• https://www.dead.net/features/greatest-stories-ever-told/greatest-stories-ever-told-ship-fools
    Greatest Stories Ever Told - "Ship Of Fools"

    By David Dodd

    Here’s the plan—each week, I will blog about a different song, focusing, usually, on the lyrics, but also on some other aspects of the song, including its overall impact—a truly subjective thing. Therefore, the best part, I would hope, would not be anything in particular that I might have to say, but rather, the conversation that may happen via the comments over the course of time—and since all the posts will stay up, you can feel free to weigh in any time on any of the songs! With Grateful Dead lyrics, there’s always a new and different take on what they bring up for each listener, it seems. (I’ll consider requests for particular songs—just private message me!)

    “Ship Of Fools”

    When I finished college, I spent several years immediately thereafter working as a full-time volunteer organizer with a group doing work among the working poor, the disabled, and marginalized communities around California. It was intense work, and I gave everything I had to it, working 18-hour days and establishing some excellent networks of members and organizers. I became disillusioned with the organization itself, which shall remain nameless, and later wrote a novel about the experience which I titled Though I Could Not Caution All (which shall remain unpublished).

    “Ship of Fools.” Haven’t we all had some time in our lives when we’ve been disappointed in the direction of our efforts? It may have been some strongly-held belief, or a church, or a cause of some kind, or even a nation that has not lived up to our expectations. Fools come in many guises, and the fact that everything comes down to human potential for error (or for greatness) means that anything we lend our hand to raise a flag atop can prove to be unworthy of those efforts.

    “Ship of Fools” closes the album that opens with “U.S. Blues,” and that has never struck me as an accident. But as always, Robert Hunter’s lyrics don’t allow for a simple or narrow interpretation; this song isn’t just about the failures of the US government, although I do think it could be partly about that.

    The song, to no one’s surprise, is a story. (I’m beginning to think that all the songs are stories—that maybe this blog is better-named than I might have thought at first. I didn’t name it…) There’s a first-person narrator, who seems to be a prospective crew member on the ship, who confronts the captain of the vessel with a proposition. On the face of it, the narrator doesn’t seem to be offering much of a bargain to said captain. But then again, this captain has been noted to be “the strangest I could find.” So perhaps hiring someone on to learn how to sabotage one’s own ship would be within reason…

    As usual, right away, there are twists in the tale when it comes to Hunter’s narratives. Is the topic, really, a relation-“ship”? That would account for some of the ambiguity in the second verse—especially that wonderful line about being all of 30 years old.

    The Ship of Fools is a literary archetype, of course, dating back as far as there have been ships, probably. We have the medieval satire by Sebastian Brant, published in 1494, which uses the Ship of Fools as a metaphorical voyage of an entire fleet of ships populated by fools of various stripes, all sailing, supposedly, to the Paradise of Fools. But they have no pilot, and their journey is ill-fated. The metaphor has been taken up again and again by a variety of artists through the centuries, ranging from Hieronymus Bosch to Katherine Anne Porter.

    Hieronymus Bosch

    In Hunter’s hands, as in Porter’s, the metaphor broadens, and makes itself available for a multiplicity of uses, depending on state of mind, state of the world, or stage of life surrounding the listener at any given point.

    “Ship of Fools” was first played on February 22, 1974, at Winterland Arena in San Francisco. Other firsts in the show included “U.S. Blues” and “It Must Have Been the Roses.” It remained fairly steadily in the rotation from then on, with 227 performances, and had its final performance on June 25, 1995, at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington, DC.

    As noted, “Ship of Fools” appeared on From the Mars Hotel, which was released on June 27, 1974. It was the album’s final track.

    In looking for clues as to the song’s possible origins and antecedents, I came across the Child Ballad 286, entitled “The Golden Vanity,” which bears some semblance to the subject matter and format of “Ship of Fools”:

    There was a gallant ship from the northern counteree,
    And the name she went under was the Golden Vanity.
    They feared she would be taken by the Turkish enemy
    That was cruising in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
    That was cruising in the lowlands low.

    The first that came on deck was a little cabin boy,
    Saying, "Captain what will you give me if the ship I will destroy?"
    "Gold I will give you and my daughter for your bride
    If you'll sink her in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
    If you'll sink her in the lowlands low."

    The boy took an auger and overboard went he,
    The boy took an auger and swam out in the sea,
    He swam till he reached the Turkish enemy
    For to sink her in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
    For to sink her in the lowlands low.

    The boy bored three holes and two of them bored twice
    While some of them were playing cards and some were shaking dice
    He saw their dark eyes glitter as the water it rolled in,
    Now she's sinking in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
    Now she's sinking in the lowlands low.

    The boy dropped his auger and back swam he,
    He swam till he reached the Golden Vanity,
    Saying, "Captain pick me up, I am drifting with the tide,
    I am drowning in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
    I am drowning in the lowlands low."

    "O no my boy to pick you up that I never will,
    I'll sink you, I'll drown you, I'll do it with a will,
    Nor gold will I give you nor my daughter for your bride
    But I'll sink you in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
    I'll sink you in the lowlands low."

    The boy turned around and swam to the other side,
    Saying, "Shipmen pick me up, I am drifting with the tide,
    Shipmen pick me up, I am drifting with the tide,
    I am drowning in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
    I am drowning in the lowlands low."

    The shipmen picked him up and on the deck he died,
    They wrapped him in his cot for it was long and wide,
    They wrapped him in his cot and they buried him with the tide
    Now he's sinking in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
    Now he's sinking in the lowlands low.

    About three weeks later, the weather being fine and clear
    A voice came from heaven which smote the captain's ear,
    Saying, "Captain you have been very cruel to me.
    Now I'll sink you in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
    Now I'll sink you in the lowlands low."

