Mountains of the Moon

[EstimatedProphet]

Cold Mountain water
the jade merchant's daughter
Mountains of the Moon, Bow and bend to me
Hi ho the Carrion Crow
Folderolderiddle
Hi Ho the Carrion Crow
Bow and bend to me

Hey Tom Banjo
Hey a laurel
More than laurel
You may sow
More than laurel
You may sow

Hey the laurel
Hey the city
In the rain
Hey, hey,
Hey the white wheat
Waving in the wind

20 degrees of solitude
20 degrees in all
All the dancing kings & wives
assembled in the hall
Lost is a long & lonely time
Fairy Sybil flying
All along the all along
the Mountains of the Moon

Here is feast of solitude
A fiddler grim and tall
Plays to dancing kings and wives
Assembled in the hall
Of lost, long, lonely times
Fairy Sibil flying
All along the all along
the Mountains of the Moon

Hey Tom Banjo
It's time to matter
The Earth will see you
on through this time
The Earth will see you on
through this time

Down by the water
The Marsh King's Daughter
Did you know?
Clothed in tatters
Always will be
Tom, where did you go?

Mountains of the Moon, Electra
Mountains of the Moon
All along the
All along the
Mountains of the Moon

Hi Ho the Carrion Crow
Folderolderiddle
Hi Ho the Carrion Crow
Bow and bend to me
Bend to me

[Xandor]

1. Wow - beautiful song...

...especially in the original mix, before the remix of the early '70's. That was the version that had all the ethereal women's voices. Apparently they were all the wives/girlfriends of the band? (Florence, Mountain Girl, um... can't remember who)

[EstimatedProphet]

2. Yes

I saw a bootleg tape once of the Dead playing this on Hugh Hefner's Playboy Hour-circa 1971 or so, maybe earlier. Absolutely outstanding!

[ET Awful]

3. You'd be surprised how many heads have never heard the song

When the Dead started playing it on tour a few years ago, the people I was with had no idea what the hell it was. I just sat there and grinned from ear to ear :)

[EstimatedProphet]

4. I've never heard it live

And it was always one that was high on the list that I wanted to see.
Believe it or not, to my great chagrin I have also never seen them play Estimated Prophet...bitter irony, that.

[ET Awful]

7. I saw them play Estimated plenty of times :)

I've seen them do Mountains of the Moon twice (both after Jerry died).

The one song I always wanted to see but never did (considering they stopped playing it well before I came on the scene) was St. Stephen. They soundchecked it a few times.

I did see them play Unbroken Chain two of the total of four times they ever played it live though :)

[EstimatedProphet]

10. I heard the Other Ones do St. Steven at the Nissan Pavilion

9/14/2000
Followed it up with The Eleven. Was that ever a show!

[markus]

9. A discography link on MOTM

http://www.deaddisc.com/songs/Mountains_Of_The_Moon.htm

Mountains Of The Moon
Composer: Jerry Garcia / Robert Hunter
Grateful Dead

Aoxomoxoa, Grateful Dead, 1969
Fillmore East 2.11.69, Grateful Dead, 1997
The Golden Road (1965-1973), Grateful Dead, 2001
Dick's Picks, Vol. 26, Grateful Dead, 2002

The Dead

Virginia Beach, VA - June 17, The Dead, 2003
Millwaukee, WI - July 1, The Dead, 2003
Tampa, FL - July 30, The Dead, 2003
Wantagh, NY - August 10, The Dead, 2003
Irvine, CA - September 18, The Dead, 2003
Oakland, CA - December 31, The Dead, 2004

Others

Morning Dew, Tom Constanten, 1993
Dead Ringers, Dead Ringers, 1994
Relix Bay Record Shop : Tribute To Jerry Garcia, Various Artists, 1997
The Strange Remain, The Other Ones, 1999
Grateful Dreams, Tom Constanten, 2000

Notes

Mountains Of The Moon is one of the few tracks on Aoxomoxoa that was not recorded using the then new 16-track technology. This perhaps explains it sparse compared when compared to some of the denser tracks on the album. Garcia spoke about the song in an interview after remixing the album in 1971;

Mountains Of The Moon is still one of my favorite ones I've ever written. I thought it came off like a little gem. On the record as it is now, I've dropped a lot of the junk off it. It sounds more like I hoped it would when we recorded it.
Robert Hunter has also identified the song as one of his favorites and has performed it many times over the years.

