Wharf Rat

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia

Old man down (note 1)
Way down, down by the docks of the city (note 2)
Blind and dirty
Asked me for a dime, a dime for a cup of coffee
I got no dime, but I got some time to hear his story

My name is August West
And I love my Pearly Baker best, more than my wine
More than my wine (note 3)
More than my maker, though he's no friend of mine

Everyone said
I'd come to no good
I knew I would
Pearly, believed them
Half of my life
Spent doing time for some other fucker's crime (note 4)
The other half found me
Stumbling around, drunk on burgundy wine

But I'll get back on my feet someday
The good lord willing, if he says I may
I know that the life I'm living's no good
I'll get a new start, live the life I should
I'll get up and fly away
I'll get up and fly away

Pearly's been true
True to me, true to my dying day, he said
I said to him
I said to him, I'm sure she's been
I said to him, I'm sure she's been true to you

I got up and wandered
Wandered downtown, nowhere to go but just to hang around
I've got a girl
Named Bonny Lee, I know that girl's been true to me (note 5)
I know she's been, I'm sure she's been true to me
Notes
(1) Hunter's lyric book has "Wharf rat down" but Jerry never sang that.
(2) the first time it was played, on 18 February 1971, Jerry sang "... down by the docks of the river", but that seems to be the only occasion. (thanks to Mike Scheier for this)
(3) Jerry sometimes missed out these two lines, for example in the version on "Ladies And Gentlemen ..." (28 April 1971). Thanks to Ed Abahoonie and Mike Scheier for pointing this out
(4) there are several recordings where it sounds as if Jerry sang "... some motherfucker's crime," though it's very hard to tell. (thanks to John Sarjeant for pointing this out)
(5) the sheet music wrongly has this as "Named Benny Lee ..."

Hunter's handwritten lyrics show some variations from what finally emerged:
Wharf rat down in
The docks by the city
Got no home
He's blind and dirty
Asks me a dime
For a cup of coffee
I got no dime
But he tells I hear his story
But I listen to his story
'Cause I got nowhere to go [myself]

He says "my name is August West
And I loved my Pearly Baker best
Better than I loved my wine
Better than my maker, though he's none of mine

Everyone said I'd come to no good
Pearly believed 'em 'cause she knew though [?] I would
But half my life spent doin' time
The other half drunk on burgundy wine

But I'll get back on my feet someday
The good lord willing, if he says I may
'Cause I know the life I lead's no good
I'll get a new start and live the life I should

I'll just up and fly away, my friend
I'll just up and fly away
That's all that's on the page in Hunter's archive. It's not clear to me whether the rest was written on the back or added later.