    The captain laughed a scornful laugh, an evil man was he,
    He feared no retribution, so peaceful was the sea,
    But soon the waves were breaking o'er the Golden Vanity,
    Now she's sinking in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
    Now she's sinking in the lowlands low.

    The sailors in their life belts were rescued from the sea
    But the wicked captain perished with the Golden Vanity,
    A giant wave came over and it swept him out to sea,
    Now he's sinking in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
    Now he's sinking in the lowlands low.

    Just the kind of song we could picture the Dead singing, in the manner of Jack A Roe, or Peggy-O. And it’s even a sort of variant of the Grateful Dead folktale itself—at least, we have a visit from a murdered cabin boy who takes his vengeance—I guess it would really be the Vengeful Dead, or something like that, in this case.

    At any rate, whether the song addresses our nation, or our Deadhead tribe itself, or possibly something as “small” as a relationship, it serves quite admirably as a vessel for any of the above. And, as was clear from Garcia’s steady changes in his delivery of the line about 30 years (40 years…. 50 years…. upon his head), it was a tale that resonated with the singer as well.

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  • Default Avatar
    williworx
    10 years 1 month ago
    B sharp or c flat
    Bsharp or C flat. I was taut, and i was taught there isn't such a note? or is it one and the same? hummmm
  • Default Avatar
    Byrd
    10 years 1 month ago
    Upside Out, Inside Down Explained
    Bobby, Get with David and Joni, take any jazz chord chart, turn it upside down and retune your strings so that you can play the same forms in tune with their songs, but in our forms. That's the key to translation: It's a Platonic form-to-form clash kinda thing. For instance, in standard tuning on a guitar, the B chord has no unique form of its own, which might make things hard for a B-based system to even get past the first speed bump in trying to talk to an A-based system. Two B's or not two B's? Two B's or not two B's: to which Shakespeare answered in about ten thousand words (sounds) more or less. Now if another system thought the entire response was our B chord, well... How many fingers and/or connections do you think you might need to play a chord like that? You'd almost have to create a Living Shakespeare Theater just to play one really huge chord, only to find out that most of the audience didn't understand it themselves or had only, as I, have read certain plays, but all the sonnets. Hence, vibrato which when sped up simply becomes static or pure Chaos that only Morse Code can really penetrate, which after speeding up, slowing down and modulating a bit here and there over eons: we somehow found music in or through the Chaos. Pretty powerful stuff. You three have never recorded together so far as I know. Now might be a good time to think about that. You're some of the original guys who've been playing this good music for all these years. Did you really think it was all for nothing? Well, let's just perish that thought too. I heard "Blowing in the Wind" by Peter, Paul and Mary long before I heard Dylan's original. How do you suppose that happened? Might I have heard it differently had it been the other Way around? Go figure. "Sugar Magnolia, blossoms bloomin'": I suspect this is the actual call that went out, the mighty sign in the heavens, so to speak, when the atomic blossoms started blooming around here. Bet you never heard anything more coo-coo than that. Just so long as you remember that we're really only shooting through images here and nothing more. So to answer the question: Not 2B or BB, but Bb (B flat) In the crawl space between two and three dimensions, can you be any flatter in one than you already are, or any more augmented in the other? And the shared diminished chord as it's little circle wound down: "..and that's the way it's been in town ever since they tore the jukebox down..." Wow! Now that's a mind-blowing burst to think about just a'settin' here this gray morning. Of course, it is kinda hard to turn things up or down in two dimensions, but I truly shudder to think what could happen if sound like that ever suddenly burst and expanded into three dimensional space. So we might want to think about having a better regimented sound barrier or something like that between the 1/3, 2/3 and 3/3. Think I'll add those little triplets to my Christmas wish list. Remember this one from grammer school: The Missing Half-Step Up or Down. Holy Toledo. (The Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo) (The Half-Step Mississippi Uptown, Toodeloo) (We're missing half of uptown...hole in Toledo!) (We're missing half...) Killer of a swan dive, with a half twist, I don't mind saying. The New Potato Caboose (The new pot hates us - kabloowie!) The Water Song is too strong. Too many heads in the hydro. The new ultra-violet frequencies are running amok. We still liked the old Riders of the Purple Sage you know. Things don't get buried just because they're renamed or get "oldie". We just really liked the images (not graven) - just nice thoughts. ie is just something porter's scream in Tarzan movies when they fall off a cliff. Some of the best are even considered golden oldies. Hello, baby. I'm gone goodbye. Peace.
  • Default Avatar
    Byrd
    10 years 1 month ago
    House of Glass...or Cards
    "The tide is high, but I'm holdin' on...." Soon found out, just a pain in the ass.
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14 years 11 months

By David Dodd

Here’s the plan—each week, I will blog about a different song, focusing, usually, on the lyrics, but also on some other aspects of the song, including its overall impact—a truly subjective thing. Therefore, the best part, I would hope, would not be anything in particular that I might have to say, but rather, the conversation that may happen via the comments over the course of time—and since all the posts will stay up, you can feel free to weigh in any time on any of the songs! With Grateful Dead lyrics, there’s always a new and different take on what they bring up for each listener, it seems. (I’ll consider requests for particular songs—just private message me!)

“Ship Of Fools”

When I finished college, I spent several years immediately thereafter working as a full-time volunteer organizer with a group doing work among the working poor, the disabled, and marginalized communities around California. It was intense work, and I gave everything I had to it, working 18-hour days and establishing some excellent networks of members and organizers. I became disillusioned with the organization itself, which shall remain nameless, and later wrote a novel about the experience which I titled Though I Could Not Caution All (which shall remain unpublished).

