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Jack Straw Lyrics
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 rollin', just a mile to go;
Keep on rollin' my old buddy, you're movin' much too slow.
I just jumped the watchman, right outside the fence.
Took his rings, four bucks in change, ain't that Heaven sent?
Hurts my ears to listen, Shannon, burns my eyes to see;
Cut down a man in cold blood, Shannon, might as well been me.
We used to play for silver, now we play for life;
And one's for sport and one's for blood at the point of a knife.
And now the die is shaken, now the die must fall.
There ain't a winner in the game, he don't go home with all.
Not with all.
Leavin' Texas, fourth day of July,
Sun so hot, the clouds so low, the eagles filled the sky.
Catch the Detroit Lightnin' out of Sante Fe,
The Great Northern out of Cheyenne, from sea to shining sea.
Gotta go to Tulsa, first train we can ride.
Gotta settle one old score, one small point of pride.
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.
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.
We can share what we got of yours 'cause we done shared all of mine.
Keep on rollin', just a mile to go;
Keep on rollin' my old buddy, you're movin' much too slow.
I just jumped the watchman, right outside the fence.
Took his rings, four bucks in change, ain't that Heaven sent?
Hurts my ears to listen, Shannon, burns my eyes to see;
Cut down a man in cold blood, Shannon, might as well been me.
We used to play for silver, now we play for life;
And one's for sport and one's for blood at the point of a knife.
And now the die is shaken, now the die must fall.
There ain't a winner in the game, he don't go home with all.
Not with all.
Leavin' Texas, fourth day of July,
Sun so hot, the clouds so low, the eagles filled the sky.
Catch the Detroit Lightnin' out of Sante Fe,
The Great Northern out of Cheyenne, from sea to shining sea.
Gotta go to Tulsa, first train we can ride.
Gotta settle one old score, one small point of pride.
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.
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.
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This is possibly my favourite Dead song. As said on this wonderful Grateful Dead annotations website: http://arts.ucsc.edu/gdead/agdl Jack straw is a game about you're options running out.
Which is what this song is about. Shannon (who is the Jack Straw in the song title) is running out of options, he's on the run from the law and has nowhere to hide, he then has to kill his friend because he's moving too slow as he doesn't agree with what Shannon is doing.
The meaning is that once you start being a criminal it's a downward spiral. You keep going one stage further, deeper and deeper into crime untill you're forced to do very bad things.
So in the end there's no real sharing or friendship amongst bad people....
First off, freakin' incredible song! The version I listen to is Europe '72, and nuts to you if you have a problem with that. Go get it.
There are three entities singing this song to you. The first is the narrator (we can share... catch the detroit lightening... leaving Texas...), the second is Jack Straw, aka Shannon. Disclaimer: this is my badass opinion, nothing more. The third is the innocent whose eyes are hurt and ears are burned ominously at the beginning of the song, and who is murdered at the end. The narrator is Phil and Jerry singing in harmony. Jack Straw is sung by Jerry. The innocent is sung by Phil.
The song is more or less self explanatory. Jack Straw, the murderer and consummate criminal has an alias as Shannon. He's a drifter with no past and no prospects making it day to day. The innocent is too naive or too much the victim to realize with whom he has taken up company. Inevitably, he gets burned by this.
This is the only song I am aware of that has a narrator, dialogue, foreshadowing, and tragedy.
F**k all that though. The song is laden with complex chord progressions and vocal harmonies. That is all trumped by the song's climax in the guitar solo before the "Jack Straw from Wichita cuts his buddy down" business. The guitar weeps and wails as he cuts his buddy down. It ascends as dirt is shoveled from the grave. And it sounds a low note as the body is laid down. It is sheer brilliance. Art in one of its highest, most distilled forms.
Actually, listen again. Jerry is the one who kills the watchman, and Bob addresses him as "Shannon." Shannon is out of control... he thinks four bucks in change for a cold blooded murder is "heaven sent."Changes everything. Shannon is the one keeping them on the run. When he suggests going to Tulsa to settle "one last score," his "slow buddy," Jack, has had enough, and seizes a chance to get his ruined life back, much like George does in "Of Mice and Men,"by killing his friend and moving on. Great song, great imagery.
@KvonNJ Yes if you listen to who's singing when your explanation is the simplest and makes the most sense. Except that I think that Shannon is the one who's slowing Jack down, and they both gotta be on the run. Shannon's vicious alright but he doesn't have the stamina to keep up, and now they need to be on the getaway pronto. Plus I think Jack is the one who's "done shared all of mine", by then everything Jack ever had was used up and spent by the two of them. This way, you understand, Jack has every reason in...
