Recorded for Workingman's Dead, but not included on the original release of that album. It was played live less than 20 times in total in 1969 and 1970. It has recently been revived by Phil Lesh & Friends, and by "The Dead".
Mason died on Monday
We bricked him in the wall
All his children grew and grew
They never grew so tall before
May they never grow so tall again
We dug him up on Tuesday
He'd hardly aged a day
Taught us all he ever knew
We never knew so much before
We may never know so much again
Mason was a mighty man
A mighty man was he
All he said, when dead and gone
Don't you weep for me
The wall collapsed on Wednesday
We chalked it up to fate
All his children ran and hid
We never hid so well before
Swore we'd never show our face again
Thursday came, then Friday
With fires tall and bright
Mason's children cooked the stew
And cleaned up when the feast was through
Swore we'd never had such times before
Take me to the Reaper Man
To pay back what was loaned
If he's in some other land
Write it off as stoned