“Ship of Fools.” Haven’t we all had some time in our lives when we’ve been disappointed in the direction of our efforts? It may have been some strongly-held belief, or a church, or a cause of some kind, or even a nation that has not lived up to our expectations. Fools come in many guises, and the fact that everything comes down to human potential for error (or for greatness) means that anything we lend our hand to raise a flag atop can prove to be unworthy of those efforts.

“Ship of Fools” closes the album that opens with “U.S. Blues,” and that has never struck me as an accident. But as always, Robert Hunter’s lyrics don’t allow for a simple or narrow interpretation; this song isn’t just about the failures of the US government, although I do think it could be partly about that.

The song, to no one’s surprise, is a story. (I’m beginning to think that all the songs are stories—that maybe this blog is better-named than I might have thought at first. I didn’t name it…) There’s a first-person narrator, who seems to be a prospective crew member on the ship, who confronts the captain of the vessel with a proposition. On the face of it, the narrator doesn’t seem to be offering much of a bargain to said captain. But then again, this captain has been noted to be “the strangest I could find.” So perhaps hiring someone on to learn how to sabotage one’s own ship would be within reason…

As usual, right away, there are twists in the tale when it comes to Hunter’s narratives. Is the topic, really, a relation-“ship”? That would account for some of the ambiguity in the second verse—especially that wonderful line about being all of 30 years old.

The Ship of Fools is a literary archetype, of course, dating back as far as there have been ships, probably. We have the medieval satire by Sebastian Brant, published in 1494, which uses the Ship of Fools as a metaphorical voyage of an entire fleet of ships populated by fools of various stripes, all sailing, supposedly, to the Paradise of Fools. But they have no pilot, and their journey is ill-fated. The metaphor has been taken up again and again by a variety of artists through the centuries, ranging from Hieronymus Bosch to Katherine Anne Porter.

Hieronymus Bosch

In Hunter’s hands, as in Porter’s, the metaphor broadens, and makes itself available for a multiplicity of uses, depending on state of mind, state of the world, or stage of life surrounding the listener at any given point.

“Ship of Fools” was first played on February 22, 1974, at Winterland Arena in San Francisco. Other firsts in the show included “U.S. Blues” and “It Must Have Been the Roses.” It remained fairly steadily in the rotation from then on, with 227 performances, and had its final performance on June 25, 1995, at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington, DC.

As noted, “Ship of Fools” appeared on From the Mars Hotel, which was released on June 27, 1974. It was the album’s final track.

In looking for clues as to the song’s possible origins and antecedents, I came across the Child Ballad 286, entitled “The Golden Vanity,” which bears some semblance to the subject matter and format of “Ship of Fools”:

There was a gallant ship from the northern counteree,
And the name she went under was the Golden Vanity.
They feared she would be taken by the Turkish enemy
That was cruising in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
That was cruising in the lowlands low.

The first that came on deck was a little cabin boy,
Saying, "Captain what will you give me if the ship I will destroy?"
"Gold I will give you and my daughter for your bride
If you'll sink her in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
If you'll sink her in the lowlands low."

The boy took an auger and overboard went he,
The boy took an auger and swam out in the sea,
He swam till he reached the Turkish enemy
For to sink her in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
For to sink her in the lowlands low.

The boy bored three holes and two of them bored twice
While some of them were playing cards and some were shaking dice
He saw their dark eyes glitter as the water it rolled in,
Now she's sinking in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
Now she's sinking in the lowlands low.

The boy dropped his auger and back swam he,
He swam till he reached the Golden Vanity,
Saying, "Captain pick me up, I am drifting with the tide,
I am drowning in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
I am drowning in the lowlands low."

"O no my boy to pick you up that I never will,
I'll sink you, I'll drown you, I'll do it with a will,
Nor gold will I give you nor my daughter for your bride
But I'll sink you in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
I'll sink you in the lowlands low."

The boy turned around and swam to the other side,
Saying, "Shipmen pick me up, I am drifting with the tide,
Shipmen pick me up, I am drifting with the tide,
I am drowning in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
I am drowning in the lowlands low."

The shipmen picked him up and on the deck he died,
They wrapped him in his cot for it was long and wide,
They wrapped him in his cot and they buried him with the tide
Now he's sinking in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
Now he's sinking in the lowlands low.

About three weeks later, the weather being fine and clear
A voice came from heaven which smote the captain's ear,
Saying, "Captain you have been very cruel to me.
Now I'll sink you in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
Now I'll sink you in the lowlands low."

The captain laughed a scornful laugh, an evil man was he,
He feared no retribution, so peaceful was the sea,
But soon the waves were breaking o'er the Golden Vanity,
Now she's sinking in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
Now she's sinking in the lowlands low.

The sailors in their life belts were rescued from the sea
But the wicked captain perished with the Golden Vanity,
A giant wave came over and it swept him out to sea,
Now he's sinking in the lowlands, lowlands, lowlands,
Now he's sinking in the lowlands low.

Just the kind of song we could picture the Dead singing, in the manner of Jack A Roe, or Peggy-O. And it’s even a sort of variant of the Grateful Dead folktale itself—at least, we have a visit from a murdered cabin boy who takes his vengeance—I guess it would really be the Vengeful Dead, or something like that, in this case.

At any rate, whether the song addresses our nation, or our Deadhead tribe itself, or possibly something as “small” as a relationship, it serves quite admirably as a vessel for any of the above. And, as was clear from Garcia’s steady changes in his delivery of the line about 30 years (40 years…. 50 years…. upon his head), it was a tale that resonated with the singer as well.

