Song

  • Jack Straw
    Lyrics By:
    Music By:

    [All] We can share the women, we can share the wine
    We can share what we got of yours, 'cause we done shared all of mine
    Keep on rolling, just a mile to go
    Keep on rolling, my old buddy, you're moving much too slow

    [Jerry] I just jumped the watchman right outside the fence
    Took his rings, four bucks in change, ain't that heaven sent
    [Bob]
    Hurts my ears to listen, Shannon, burns my eyes to see
    Cut down a man in cold blood, Shannon, might as well be me

    [Bob]
    We used to play for silver now we play for life (note 2)
    And one's for sport, and one's for blood at the point of a knife
    And now the die has shaken, now the die must fall
    There ain't a winner in the game
    He don't go home with all, not with all

    [All]
    Leaving Texas, fourth day of July
    Sun so hot, the clouds so low, the eagles filled the sky
    Catch the Detroit Lightning out of Santa Fe
    The Great Northern out of Cheyenne, from sea to shining sea (note 3)

    [Jerry] (note 4)
    Gotta go to Tulsa, first train we can ride
    Gotta settle one old score, one small point of pride
    [Bob]
    There ain't a place a man can hide, Shannon, will keep him from the sun
    Ain't a bed can give us rest now, you keep us on the run

    [All]
    Jack Straw from Wichita cut his buddy down
    And dug for him a shallow grave, and laid his body down
    Half a mile from Tucson, by the morning light
    One man gone and another to go
    My old buddy you're moving much too slow

    We can share the women we can share the wine

     

    During the rehearsals when Keith Godchaux was joining the band, Bob Weir sang two rather different verses (thanks to Andrew Sonnabend for these):

     

    We can jump the tollgate, save us fifty cents
    I'd lend you my last dollar but it's already spent
    We can jump the watchman right outside the fence
    Leave his rings but take his change, now ain't that heaven sent

    Ben Blue(?) from Tulsa, two men by his side
    Come to even one old score, one small point of pride
    Ain't no place a man can hide to keep him from the sun
    Ain't no place Ben's gonna rest while Shannon's on the run

    Notes

    (1) This is as listed in the sheet music, but I wonder if Weir wrote some of the lyrics. In interviews, Weir talks about writing the song after reading "Of Mice And Men," implying he did more than just set Hunter lyrics to music. And the lyrics in "Box Of Rain" has some sections in italics, which is used elsewhere to show someone else wrote part of the lyrics.

    (2) At times in 1978-1980 Bob Weir sang "We used to play for acid ..." and "... now we play for Clive" (a reference to Clive Davis, the boss of Arista Records)--one example was 1 November 1979 (thanks to Edgar Avalos for confirming this)

    (3) On at least one occasion, Bob Weir sang "Union Pacific out of Cheyenne ..." - which is more accurate. Thanks to Andrew Sonnabend for this information.

    (4) On at least one occasion (2 January 1972), Bob rather than Jerry sang these two lines. (Thanks to Dan Franzen for pointing this out).

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During the rehearsals when Keith Godchaux was joining the band, Bob Weir sang two rather different verses (thanks to Andrew Sonnabend for these):

 

We can jump the tollgate, save us fifty cents
I'd lend you my last dollar but it's already spent
We can jump the watchman right outside the fence
Leave his rings but take his change, now ain't that heaven sent

Ben Blue(?) from Tulsa, two men by his side
Come to even one old score, one small point of pride
Ain't no place a man can hide to keep him from the sun
Ain't no place Ben's gonna rest while Shannon's on the run

Notes

(1) This is as listed in the sheet music, but I wonder if Weir wrote some of the lyrics. In interviews, Weir talks about writing the song after reading "Of Mice And Men," implying he did more than just set Hunter lyrics to music. And the lyrics in "Box Of Rain" has some sections in italics, which is used elsewhere to show someone else wrote part of the lyrics.

(2) At times in 1978-1980 Bob Weir sang "We used to play for acid ..." and "... now we play for Clive" (a reference to Clive Davis, the boss of Arista Records)--one example was 1 November 1979 (thanks to Edgar Avalos for confirming this)

(3) On at least one occasion, Bob Weir sang "Union Pacific out of Cheyenne ..." - which is more accurate. Thanks to Andrew Sonnabend for this information.

(4) On at least one occasion (2 January 1972), Bob rather than Jerry sang these two lines. (Thanks to Dan Franzen for pointing this out).

Lyrics By
Robert Hunter
Music By
Bob Weir
Lyrics

[All] We can share the women, we can share the wine
We can share what we got of yours, 'cause we done shared all of mine
Keep on rolling, just a mile to go
Keep on rolling, my old buddy, you're moving much too slow

[Jerry] I just jumped the watchman right outside the fence
Took his rings, four bucks in change, ain't that heaven sent
[Bob]
Hurts my ears to listen, Shannon, burns my eyes to see
Cut down a man in cold blood, Shannon, might as well be me

[Bob]
We used to play for silver now we play for life (note 2)
And one's for sport, and one's for blood at the point of a knife
And now the die has shaken, now the die must fall
There ain't a winner in the game
He don't go home with all, not with all

[All]
Leaving Texas, fourth day of July
Sun so hot, the clouds so low, the eagles filled the sky
Catch the Detroit Lightning out of Santa Fe
The Great Northern out of Cheyenne, from sea to shining sea (note 3)

[Jerry] (note 4)
Gotta go to Tulsa, first train we can ride
Gotta settle one old score, one small point of pride
[Bob]
There ain't a place a man can hide, Shannon, will keep him from the sun
Ain't a bed can give us rest now, you keep us on the run

[All]
Jack Straw from Wichita cut his buddy down
And dug for him a shallow grave, and laid his body down
Half a mile from Tucson, by the morning light
One man gone and another to go
My old buddy you're moving much too slow

We can share the women we can share the wine