In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
When they come to take you down
When they bring that wagon around
When they come to call on you
And drag your poor body down
Just one thing I ask of you
There's just one thing for me
Please forget you knew my name
My darlin' Sugaree
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
You thought you was the cool fool
And never could do no wrong
Had everything sewn up tight
How come you lay awake all night long?
Just one thing I ask of you
There's just one thing for me
Please forget you knew my name
My darlin' Sugaree
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
You know, in spite of all you gained
You still had to stand out in the pouring rain
One last voice is calling you
And I guess it's time you go
Just one thing I ask of you
There's just one thing for me
Please forget you knew my name
My darlin' Sugaree
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it up now Sugaree
I'll meet you at the jubilee
And if that jubilee don't come
Baby, I'll meet you on the run
Just one thing I ask of you
Just one thing for me
Please forget you knew my name
My darlin' Sugaree
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
When they bring that wagon around
When they come to call on you
And drag your poor body down
Just one thing I ask of you
There's just one thing for me
Please forget you knew my name
My darlin' Sugaree
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
You thought you was the cool fool
And never could do no wrong
Had everything sewn up tight
How come you lay awake all night long?
Just one thing I ask of you
There's just one thing for me
Please forget you knew my name
My darlin' Sugaree
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
You know, in spite of all you gained
You still had to stand out in the pouring rain
One last voice is calling you
And I guess it's time you go
Just one thing I ask of you
There's just one thing for me
Please forget you knew my name
My darlin' Sugaree
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it up now Sugaree
I'll meet you at the jubilee
And if that jubilee don't come
Baby, I'll meet you on the run
Just one thing I ask of you
Just one thing for me
Please forget you knew my name
My darlin' Sugaree
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
Shake it, shake it Sugaree
Just don't tell them that you know me
Lyrics submitted by itsmyownmind
Sugaree Lyrics as written by Robert C. Hunter Jerome J. Garcia
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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Thats what the official word is but I like this meaning a little better
Robert Reifenberg writes:
This song, it seems to me, captures the plea of a fugitive American slave to his covert wife that she not reveal their relationship ("forget my name") to the slave master. The appeal, therefore, is not so much for the benefit of the escaped, but rather, for the one who remains. The speaker seeks to spare his wife punishment at the hands of the master once his absence is revealed. Hunter's affinity for the dark side of American history is exemplified in this simple verse which evokes profound imagery in the tradition of the American folk song. Hunter uses the imagined dialect of the time with language such as "poor body" and "my darlin." Reference to bringing the "wagon round" connotes the common method of transporting slaves to market where they would be bought or sold. She is being called out to go to market by the "one last voice." The desperate tone is tempered by the hope that they will see each other again after the "Jubilee" (emancipation), or "if that Jubilee don't come" when they both escape and are "on the run."
Robert Reifenberg Chicago