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“Ship of Fools.” Haven’t we all had some time in our lives when we’ve been disappointed in the direction of our efforts? It may have been some strongly-held belief, or a church, or a cause of some kind, or even a nation that has not lived up to our expectations.
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Greatest Stories Ever Told - "Ship Of Fools"
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“Ship of Fools.” Haven’t we all had some time in our lives when we’ve been disappointed in the direction of our efforts? It may have been some strongly-held belief, or a church, or a cause of some kind, or even a nation that has not lived up to our expectations.
Custom Teaser
“Ship of Fools.” Haven’t we all had some time in our lives when we’ve been disappointed in the direction of our efforts? It may have been some strongly-held belief, or a church, or a cause of some kind, or even a nation that has not lived up to our expectations.

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That was a song my family would sing in the car on long drives. I was greatly amused when - perhaps during the time you were off organizing - a band performed it on Quad Stage at the Whole Earth Festival. I think they were from Arizona, and were called "Major Lingo." Possibly further on a tangent than you wanted to go, but it would have made plenty of sense for the Dead to have pulled it out instead of the other ballads you mentioned.
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16 years 9 months
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Sorry I missed that one, Doug! And amazing that your family used to sing The Golden Vanity.
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16 years 9 months
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Anyone know where they keep the special torpedoes on this Yellow Submarine? And what does this button do? Oops. Turned us into a Psychedelic Bus. It's hard to see the Orange Sunshine through a broken Window Pane. "Set out runnin', now I'll take my time: a friend of the devil is a friend of mine..." Now put that in your pipe and smoke it... Peace.
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16 years 4 months
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SHIP OF FOOLS is a popular title for pop songs. The Doors, Bob Seger, Robert Plant and the Cowsills all had songs with that title, though completely different than the Grateful Dead. Actually the Cowsills' song was entitled: "Captain Sad and His Ship of Fools."
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16 years 1 month
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on this one? fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. My kindness is abundant but my patience is exhausted. So many possible interpretations of the context for the notion of being hijacked into a doomed, disingenuous proposition and exercising compassion towards those who most certainly don't deserve it and who don't appreciate it. Clearly, once experience is now achieved the only alternative is too challenge it head-on and declare one's intention to destroy it. Lenin's declaration to the Bolsheviks upon his return from exile to accept nothing but the true revolution( not the post February compromises).
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I read somewhere (don't Remember where) many years ago that the song was Hunter talking to the Merry Pranksters. Peace Michael
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11 years 10 months
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"The bottles stand as empty, as they were filled before. Time there was and plenty, but from that cup no more.Though I couldn't caution all, I still might warn a few." That verse always really got me.Spoke of the quick vapor of life. Drank my last bottle, where has it got me? One of my favorite songs. Alpine 88 Jerry KILLS the solo..Yet to digress, it speaks of relationships with people. Getting burned,yet, co-existing with ships of fools.A lot of people i knew didn't care much for this song. I think Jerry liked it. I love it.
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i hear a song of victory, another of defeat. A scrap of age-old lullaby down some forgotten street.Standing on the moon, where talk is cheap and vision true.Standing on the moon,but I would rather be with you. Somewhere in San Francisco, on a back porch in July. Just looking up to heaven at this crescent in the sky.........Ship of Fools.......
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Love the philosophical and historical ruminations on what I've always thought a pretty unique song... an in your face challenge ,sage advice ,sung and preformed as a lovely ballad. What I find most amazing though is... "Don't lend your hand to raise NO flag atop NO ship of fools".... what other lyricist could so brazenly use a double negative to such great effect?
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Hey, who in the name of St. Peter parked a friggin' TARDIS in the middle of the Vatican and called it a Papal Altar? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Bernini_Baldachino.j… Don't let the perspective fool you. Five will get you ten that the white altar is just the service counter and that it's the golden chair at the end of the room which actually sits under Bernini's canopy. Actually gets smaller on the inside: Saves space. Curious recessive escape hatch too. Been siting there a long time. Might want to take it outside and give it a good hosing down with Holy water. And probably a Thompson too while you're at it. Wonder if their Vati-Can works the same as mine. Hmmm. Probably should have asked before parking it there. Oh, well. Jack Straw from Wichita cut his buddy down And dug for him a shallow grave, laid his body down Half a mile from Tuscon, Highway 49 One band gone and another to go My old brother, you're moving much too slow...
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Small wheel turn by the fire and rodBig wheel turn by the grace of God Everytime 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? Works for me. bear
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16 years 9 months
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"The tide is high, but I'm holdin' on...." Soon found out, just a pain in the ass.
