Terrapin Station

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia

This is the second song in Robert Hunter's Terrapin Station Suite. In setlists, the first song in the suite, "Lady With A Fan," is often lumped together with "Terrapin Station" rather than shown as a separate song.

Inspiration, move me brightly
Light the song with sense and color
Hold away despair
More than this I will not ask
Faced with mysteries dark and vast
Statements just seem vain at last
Some rise, some fall, some climb (note 1)
To get to Terrapin

Counting stars by candlelight
All are dim but one is bright
The spiral light of Venus
Rising first and shining best
Oh, from the north-west corner
Of a brand new crescent moon
Crickets and cicadas sing
A rare and different tune
Terrapin Station
In the shadow of the moon
Terrapin Station
And I know we'll be there soon

(Terrapin)
I can't figure out
(Terrapin)
If it's the end or beginning (note 2)
(Terrapin)
But the train's put it brakes on
(Terrapin)
And the whistle is screaming
Terrapin

Notes
(1) in his 1980 recording, Hunter sang "Some rise, some climb, some crawl" and then (in the repeat) "Some rise, some climb, some fall". And in an earlier versuon, he sang "Some rise, some crawl, some fall"
(2) this is what Garcia sings. But the published lyrics are "if it's an end or the beginning." And Hunter sang "is this an end or a beginning."