Grateful Dead Recordings
     Date Album
     18 Feb 1971 American Beauty (50th Anniversary Edition)
     19 Feb 1971 Three From The Vault
     21 Feb 1971 Workingman's Dead (50th Anniversary Edition)
     18 Mar 1971 30 Trips Around The Sun
     12 Apr 1971 Dave's Picks Volume 51
     26 Apr 1971 Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses) (note 8)
     28 Apr 1971 Ladies And Gentlemen ... The Grateful Dead
     23 Aug 1971 Road Trips Number 1, Volume 3
     14 Nov 1971 Road Trips Number 3, Volume 2 (bonus disc)
     17 Nov 1971 Dave's Picks Volume 26
      6 Dec 1971 Dave's Picks Volume 22
     14 Dec 1971 Dave's Picks Volume 26 (bonus disc)
     21 Mar 1972 Dave's Picks Vol 14 (bonus disc)
     26 Mar 1972 Dave's Picks Vol 14
      7 Apr 1972 Steppin' Out with the Grateful Dead: England '72 (note 6)
     24 Apr 1972 Rockin' The Rhein (note 6)
      3 May 1972 Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
     10 May 1972 Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
     25 May 1972 Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
      3 Sep 1972 Dick's Picks Vol 36
     15 Nov 1972 Dave's Picks Volume 11 (filler) (note 9)
     10 Jun 1973 Here Comes Sunshine
     22 Jun 1973 Pacific Northwest '73-'74
     29 Oct 1973 Listen To The River: St Louis '71 '72 73
     10 Nov 1973 Winterland 1973 - The Complete Recordings
     14 Nov 1973 30 Trips Around The Sun
     21 Nov 1973 Road Trips Volume 4, Number 3
      2 Dec 1973 Dick's Picks Vol 14
     23 Mar 1974 Dick's Picks Vol 24
     19 May 1974 Pacific Northwest '73-'74
     21 May 1974 Pacific Northwest '73-'74
     16 Jun 1974 Road Trips Number 2, Volume 3 (bonus disc)
     22 Jun 1974 Dave's Picks Volume 34 (bonus disc)
     26 Jun 1974 Dick's Picks Vol 12
     29 Jul 1974 Dave's Picks Volume 2 (Bonus disc) (note 7)
     31 Jul 1974 Dave's Picks Volume 2
      4 Aug 1974 Dick's Picks Vol 31
      9 Sep 1974 Dick's Picks Vol 7
     20 Oct 1974 Grateful Dead Movie (CD only)
      9 Jun 1976 Road Trips Volume 4, Number 5
     17 Jun 1976 Dave's Picks Volume 28
     10 Oct 1976 Dick's Picks Vol 33
     31 Dec 1976 Live At The Cow Palace
     25 Apr 1977 30 Trips Around The Sun
      3 May 1977 Dave's Picks Volume 50
      7 May 1977 May 1977: Get Shown The Light Box
     11 May 1977 May 1977 Box Set
     17 May 1977 May 1977 Box Set
     22 May 1977 Dick's Picks Vol 3
     25 May 1977 Dave's Picks Volume 1
     28 May 1977 To Terrapin: Hartford '77
      8 Jun 1977 Winterland June 1977 - The Complete Recordings
     2 Oct 1977 Dave's Picks Volume 45
      7 Oct 1977 Road Trips Volume 1, Number 2
      6 Nov 1977 Dave's Picks Volume 25
      5 Feb 1978 Dick's Picks Vol 18
      6 Apr 1978 Friend Of The Devils: April 1978
     22 Apr 1978 Dave's Picks Vol 15
     10 May 1978 Dick's Picks Vol 25
      1 Jul 1978 July 1978: The Complete Recordings
      5 Jul 1978 July 1978: The Complete Recordings
      8 Jul 1978 July 1978: The Complete Recordings
     31 Dec 1978 The Closing Of Winterland (DVD & CD)
      9 Nov 1979 Road Trips Volume 1, Number 1
      3 Dec 1979 Dave's Picks Vol 31
     30 Dec 1979 Road Trips Vol 3, No 1 (bonus disc)
      6 May 1980 Road Trips Volume 3, Number 4
      4 Sep 1980 Download Series Vol 7
      6 May 1981 Dick's Picks Vol 13
     21 Oct 1983 30 Trips Around The Sun
     19 Apr 1984 Dave's Picks Volume 35
     28 Apr 1985 Dave's Picks Vol 49
     24 Jun 1985 30 Trips Around The Sun
     31 Dec 1987 Ticket To New Year's (video/DVD only)
      1 Apr 1988 Road Trips Volume 4, Number 2
      7 Jul 1989 Crimson, White and Indigo (DVD & CD)
     13 Jul 1989 RFK Stadium 1989 Box
     15 Mar 1990 Terrapin Station (Limited Edition)
     21 Mar 1990 Spring 1990 (The Other One)
     28 Mar 1990 Spring 1990 (The Other One)
      6 Jul 1990 (official YouTube video only)
     16 Jul 1990 (official YouTube video only)
     20 Jun 1991 Download Series Vol 11
Notes
(6) also on the box set Europe '72 - The Complete Recordings
(7) also made available for download on 30 Days Of The Dead (2011) and 30 Days Of The Dead (2019)
(8) also on the compilation The Best Of The Grateful Dead Live
(9) also made available for download on 30 Days Of The Dead (2021) and 30 Days Of The Dead (2019)
 
(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.)
 
Covers
     Date Album Recorded By
     1991 Deadicated Midnight Oil
     1996 Fire On the Mountain Reggae Celebrates the Grateful Dead (Michael Rose)
     1999 Swingin' To The Grateful Dead Steve Marsh et al
     2001 Built To Grass Grass Is Dead
     11 Jul 2002 Live: Salt Lake City, UT Bruce Hornsby
     2005 Jerry Jams, Jerry Cares Swampadelica
     2006 The Best of the Jammys, Vol 1 Ryan Adas and the Cardinals
     17 Mar 2007 Oriental Theatre, Denver, CO KVMH
     2010 Live At The Blue Light Charlie Shafter & The Gnomes
     2010 Spun Lauren Pennington
     2010 At Page Auditorium, Duke University The American Beauty Project
     2013 Keys Keller Willams
     2013 Surrender Jon Wayne And The Pain
     2015 It's A Hand-Me-Down David Gans
     2015 Songs Of Their Own Pete Pidgeon
     17 Apr 2015 Live: Morrison, CO Disco Biscuits
     2016 Better Left Unsung Holly Bowling
     2016 Day Of The Dead Moses Sumney, Jenny Lewis & Friends
     22 Mar 2016 Live: Mill Valley, CA Jackie Greene
     2018 Cut The Dead Some Slack Stephen Inglis
     2019 Dead Air Travis Elliott
     2019 Phantom Ships With Phantom Sails Live Dead '69
     2019 Chip's Picks Vol 2 High Time


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)

 


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