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Bobby, Get with David and Joni, take any jazz chord chart, turn it upside down and retune your strings so that you can play the same forms in tune with their songs, but in our forms. That's the key to translation: It's a Platonic form-to-form clash kinda thing. For instance, in standard tuning on a guitar, the B chord has no unique form of its own, which might make things hard for a B-based system to even get past the first speed bump in trying to talk to an A-based system. Two B's or not two B's? Two B's or not two B's: to which Shakespeare answered in about ten thousand words (sounds) more or less. Now if another system thought the entire response was our B chord, well... How many fingers and/or connections do you think you might need to play a chord like that? You'd almost have to create a Living Shakespeare Theater just to play one really huge chord, only to find out that most of the audience didn't understand it themselves or had only, as I, have read certain plays, but all the sonnets. Hence, vibrato which when sped up simply becomes static or pure Chaos that only Morse Code can really penetrate, which after speeding up, slowing down and modulating a bit here and there over eons: we somehow found music in or through the Chaos. Pretty powerful stuff. You three have never recorded together so far as I know. Now might be a good time to think about that. You're some of the original guys who've been playing this good music for all these years. Did you really think it was all for nothing? Well, let's just perish that thought too. I heard "Blowing in the Wind" by Peter, Paul and Mary long before I heard Dylan's original. How do you suppose that happened? Might I have heard it differently had it been the other Way around? Go figure. "Sugar Magnolia, blossoms bloomin'": I suspect this is the actual call that went out, the mighty sign in the heavens, so to speak, when the atomic blossoms started blooming around here. Bet you never heard anything more coo-coo than that. Just so long as you remember that we're really only shooting through images here and nothing more. So to answer the question: Not 2B or BB, but Bb (B flat) In the crawl space between two and three dimensions, can you be any flatter in one than you already are, or any more augmented in the other? And the shared diminished chord as it's little circle wound down: "..and that's the way it's been in town ever since they tore the jukebox down..." Wow! Now that's a mind-blowing burst to think about just a'settin' here this gray morning. Of course, it is kinda hard to turn things up or down in two dimensions, but I truly shudder to think what could happen if sound like that ever suddenly burst and expanded into three dimensional space. So we might want to think about having a better regimented sound barrier or something like that between the 1/3, 2/3 and 3/3. Think I'll add those little triplets to my Christmas wish list. Remember this one from grammer school: The Missing Half-Step Up or Down. Holy Toledo. (The Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo) (The Half-Step Mississippi Uptown, Toodeloo) (We're missing half of uptown...hole in Toledo!) (We're missing half...) Killer of a swan dive, with a half twist, I don't mind saying. The New Potato Caboose (The new pot hates us - kabloowie!) The Water Song is too strong. Too many heads in the hydro. The new ultra-violet frequencies are running amok. We still liked the old Riders of the Purple Sage you know. Things don't get buried just because they're renamed or get "oldie". We just really liked the images (not graven) - just nice thoughts. ie is just something porter's scream in Tarzan movies when they fall off a cliff. Some of the best are even considered golden oldies. Hello, baby. I'm gone goodbye. Peace.
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Bsharp or C flat. I was taut, and i was taught there isn't such a note? or is it one and the same? hummmm
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10 years 8 months
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When I was younger and less aware/concerned about the speed at which time passes, I heard the line as: "In time there was in plenty, but from that cup no more." It made sense to me (and still make sense to me, though now-a-days when I hear it I do hear "Time there was and plenty but from that cup no more - and it takes me back, in a melancholy way, to the wonderful, carefree days of going to see the Grateful Dead and if you were lucky enough maybe catching am entire tour) that Hunter was referring to the full bottles (in time there was in plenty) which were foolishly/carelessly emptied (from that cup no more). Whether it was commentary on wasting our natural resources or just generally referring to foolishly wasting whatever it was they had in the bottles (wine, etc...) through over indulgence. Anyway, it's one of those lines, that Mr. Dodd likes to refer to often, that has changed its meaning to me over time/at different points in my life.
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If E=mc2 in three dimensions, how might that translate through two? And if E=mc5 from two translated back to us? That really would be quite maddening. MC-5. Haven't heard that name in awhile, but I understand they were known for being quite loud. But not anymore. Harps and HAARP also play entirely different songs. And I'd climb up and turn off the latter, if only I had a ladder, Jacob. The New Potato Caboose Revisited (The new pot hates us - kabloowie!) The Water Song is too strong. Too many heads swimming in the reverse osmosis hydro. Saline solution even worse. Trial by Fire works best for me! Red and white, blue suede shoes I'm Uncle Sam, how do you do Gimme five I'm still alive Ain't no luck I've learned to duck...(to be continued) Arlo: If we all awaken in My Darkest Hour, would anyone ever hope to see the light... Remember Now: We're talking MY darkest hour. Great song, by the way. Like a bridge over troubled waters, I would take it down. Been listening to the Dead all morning. Think I'll take a break, go ride the Purple Sage for awhile and see what the New Riders have been up to since Marmaduke's gone. "I've been on this road for seven days...and I'm so beat my vision's just a yellow haze..." Close your eyes, grab the friggin' rope and climb. Now that's a spittin' or du hockin' good point if I ever heard one. Just pick the strings up and pull - first pull up, then pull down. I'm still on the other end whether it looks broken or not. Forget the Dead. They're already in front of you. Just fucking go. We've landed at Calais with no fire support. Direct fires only effective at 33 degrees. Send in Turner. Casualties: Total. Every day is a good day to die. So say we: The Grateful Dead. Kilroy was here. ;) But that was then and this is now... And we're all sitting either at home or work...and the fucking war is over before it's even begun. Working things out in the past is the best way I know of protecting the future. Sometimes Satan comes as a Man of Peace...if it happens to be a devil of a problem, or opportunity, as the case may be. Well, I guess this is as good a place to make a stand as any. Desolation Row. And our lines are all open...
