Robert Hunter

Robert C. Hunter (June 23, 1941 – September 23, 2019) was the primary lyricist on Grateful Dead albums from Aoxomoxoa until the band formally retired the name with the death of Jerry Garcia.

Robert Hunter performing in the early 1980s

Song lyrics

Anthem of the Sun (1968)

• Oh no well I / been there before / and I ain't a comin back around / there no more / no I'm not
  • "Alligator" (with Ron "Pigpen" McKernan)

Live/Dead (1969)

• Shall we go, you and I, while we can? Through... the transitive nightfall of diamonds
  • "Dark Star"

Aoxomoxoa (1969)

• When I was just a little young boy, Papa said "Son, you'll never get far, I'll tell you the reason if you want to know, 'cause child of mine, there isn't really very far to go."
  • "Dupree's Diamond Blues"

Workingman's Dead (1970)

• Well, the first days are the hardest days, don't you worry anymore. When life looks like Easy Street there is danger at your door.
  • "Uncle John's Band"

• It's the same story the crow told me, it's the only one he knows. Like the morning sun you come and like the wind you go.
  • "Uncle John's Band"

• Ain't no time to hate, barely time to wait. Wo-oh, what I want to know, where does the time go?
  • "Uncle John's Band"

• In the timbers of Fennario, the wolves are running round. The winter was so hard and cold, froze ten feet 'neath the ground...I sat down to my supper, 'twas a bottle of red whisky. I said my prayers and went to bed, that's the last they saw of me...
  • Dire Wolf

• Nothing's for certain, It could always go wrong, Come in when it's raining, Go on out when it's gone, We could have us a high time, Living the good life, Well I know
  • "High Time"

• See here how everything leads up to this day. And it's just like any other day that's ever been. Sun going up and then, the sun, it going down. Shine through my window, and my friends they come around.
  • "Black Peter"

• Trouble ahead, Trouble behind, and you know that notion just crossed my mind
  • "Casey Jones"

• Trouble ahead. A lady in red. Take my advice. You'd be better off dead!
  • "Casey Jones"

• Trouble with you is The trouble with me
  Got two good eyes But you still don't see
  Come round the bend You know it's the end
  The fireman screams and The engine just gleams
  • "Casey Jones"

American Beauty (1970)

• There is a road, no simple highway, between the dawn and the dark of night. And if you go, no one may follow. That path is for your steps alone.
  • "Ripple"

• You who choose to lead must follow, But if you fall, you fall alone, If you should stand then who's to guide you? If I knew the way I would take you home
  • "Ripple"

• Let there be songs to fill the air.
  • Ripple

• Lovers come and go, the river roll, roll, roll.
  • "Brokedown Palace"

• Such a long, long time to be gone, and a short time to be here.
  • "Box of Rain"

• In the secret space of dreams, Where I dreaming lay amazed, When the secrets all are told, And the petals all unfold. When there was no dream of mine, You dreamed of me
  • "Attics of My Life"

• Sometimes the light's all shining on me, Other times I can barely see, Lately it occurs to me, What a long strange trip it's been...
  • "Truckin'"

Wake of the Flood (1973)

• It seems like all this life was just a dream
  • "Stella Blue"

• Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world, but the heart has its beaches, its homeland, and thoughts of its own. Wake now, discover that you are the song that the morning brings, but the heart has its seasons its evenings, and songs of its own
  • "Eyes of the World"

• Sometimes we live no particular way but our own
  • "Eyes of the World"

From the Mars Hotel (1974)

• I like your smile but I ain't your type, Don't shake the tree when the fruit ain't ripe
  • "Loose Lucy"

• Once in a while, you get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if you look at it right.
  • "Scarlet Begonias"

• I won't slave for beggar's pay, likewise gold and jewels, but I would slave to learn the way, to sink your ship of fools.
  • "Ship of Fools"

Blues for Allah (1975)

• In another time's forgotten space, your eyes looked through your mother's face, Wildflower seed on the sand and stone, may the four winds blow you safely home. Roll away ... the dew
  • "Franklin's Tower"

• Crippled but free, I was blind all the time I was learning to see.
  • "Help on the Way"

Terrapin Station (1977)

• Let my inspiration flow, in token lines suggesting rhythm, that will not forsake me, till my tale is told and done
  • "Lady With a Fan"

• The storyteller makes no choice, soon you will not hear his voice, his job is to shed light, and not to master
  • "Lady With a Fan"

• Inspiration, move me brightly, light the song with sense and color, hold away despair
  • "Terrapin Station"

• While you were gone, these spaces filled with darkness. The obvious was hidden. With nothing to believe in. The compass always points to Terrapin.
  • "At A Siding"

Go to Heaven (1980)

• Ain't nobody messin' with you but you
  • "Althea"

• There are things you can replace, and others you cannot. The time has come to weigh those things, this space is getting hot.
  • "Althea"

Built to Last (1989)

• But never give your love, my friend, Unto a foolish heart
  • "Foolish Heart"

• There are times when you get hit upon, Try hard but you cannot give. Other times you'd gladly part, With what you need to live
  • "Built to Last"

• Don't waste the breath to save your face, When you have done your best, And even more is asked of you, Let fate decide the rest.
  • "Built to Last"

See also

• The Grateful Dead

External links

• The Annotated Grateful Dead
• Robert Hunter's page on Dead.net