[TransitJohn]

11. I know that

I saw Phil and Friends do it 5-8 times. Thank you Phil! For keeping it alive until the rest of the boys were ready to go back out on the road. Prophet, a request? Lyrics to Reuben and Cherise.

[ET Awful]

12. As requested

Cerise was brushing her long hair gently down
It was the afternoon of carnival
as she brushes it gently down

Reuben was strumming the painted mandolin
It was inlaid with a pretty face in jade
Played the Carnival Parade


Cerise was dressing as Pirouette in white
when a fatal vision gripped her tight
Cerise beware tonight


Reuben, Reuben tell me truly true
I feel afraid and I don't know why I do
Is there another girl for you?


If you could see in my heart
you would know it's true
there is none Cerise except for you
except for you
I swear to it on my very soul
If I lie may I fall down cold


When Reuben played the painted mandolin
the breeze would stop to listen in
before going its way again


Masquerade began when nightfall finally woke
Like waves against the bandstand dancers broke
to the painted mandolin


Looking out on the crowd, who is standing there?
Sweet Ruby Claire at Reuben stared
At Reuben stared
She was dressed as Pirouette in red
and her hair hung gently down


The crowd pressed round
Ruby stood as though alone
Reuben's song took on a different tone
and he played it just for her


The song he played was the Carnival Parade
Each note cut a thread of Cerise's fate
It cut through like a blade


Reuben was playing the painted mandolin
When Ruby froze and turned to stone
for the strings played all alone


The voice of Cerise from the face of the mandolin
singing: Reuben, Reuben tell me true
for I have no one but you
If you could see in my heart
you would know it's true
There is none Cerise, except for you -except for you


I swear to it on my very soul
If I lie, may I fall down cold * * *


The truth of love
an unsung song must tell
The course of love must follow blind
without a look behind
Rubin walked through the streets
of New Orleans 'till dawn,
Cerise so lightly in his arms
and her hair hung gently down


these additional verses connect at the asterisks(***)
and replace the original ending verse


***
Ahoy old Ferryman
Riverboat of Charron ride
Though alive, take Reuben to the other side
For his sweet Cerise has died


It's a long lonely walk from Hell
to the burying ground
Cerise may return
but don't you look around
for your glance would cut her down


The truth of love an unsung song must tell
The course of love must follow blind
but Reuben looked behind


Reuben walked the streets of New Orleans till dawn
with the ghost of Cerise in his empty arms
and her hair hung gently down

[TransitJohn]

13. Thanks

I saw the Grateful Dead play that JGB nugget for the first time at the (former) Cap Center in Landover on Spring Tour '91, and I had no idea what it was, as it was my 3rd Show. Always have loved that one. :cheers:

[ET Awful]

14. You can find many of the lyrics here:

http://arts.ucsc.edu/gdead/agdl/#songs

Most songs are listed, some aren't for copyright reasons.

All are annotated with various notes sent in by readers, etc. with their thoughts on what the song is about and what its origins are (most of the annotation is crap in my opinion) :).

[Xandor]

5. Earlier!

Ya know, I think that Hugh Hefner show must have been in '69 or even '68. I was a college freshman in '69 and the guy who lived in the dorm room across from mine was a Dead head too. We were delighted to find each other... "Have you heard Live/Dead yet?!?". Anyway, I remember him telling me about seeing the Dead on the Hugh Hefner show, and so it must have been before the autumn of '69.

[EstimatedProphet]

6. Cool!

I n ever had a date to put with it.
Interesting interview with Jerry too.

[markus]

8. Oh, that song.

All of the bitterness and hate of an election season have just melted away, as I reach into the CD rack....

(I don't know if that song would ever sound the same with a voice other than Jerry's tho').

And any pointers to a early recording of that (and any variantes, including online concerts) would be greatly appreciated.

Hell I think I could burn an entire CD of versions of that and never tire of playing it.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

15. I adore that song - man alive!

Thanks - that made my morning