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Water Song from Hot Tuna Burgers album is a masterpiece . Trial by Fire also great song from Jorma who performed it both with Hot Tuna and the Jefferson Airplane. (Long John Silver). My first concert at Winterland was Muddy Waters 2nd billing and electric Hot Tuna back in May 1973. Saw MC-5 at Boston Garden in October 1969 as 3rd billing before Johnny Winter with Led Zeppelin as top bill. Much to learn about Ship of Fools history. One of the great aspects of this forum is that it sparks the quest for knowledge that may or may not be underlying the corpus of Grateful Dead songs. Keep it lively. And I loved the Bob Dylan Chrysler commercial during the Super Bowl last night. The times are indeed always changing .
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This is a sweet, folky song on the surface that has some serious anger underneath. I used to always be a little abashed listening to it because I didn't get what the narrator was so angry about. And Garcia could really *look* angry while singing this. I think that's part of the affect Hunter wanted. I think the "ship" is a granfalloon (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Granfalloon, you non-Vonnegut types), and this guy has fallen off the wagon hard. Though few of Vonnegut's characters realize they're in a false karass, this guy has and is really pissed about it ... and wants to drill a hole in it on the lowland sea. I suspect what an earlier contributor said about the Pranksters may be true to some extent. If so, I don't think Hunter was condemning the "on the bus or off" mindset per se, just writing about some people who soured on it. And what about Scientology? Can't recall when Hunter got off that bus but there may have been some serious bitterness there.
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I heard both Johnny and Edgar Winter play in the 70's in B'ham. Albino brothers. Dual General Winters must keep things Russian along...though the Wind leaves their eyes kinda red...after getting pumped to the gills with Too Much Seconal. Livin' on reds, vitamin C and cocaine: Hey, it's all we had, so we all pitched in and made a C-Rat stew in our helmets... Tastes like shit, by the way...could've used some spices, but some shithead BJ left it behind in the Chart House before we hit the Dunes...It's been a real bitch, "Ow! If you know what I mean..." (-.- .-. .-) P.S. Disregard the blood-sucking tick marks or quotation marks around our lyrics (a single, but double mark, by the way, easily con(with)fused). It's just a notation used when acknowledging someone else's lyrics, but sometimes we forget. "One toke over the line, Sweet Jesus. One toke over the line." They crossed sativa with indica: The Waking Dead. ONe pill makes you larger and one pill makes you small and nothing we've tried works (...and the ones that Mother gives you, don't do anything at all...) Call off ALICE. Alice...this is me...come on home... I am a bit ticked off by all this, but I am not MAD. Mutually assured destruction is a really bad game. So here's an IQ test for you MENSA Slackers: I Quit. You can both keep your game. Charlie has one button and I just gave the other to another of you. So witch 1 of u is it? I'll give you a moment to think about it and be back in just an instant... He made sure I got the IFIF file (International Federation of Internal Freedom), but it's a bit iffy if anything ever came of it. It's all old history tome, I mean, to me...I'm sure I have it lying around somewhere...I mean it's not like it could move by itself...It's nothing but a folder of old papers. And just between you and the dyin' land, I'd sure like to meet the muses behind the song, "Masters of War". Because I sure didn't write it, and neither did Zimmy. Rip Van Winkle sleeps no more. We're going to want to have a look at that AN/TYC-5 Van. Seems a 7th CommBn major mustang got loose inside who wasn't on the access list. And who was also denied access by me. Microwaves are dangerous and can cook your brains from the inside out if you're not careful. Least that's what I always heard... Hey, asshole. I found out who you were. Access denied, forever. SLAM. I always knew that both it and you were nothing more than shit Kinda like Tinian Marines. CPL ADAMS SENDS I still have the original, Skipper. Gung-ho again.
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I say again: Subterranean Homesick Blues And it's a soft rain, segnoia fall... And it's a hard rain, sa'gonna fall. Eye Dam. Industrial light and magic. Wonder how the cartooney Star War they're in is going? I know it's a bad habit, but I sometimes Chew'bacca too. Something I picked up in the Marines. Thank's for nothing, Smitty.
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"Harmony and me, are pretty good companyLookin' for an island in our boat upon the sea..." We've got everything we need on the bullshit artists. Don't even bother looking back.
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To quote "...an entire fleet of ships populated by fools of various stripes, all sailing, supposedly, to the Paradise of Fools. But they have no pilot, and their journey is ill-fated.". All this above a painting of Hieronymus Bosch, no less. Hmmmm... I always thought this song was about politics and politicians and Jerry's (and presumably Hunter's) hippy view of rejecting the game altogether (the lesser of two evils is still evil). It sure fits and one can imagine Jerry's anger being told again and again that he had to support this or that politician/cause/organization. in the end Hunter's line perfectly fits "...though I still might warn a few. Don't lend your hand to raise no flag atop no ship of fools." The Grateful Dead from 85-90 had a certain mastery over this song that was awesome. A simple ballad becomes crackling with energy. Check out Truckin' Off To Buffalo.
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While we're on this Ship of Fools, does anyone know anyone who actually ran faster or jumped higher in their new PF Flyers? Well, I tried them in my driveway about 50 years ago and they didn't do shit. What a jip. It was about '63 and I'd put on my new shoes and tried to jump all the way across the street into the yard of my new neighbors from Formosa - Chi, Ling and Ding, but I didn't see much difference from my regular ol' Keds. What a jip, I thought. Wonder if that's when I got hit by the car...or to complete the thought...carrier wave. And has anyone ever actually looked inside that friggin' torpedo sitting in front of HQMC at the Naval Annex? Now I ask you, what kind of Marines leave a fucking enemy-made bomb on their goddamn doorstep?
