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Mountains Of The Moon Lyrics
Cold mountain water, the jade merchant's daughter,
Mountains of the moon, electra bow and bend to me.
Heigh ho the carrion crow fol de rol de riddle.
Heigh ho the carrion crow bow and bend to me.
Hey, Tom Banjo hey a laurel. More than laurel you say sow.
More than laurel you may sow.
Hey, the laurel, hey the city in the rain,
Hey, hey, hey, the wild wheat waving in the wind.
Twenty degrees of solitude, twenty degrees in all,
All the dancing kings and wives assembled in the hall.
Lost is the long and loneliest town, fairly simply flying.
All along the, all along the mountains of the moon.
Hey, Tom Banjo it's time to matter,
The earth will see you on through this time,
The earth will see you on through this time.
Down by the water, the Marsh King's daughter, did you know?
Clothed in tatters always will be. Tom, where did you go?
Mountains of the moon, Electra, mountains of the moon,
All along the, all along the mountains of the moon.
Heigh ho the carrion crow fol de rol de riddle.
Heigh ho the carrion crow bow and bend to me.
Bend to me. Na da da da da da da da da da da da.
Mountains of the moon, electra bow and bend to me.
Heigh ho the carrion crow fol de rol de riddle.
Heigh ho the carrion crow bow and bend to me.
Hey, Tom Banjo hey a laurel. More than laurel you say sow.
More than laurel you may sow.
Hey, the laurel, hey the city in the rain,
Hey, hey, hey, the wild wheat waving in the wind.
Twenty degrees of solitude, twenty degrees in all,
All the dancing kings and wives assembled in the hall.
Lost is the long and loneliest town, fairly simply flying.
All along the, all along the mountains of the moon.
Hey, Tom Banjo it's time to matter,
The earth will see you on through this time,
The earth will see you on through this time.
Down by the water, the Marsh King's daughter, did you know?
Clothed in tatters always will be. Tom, where did you go?
Mountains of the moon, Electra, mountains of the moon,
All along the, all along the mountains of the moon.
Heigh ho the carrion crow fol de rol de riddle.
Heigh ho the carrion crow bow and bend to me.
Bend to me. Na da da da da da da da da da da da.
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I don't know the full meaning of the song but Tom Banjo refers to Tom Azarian - a banjo player who lives in Vermont and used to play with David Grisman who often played mandolin with Jerry..a good review of the song can be found http://arts.ucsc.edu/GDEAD/AGDL/moon.html#title
I have to say, this is probably their best song. I think the GD's biggest hits are not as good as the songs nobody knows. Anyway, this song reminds me of something you would dream about. So I think it's from a dream, definitley not a hilucination.
Jerry and Robert Hunter started out in Menlo Park, living in cars, 1961-2...they lived hand to mouth....it was easier then...but as Jerry expanded, met Bob, put the Band together, they had started to become famous/infamous...and by this point, I believe these words were written by Hunter, to Garcia, who is "Tom Banjo", who has had a hand in creating this beautiful thing called The Grateful Dead, and definitely deserves a laurel, but Hunter wishes for more "More than laurel you may know"..wishes for more for him, urges him on, to lead this Tribe of Crazies....the "Dancing Kings and Wives" are the Hippies in the dancehalls of yore, their "lost" years behind them,, and it's "fairly simple flying",,,,,I believe it's a love song from Hunter to Garcia........they had come so far, from not much at all but their desire.
Many years ago when I was 16 I played this song for a friend and asked "wtf do you think it's about"...
Think of the story it's telling.
The first stanza someone is on a journey. Conquering mountains and death. Going to meet the jade merchants daughter, likely for marriage.
Tom Banjo is a confirmed legendary banjo player who associated with Dave Grisham, an odd duck. I imagine they are alluding to Tom Banjo having an affair with the jade merchants daughter in the second stanza.
In the third stanza we see the contrast of cities (civilization) and agricultural (simple living). Add Tom Banjo (agricultural) and whatever royalty is marrying the jade merchants daughter (a prince/civilization).
The rest of the song fits together beautifully on its own when viewed from this vantage point. It's about the death of living simply and humbly, in exchange for our civilization. Sorry Tom. We'll get back to you eventually...
Loving geography.....I adore this modest easy moving beauty from the Grateful Dead...really Hunter and Garcia.....beautiful...that they chose this one to do for Hugh Hefner at the Playboy club gig.(youtube) living in the New Mexico mountains as Hunter did awhile and with telescope .. it ...is easy to be connected to both the Sandias and the moon......the lyric is best heard and not over analyzed the ra ra ta ta and sybil..but just knowing perhaps that this contemplation in Garcias head was an early vision of the later "Standing on the Moon"...... Harrison Schmitt should especially appreciate the symbolism...as he was the first-and only geologist to make the trip..Jerry and Robert got close first....Tom 🪕 Banjo too.....
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I have only read the lyrics of this song, but it reminds of Lord Of The Rings and Tom Bombadil
Sorry about my screenname (it's a neil young thing) I've been looking into this song for awhile so i can play it right. I've researched it a bit and came to find that "town" should be "time" and "sybil" should be "simple" which, if thats right, adds meaning to the whole thing. It's hard to figure the meaning. Seems like it was written 1000 years ago. 2000 years ago Caesars wore laural crowns. Though now we can fly over the mountains of the moon we haven't changed. We're still killing to be cool. Power tripping. Not sowing... more.
no, "fairly sybil flying" should be "fairy sybil flying." Then it makes sense with the rest of the song... a sybil is a flag.
I have a pretty general idea of the song, but then again, everyone has there own opinion on the interpritation of the intended meaning of the song. The carrion crow bowing to tom banjo symbolizes his immortality.
"Lost is the long and loneliest town, fairly simply flying. All along the, all along the mountains of the moon. " The people that have pursued space travel, and have been trying to unveal the mystery of the universe, or the final complexity as the indian Gurus call it, will not be part of the final complexity, and are therefore described as "the lost" and "loneliest town". Read more about the Complexity theory which the dead took inspiration from in "The Psychedelic Experience" and "Shantaram".