	It's In The Air	Merl Saunders
	2005	Friends Of Extinction	Dinosaurs

In George R R Martin's novel Armageddon Rag, The Nazgûl sing very different lyrics at their reunion concert:

This is the day we've dreamed about
This is the land where flowers grow
And all my hopes I'm bringing
Oh, don't you hear the singing
And all my dreams I'm bringing
Well, can't you hear the singing
And all my pain I'm bringing
And I'm joining in that singing
They're playing the resurrection rag, oh
Playing that resurrection rag
Yeah, that everlovin' funky goddamned resurrection rag

Further Information
For more information on recordings see Matt Schofield's Grateful Dead Family Discography