Jerry Garcia
St. Stephen (live)
[Verse]
Saint Stephen with a rose, in and out of the garden he goes
Country garland in the wind and the rain
Wherever he goes the people all complain
Stephen prospered in his time, well he may and he may decline
Did it matter, does it now? Stephen would answer if he only knew how
Wishing well with a golden bell, bucket hanging clear to hell
Hell halfway twixt now and then
Stephen fill it up and lower down and lower down again
Lady finger, dipped in moonlight, writing "what for?" across the morning sky
Sunlight splatters, dawn with answer, darkness shrugs and bids the day goodbye
Speeding arrow, sharp and narrow
What a lot of fleeting matters you have spurned
Several seasons with their treasons
Wrap the babe in scarlet colors, call it your own
Did he doubt or did he try? Answers aplenty in the bye and bye
Talk about your plenty, talk about your ills
One man gathers what another man spills
Saint Stephen will remain, all he's lost he shall regain
Seashore washed by the suds and foam
Been here so long, he's got to calling it home
Fortune comes a crawling, calliope woman, spinning that curious sense of your own
Can you answer? Yes I can. But what would be the answer to the answer man?