Come hear uncle john's band by the riverside...

I sort of woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I had the tsunami nightmare again - the one where the wave hits my parents' house and washes everyone away but me.

So in order to combat a potentially yucky morning, I decided I would work from the library and/or home today after class, I put on my favorite jeans and tennis shoes (an absolute luxury since I spend most days in shoes typically short on comfort), left early enough to get myself a pumpkin spice cappuccino, and played the following Grateful Dead tune - the Jimmy Buffet version - on repeat all the way to the school:

Uncle John's Band

Well the first days are the hardest days, don’t you worry any more,
’cause when life looks like easy street, there is danger at your door.
Think this through with me, let me know your mind,
Wo, oh, what I want to know, is are you kind?

It’s a buck dancer’s choice my friend; better take my advice.
You know all the rules by now and the fire from the ice.
Will you come with me? won’t you come with me?
Wo, oh, what I want to know, will you come with me?

Goddamn, well I declare, have you seen the like?
Their wall are built of cannonballs, their motto is don’t tread on me.
Come hear uncle john’s band playing to the tide,
Come with me, or go alone, he’s come to take his children home.

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.
Ain’t no time to hate, barely time to wait,
Wo, oh, what I want to know, where does the time go?

I live in a silver mine and I call it beggar’s tomb;
I got me a violin and I beg you call the tune,
Anybody’s choice, I can hear your voice.
Wo, oh, what I want to know, how does the song go?

Come hear uncle john’s band by the riverside,
Got some things to talk about, here beside the rising tide.
Come hear uncle john’s band playing to the tide,
Come on along, or go alone, he’s come to take his children home.
Wo, oh, what I want to know, how does the song go.

This song ranks as one of my top favorites. It reminds me of a very carefree time in my life when trading my toothbrush to a hippie in exchange for hair wraps with little bells at a Deer Creek show seemed like a perfectly sensible thing to do, and I will always love the Grateful Dead for inspiring those memories. There has been much speculation as to true meaning of the Uncle John's Band lyrics, including whether or not the song is essentially about drug use. It makes no difference to me - I just love the song. This guy has done a fascinating annotation of the lyrics well worth taking a look at if you're so inclined.

At any rate, I feel much, much better now.