@KvonNJ Yes if you listen to who's singing when your explanation is the simplest and makes the most sense. Except that I think that Shannon is the one who's slowing Jack down, and they both gotta be on the run. Shannon's vicious alright but he doesn't have the stamina to keep up, and now they need to be on the getaway pronto. Plus I think Jack is the one who's "done shared all of mine", by then everything Jack ever had was used up and spent by the two of them. This way, you understand, Jack has every reason in the world to kill his friend. It was maybe even an act of mercy if Jack figured that "one last score" guy was gonna pound slowpoke Shannon to smithereens anyway.
The song actually was written after Bob Weir read "Of Mice and Men" several times over the course of one tour...its a depression set song.
There is a great hotdog and pizza joint in Wheaton, IL of all places called Jack Straw from Wichita. I was thrilled when I became a Grateful Dead fan and made the connection, this song has been one of my favorites ever since.
There is a great hotdog and pizza joint in Wheaton, IL of all places called Jack Straw from Wichita. I was thrilled when I became a Grateful Dead fan and made the connection, this song has been one of my favorites ever since.
@You All Are Stupid
@You All Are Stupid
@You All Are Stupid
@You All Are Stupid
This is one of my favorite tunes done by the Dead. It brings out desperation in life and regrets. I named my daughter Shannon over 35 years ago because of the chance of hope this song can give (or take). Shannon's doing great, 4 kids, a husband and a decent life. I definitely can't take the credit. That belongs to here mother (my love of 40 years and counting.
This is one of my favorite tunes done by the Dead. It brings out desperation in life and regrets. I named my daughter Shannon over 35 years ago because of the chance of hope this song can give (or take). Shannon's doing great, 4 kids, a husband and a decent life. I definitely can't take the credit. That belongs to here mother (my love of 40 years and counting.
Let's see, there are 4 men or persons in this song (5 if you count the man that was robbed at the beginning of the song for his rings and $4.00 in change). There is the narrator, his buddy (who is moving much too slow), the man that was robbed (and possibly murdered by the narrator), Shannon and Jack Straw.
If the man robbed was murdered by the narrator (who says it might have been just as easily him) that leaves 4 people left: The narrator, his "slow buddy", Shannon and Jack Straw.
The narrator next mentions Shannon by saying that she/he keeps them on the run. Considering that they played a card game where the stakes weren't for money but for life instead, it could be surmised that Shannon was the winner of the hand. Or, Shannon could be the narrator's female love interest. Hard to tell. He keeps communicating with him/her.
The next murder occurs when Jack Straw murders his buddy and buries him. Who is Jac Straw's buddy? An unnamed card player at the game? Next, it is said that one man is down and another to go. This would leave now only the Narrator, his "slow buddy", Jack Straw and Shannon (assuming the man robbed was murdered). This leaves 4 people left.
Now, either Jack Straw's buddy that he murdered, was a member of the dangerous card game that was not mentioned before in the song, or Jack Straw IS the narrator who has now killed his buddy that is "moving too slow". Or, Shannon is Jack Straw and has killed the before unmentioned other card player in the game.
If Shannon is Jack Straw who killed the unknown card player then it makes sense as to why the narrator continues with the admonition towards his slow moving buddy to pick up the pace; as they are next (one man down and another to go).
So, in my analysis of this song's potential meaning, the song ends with the narrator and his "slow moving buddy" being pursued by Jack Straw/Shannon who was the winner of the murderous hand in their card game. Of course, I still can't reconcile why the narrator communicates with Shannon twice in the song, but his second reference to Shannon keeping them on the run is damning evidence that Shannon is Jack Straw and is trying to kill the narrator and his slow buddy.
What do you think?
@clayk Note: what if the song is narrated by, not one, but two of the charachters or more? Only because it seems to me that your point on it being either Shannon OR his acquired buddy after the first murder ... there is much to break down, and you did a fine job! Thank you... I do have to say, in addition the the impact of lyrics on our psyche, when I sing this song I feel like an angel. Especially this whole verse: "Leaving Texas Leavin' Texas, fourth day of July, Sun so hot, the clouds so low, the...
@clayk Note: what if the song is narrated by, not one, but two of the charachters or more? Only because it seems to me that your point on it being either Shannon OR his acquired buddy after the first murder ... there is much to break down, and you did a fine job! Thank you... I do have to say, in addition the the impact of lyrics on our psyche, when I sing this song I feel like an angel. Especially this whole verse: "Leaving Texas Leavin' Texas, fourth day of July, Sun so hot, the clouds so low, the eagles filled the sky. Catch the Detroit Lightnin' out of Sante Fe, The Great Northern out of Cheyenne, from sea to shining sea.
This verse reminds me of seeing the Dead in Vegas in 94... whew!! 116 degrees, my first show .... mama mama many worlds I've come.