It had to be this one.

Jim at newepicauthor has set the theme of ‘River’ for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday challenge. So here we have the ultimate elegy for Jerry Garcia: the last song he sang with the Grateful Dead at their last show in July 1995. Three weeks later and he was gone. A lot of people have speculated that he knew his time was almost up and it’s easy to understand why when you listen to this performance.

When the last rose of summer pricks my finger
And the hot sun chills me to the bone
When I can’t hear the song for the singer
And I can’t tell my pillow from a stone

I will walk alone by the black muddy river
And sing me a song of my own
I will walk alone by the black muddy river
And sing me a song of my own

When the last bolt of sunshine hits the mountain
And the stars start to splatter in the sky
When the moon splits the southwest horizon
With the scream of an eagle on the fly

I will walk alone by the black muddy river
And listen to the ripples as they moan
I will walk alone by the black muddy river
And sing me a song of my own

Black muddy river
Roll on forever
I don’t care how deep or wide
If you got another side
Roll muddy river
Roll muddy river
Black muddy river roll

When it seems like the night will last forever
And there’s nothing left to do but count the years
When the strings of my heart start to sever
And stones fall from my eyes instead of tears

I will walk alone by the black muddy river
And dream me a dream of my own
I will walk alone by the black muddy river
And sing me a song of my own
And sing me a song of my own

Written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter

(This video is obviously amateur footage, but the sound is not so bad and it does capture an historic, albeit very sad moment.)

Song Lyric Sunday 10 February 2019