The wheel is turning and you can't slow down,
You can't let go and you can't hold on,
You can't go back and you can't stand still,
If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will.

Won't you try just a little bit harder,
Couldn't you try just a little bit more?
Won't you try just a little bit harder,
Couldn't you try just a little bit more?

Round, round robin run round, got to get back to where you belong,
Little bit harder, just a little bit more,
A little bit further than you gone before.
The wheel is turning and you can't slow down,

You can't let go and you can't hold on,
You can't go back and you can't stand still,
If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will.
Small wheel turn by the fire and rod,

Big wheel turn by the grace of God,
Every time that wheel turn 'round,
Bound to cover just a little more ground.
The wheel is turning and you can't slow down,

You can't let go and you can't hold on,
You can't go back and you can't stand still,
If the thunder don't get you then the lightning will.
Won't you try just a little bit harder,

Couldn't you try just a little bit more?
Won't you try just a little bit harder,
Couldn't you try just a little bit more?


Lyrics submitted by SongMeanings

The Wheel Lyrics as written by Robert C. Hunter Jerome J. Garcia

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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The Wheel song meanings
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    General Comment

    I think this song is related to the Merry Prankster's Further Bus. The bus was named by artist Roy Sebern, who painted the word “Further” on the destination placard as a kind of one-word poem and inspiration to keep going whenever the bus broke down. The Grateful Dead were members of the Merry Pranksters.

    The lyrics in this song serve as encouragement to keep going, just as the name of the bus did.

    Round, round robin run round, got to get back to where you belong, Little bit harder, just a little bit more, A little bit further than you gone before.

    heartofgoldbandon June 23, 2011   Link

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