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To me, hearing the song for the first time in 1974, it was about the US Government, and specifically the Nixon administration. We all started out believing the government's lies, but it was later than we thought. The post-war economic boom had stalled, and inflation was rampant. The bottles stood as empty as they were filled before. By '74, the attitude was that adults were loyal pro-war labor democrats, like Hubert Humphrey, or loyal pro-war pro-business Republicans like Nixon. Those kids with their "peace" and "love" and sex and drugs, they were children, and Rock and Roll was still considered kids' music. But the most prominent of us, like Garcia, Hunter, Stewart Brand, Wavy Gravy, and so on, were all over 30 years old, but were considered "kids" by the "responsible adults" who ran things. It made us wild, with 30 years upon our heads, to have them call us "child." Like all of Hunter's lyrics, it can be read on different levels. But on one level, it tracks the feelings of youth toward the 1974 political establishment pretty closely.
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Contrast this song with the abstract ones (China Cat, Dark Star) and it's pretty amazing Hunter could span all of that territory. SOF is so poetic. There are plenty of faves from before this, but for my money he peaked right about here. Name a better song from after this. Elvis Costello fans know he covered it. I think if I wanted to play it I would speed up the tempo, only because I would be impatient to get to the next awesome line to sing.
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Thanks David. I enjoyed reading this write up and especially your book title. A sentiment so many of us can identify with. I really enjoy listening to a good version of Ship of Fools. It's a beautiful piece of music. This year I have really enjoyed hearing the version on the May 77 box set from 5-15-77 in St. Louis. Awesome Ship of Fools with a great swing to it.
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I Must say the Report from the Byrd's Nest is Quite CompellingMulti-Dimensional, Metaphysical, A-Political, and (perhaps) a Tad Delusional. Its Like he can See Over the Edge of the Horizon and into the Far Beyond. Professor Byrd's Stream of Conscious Expression is Deep Enough for a Ship of Fools to Sink In I Love All These Posts and Can See How this Song Relates to The Merry Pranksters...and the White House...and Church...and Sneaker Commercials. In particular the time Randall McMurphy took his friends Deep Sea Fishing in "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." As for Me...it Relates to the Time I got involved in a Multi-level Marketing Plan to Sell Vitamins. The Initial Investment filled my Closet with all sorts of Pills. I began a Regimen of Popping Vitamins every Three Hours in Hope of Health and Prosperity and Freedom like never before! Then came the Motivational Conference where All the Success Stories were paraded before our Eyes. At 12:00 it was time for my next dose of Multi-Vitamins. As I pulled out my Pill Box I noticed Everyone else doing the Same THING. We were a Room full of Pavlov's Dogs. That's when I began to suspect that not All was as I wanted it to Seem. Of course, like a Good Dog, I wanted to Believe this was a Great Opportunity...and the Product was Amazing...and wanted to Share the Laughter and the Fun with all the other Rich and Extremely Healthy Shipmates...so it took a couple of months to see the Light. It all became clear when my Request for a Refund was met with a Big Security Guard escorting me out the Door. I really don't think they were very concerned with my best interests after all. The song Ship of Fools just Resonates with those kind of Experiences. "It was Later than I Thought when I first Believed You" I was such a Fool to take so Long to See what was Really going On. A Wise Man once said "Its not so much about What you Believe as it is WHO you Believe" I Believe there is a Voice inside the heart of Each One of Us. A Voice of Reason...a Voice of Wisdom...or Whatever You might want to Call It. I Call Him my Captain...Christ Jesus is His Name. My Dad called Him "Common Sense". Pinocchio had Jiminey Cricket. I think in times of Recognizing Foolishness there is the Opportunity to Recognize the Wisdom and Guidance that was Always there if we'd Only paid better Attention to it. Hunter doesn't tell us who this "You" refers to who was finally believed...and that is the Genius of Hunter that enables a Song like this to Resonate so Deeply in our hearts in so many Different Situations. You have to Decide for Yourself Who is Wise. The Story Teller makes No Choice.
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Loved it from the first time I heard it on MARS HOTEL, and even though I was a tender young 13, I immediately got it. Years and years later, the song is still one of my top favorites, and while the meaning has changed as I have aged, it has lost none of that magic it had way back when. This song is a great example of why I love this band! "Oh, it makes me wild..."
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The painting by Hieronymus Bosch is down right scary. Its part of a triptych painting that includes a panel called Death and the Miser. It seems to be the result of rye ergot poisoning. There were times when the parking lot scene outside of Dead shows was a modern day image from one of Bosch's paintings. Granted in 1973-74 when Ship of Fools was penned by Robert Hunter little or no vending/ parking lot scene existed. As I mentioned in an earlier post I appreciate the quest for knowledge that's sparked by the underlying meanings and stories that may or may not be behind the songs. The Ship of Fools archetype has a great deal of folklore and history surrounding it. The concept of the captain or leader possessed or gone mad reoccurs many times in history and literature. Captain Ahab and his quest for the great white whale in "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville, Nemo from "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne, Captain Queeg from "The Caine Mutiny" by Herman Wouk, and without a doubt Marlon Brando as Colonel Kurtz in the film "Apocalypse Now". I think back to the Watergate trials of 1973-74 with Nixon. His bizarre behavior resembling Captain Queeg as portrayed by Humphrey Bogart in the film version of "The Cain Mutiny", "Who stole the strawberries, I'm gonna conduct a search". And the infamous steel balls that Bogie would bust out in the film when he became stressed. I love David Dodd's book about Grateful Dead lyrics. Maybe the best book of many about the Dead. Under his page about the song "Ship of Fools" he quotes a book by Michel Foucault "Madness and Civilization" ,and its worth repeating here. In the introduction by Jose Barchilon its stated "Renaissance man developed a delightful, yet horrible way of dealing with their mad denizens; they were put on a ship and entrusted to mariners because folly, water, and sea, as everyone then "knew", had an infinity for each other. Thus "Ship of Fools" crisscrossed the sea and canals of Europe with their comic and pathetic cargo of souls. Some of them found pleasure and even a cure in the changing surroundings, in the isolation of being cast off, while others withdrew further, became worse, or died alone and away from their families. The cities and villages which had thus rid themselves of crazed and crazy, could now take pleasure in watching the exciting sideshow when a ship full of foreign lunatics would dock at their harbors". And a couple quick notes, today would have been the 100th birthday of William Burroughs and tomorrow marks 50 years since the Beatles first arrived in the United States. Long hair anyone, and we did indeed start growing our hair from that day forward. Fool on the Hill is a Beatles masterpiece and the Robert Plant song "Ship of Fools" is quite deep also.