Grateful Dead Recordings
	Date	Album
	Studio 1977	Terrapin Station (3)
	26 Feb 1977	Dave's Picks Volume 29
	22 Apr 1977	30 Days Of The Dead (2021)
	25 Apr 1977	30 Trips Around The Sun
	30 Apr 1977	Download Series Vol 1
	4 May 1977	Dave's Picks Volume 50 (bonus disc)
	7 May 1977	May 1977: Get Shown The Light Box
	12 May 1977	Winterland June 1977 - The Complete Recordings (bonus disc) (6)
	17 May 1977	May 1977 Box Set
	19 May 1977	Dick's Picks Vol 29
	22 May 1977	Dick's Picks 3 (1)
	26 May 1977	Dave's Picks Volume 41
	28 May 1977	To Terrapin: Hartford '77
	7 Jun 1977	Winterland June 1977 - The Complete Recordings
	9 Jun 1977	Winterland June 1977 - The Complete Recordings
	3 Sep 1977	Dick's Picks 15
	16 Oct 1977	Road Trips Volume 1, Number 2
	2 Nov 1977	Dave's Picks Volume 12
	29 Dec 1977	Dick's Picks 10
	22 Jan 1978	Dave's Picks Volume 23
	7 Apr 1978	Friend Of The Devils: April 1978
	11 Apr 1978	Friend Of The Devils: April 1978
	18 Apr 1978	Dave's Picks Vol 37
	24 Apr 1978	Dave's Picks Volume 7
	1 Jul 1978	July 1978: The Complete Recordings
	8 Jul 1978	July 1978: The Complete Recordings
	15 Sep 1978	Rocking The Cradle: Egypt 1978 (bonus disc)
	31 Dec 1978	The Closing Of Winterland (DVD & CD)
	6 Nov 1979	Road Trips Volume 1, Number 1 (5)
	3 Dec 1979	Dave's Picks Vol 31
	9 Dec 1979	Dave's Picks Vol 47
	28 Dec 1979	Road Trips Vol 3, No 1
	7 May 1980	Road Trips Volume 3, Number 4
	28 Nov 1980	30 Trips Around The Sun
	6 Apr 1982	Road Trips Volume 4, Number 4
	20 Sep 1982	In And Out Of The Garden
	19 Apr 1984	Dave's Picks Volume 35
	28 Jun 1985	30 Days Of The Dead (2014)
	26 Jul 1987	View From The Vault IV (DVD & CD soundtrack)
	18 Sep 1987	30 Trips Around The Sun
	31 Dec 1987	Ticket To New Year's (video/DVD only)
	31 Mar 1988	Road Trips Volume 4, Number 2
	31 Mar 1989	30 Days Of The Dead (2017) (8)
	4 Jul 1989	Truckin' Up To Buffalo (DVD & CD soundtrack)
	13 Jul 1989	RFK Stadium 1989 Box
	15 Mar 1990	Terrapin Station (Limited Edition)
	24 Mar 1990	Dozin' At The Knick
	30 Mar 1990	Spring 1990
	16 Jun 1990	View From The Vault III (video/DVD & CD soundtrack)
	8 Jul 1990	View From The Vault (video/DVD & CD soundtrack)
	18 Jul 1990	Dave's Picks Volume 40
	12 Sep 1991	So Many Roads (1965-1995)
	25 Sep 1991	Dick's Picks Vol 17
	1 Oct 1994	30 Trips Around The Sun
	5 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
	studio 1980	Jack O'Roses	Robert Hunter
	1996	DeadBeats Acoustic	DeadBeats
	1996	Play Terrapin Station	The Mudkats
	9 Aug 1998	Jerry Jams for Rex	Phish
	1999	Terrapin	Joe Gallant & Illuminati
	2001	Solo Acoustic	David Gans
	2001	Great Sky River	Jazz Is Dead
	15 Sep 2002	Live At The Powerhouse	David Gans (DVD only)
	2003	Solo Acoustic	David Gans
	2003	Thunder And Lightnin'	Dark Star Orchestra
	7 Aug 2004	Retrospective	Railroad Earth
	11 Jun 2005	Live: Bonaroo Music Festival, Manchester, TN	Gov't Mule (9)
	2006	Release The Medicine	Sylvia Bagge
	2006	Piano Impressions	Lore Constantine
	2007	Seeing Spots	Paradise Island (Jenny Hoyston) (7)
	2008	Ithica 30 Years Later	Dark Star Orchestra
	4 Sep 2010	House Concert, Club Meg, Missoula, MT	David Gans (9)
	10 Mar 2012	Live: San Francisco, CA	Railroad Earth (9)
	2011	Blottopia XII Day 1	Mr Blotto
	2013	Keys	Keller Willams
	2013	Harpin' On The Dead	Anela Lauren
	2013	Move Me Brightly	Bob Weir et al (DVD)
	17 Apr 2015	Live: Morrison, CO	Disco Biscuits
	27 Jun 2012	On The Road: Rothbury, MI	String Cheese Incident (9)
	2015	Songs Of Their Own	Dead Set
	2015	It's A Hand-Me-Down	David Gans
	2016	Day Of The Dead	Daniel Rosen, Christopher Bear and the National
	2016	Better Left Unsung	Holly Bowling
	2019	Sabertooth Plays Dead	Sabertooth
	2021	Alive And Grateful	Bert Keely and Friends
	2021	Jerry's Smilin': Guitar Tribute To The Grateful Dead	Damià Timoner
	Jun 2021	Live In Colorado Vol 2	Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros

Notes
(1) this is the only Grateful Dead recording of "Terrapin Station" not preceded by "Lady With A Fan" (it segues out of "Wharf Rat" instead)
(2) for almost all these recordings, the CD lists only "Terrapin Station" but this includes "Lady With A Fan"
(3) also on the compilations The Arista Years and The Best Of The Grateful Dead
(4) a short intrumental version of "Terrapin Station" recorded on 26 Sep 1990 at a rehearsal at Club Front is included on Best Of The Grateful Dead Hour
(5) also released on Road Trips Full Show: Spectrum 11/6/79
(6) also in the May 1977 Box Set
(7) not preceded by "Lady With A Fan"
(8) also made available for download on 30 Days Of The Dead (2020)
(9) The list above includes only one illustrative example of the series of live recordings by these bands. For a full list see the Grateful Dead Family Discography.

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 1 (piano arrangement)
Garcia/Hunter Songbook (vocal line and chords/TAB)