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Allegory not (alegory), they need spell check on subject column also. They learned us good in skool. And Friday the 7th is the correct day and date of the Beatles landing at JFK airport. I vividly remember the local NYC news channels covering it. I remember a kid being interviewed with his thick New York accent "I got my Beatles haircut". It was such a buzz. I bought a couple 45 records and pasted the cover sleeves on my school notebook cover. The next day in my 4th grade class at least a couple of the girls (Carol Perchino) sat next to my desk and started singing Beatles songs. "Hey this could be the start of something big" I thought. First part true, last line I just made up. And something about the joker, he runs the risk of people not knowing when he's serious. Be careful of being Zero the Fool, the precipice lies before you.
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The more I think about this Storythe more I think... Its the Narrator who is the Fool. A Wise Fool with a Bad Attitude. Is it Me or does This Guy seem to have Nothing Good to say about Anything? The Captain is Strange...Everyone on Board is a Fool (except for Him, of course) and Even the Sea is Cruel. His Proposition is Insane! He doesn't mind being a Slave...but Only if it Enables Him to Sink the Whole Ship, fully aware that this will Force Everyone to either Sink or Swim or Float. That Does Not Sound Like a very Wise Plan to me. I am thinking possibly Hunter revisits him on Shakedown Street. What is this Guy's Problem? "Maybe It's 'Cause You Missed Out on the Thing That We Had to Start" or "Maybe You Had Too Much Too Fast and Just Overplayed Your Part" "Maybe the Dark is From Your Eyes" "I Recall Your Darkness When it Crackled Like a Thunder Cloud" ....hmmmmm.... "Don't tell Me This Ship Ain't Got No Heart" I am also thinking possibly about Franklin's Tower. On David's Annotated Web-Site there was a post from Hunter Himself regarding the meaning of that song. Franklin's Tower was about the Liberty Bell and the Declaration of Independence from the Tyranny of the King in 1776; and how it Tolled in 1976-200 years later. It was also about the Coming of Age of Hunter's Son entering his Second Decade as America entered its Second Century. It addresses the Desire for Radical Change and the need to Temper it with Time Tested Tradition. There's no Quick Fix to the Challenges we Face in Life. "If You Plant Ice You're Going to Harvest Wind -You Better Roll Away the Dew" Sinking the Ship is a Quick Fix but will not Likely Improve the Situation. There was lots of Unrest with the folks with 30 or so years upon their heads in 1976. Lots of Unrest to Start Another Revolution. Hunter warned that the Liberty Bell "Might Only Have One Good Ring but Baby You Can't Tell" As if to say if we Sink This Ship will we have a Better One to Sail?? Wasn't Ship of Fools written during the same period as Franklin's Tower? Well...I think the Grateful Dead sailed through the Sixties and Seventies in Fine Fashion, and kept Things More or Less in Line. Sinking the Ship is Foolish if you ask me. "Of All Possible Worlds...We've Only Got One... We Gotta Ride On It" I Bid You All Peace and Love and All that Old Hippy Stuff!!
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about these songs-all kind of ways to think about them, speculate about them, autopsy them, deconstruct them, theorize them. Some wonderful ruminations in this thread. You just keep listening, thinking and wondering. Never gets old.
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When the protagonist of this song tells me that he "went to see the captain; the strangest I could find", I get the notion that he's saying that he went before God, or the Source, or Allah, or whatever one might call that mysterious thing to which all life is connected. "The Captain" may also be a pseudonym, in this song, for leader of the government. It usually give me chills during the final plea when Garcia laments, "Though I could not caution all, you know I still might warn a few: Don't lend your hand, to raise no flag atop no ship of fools." Hunter's intentional use of improper grammar makes it sound so serious to me, like the plea is so heartfelt and true that the storyteller didn't have the strength or time to clean up his language. This is one of my all-time favorite lines from our beloved band.
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I've been listening to this song for 30 years, I'm 42 now. I should listen to it more often. I'm listening to it at work and think back how many times I should have included some of these lyrics in letters of resignation. I don't work aboard a ship of fools now, but there are so many in the world. The world is full of them.
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I can think of no "stranger" captain than Captain Trips. I take this to be RH's take on the scene surrounding the band from the mid-70s onward. From what I've read, he became pretty disenchanted with the scene in the years prior to writing this song: “What I most remember about '72 was the tragedy of it. Looking back over empty years that should have brimmed with joyful greatness, I realize more and more fully how tragic it was... How much should be said? To me the '72 tour was about division. I joined to see Europe and to write songs (and because I always toured with the band) – endless European bus trips seemed like a God sent time to get the next album sketched out since Garcia was almost always otherwise occupied in the States - maybe a fourth album to follow the Workingman's Dead/American Beauty/Rambling Rose trilogy. Instead a major insurrection occurred. The Bolo-Bozo metaphor was a way of laughing it off, but the always incipient schism between crew consciousness and artist orientation became decisive. Every meal was a food fight. Sensitivity to cultures was nearly non-existent. It was not only insinuated but bluntly proclaimed that the show could not go on without muscle and tech. Strike was threatened. The band was intimidated and no one was able to call the bluff. I split off from the group at the end of that tour, feeling alienated, groundless and forlorn, eventually moving to England. Though I continued providing songs and collaborating with Garcia, in essence I retired from the Grateful Dead touring and business juggernaut after 'the '72 tour. It was plainly headed for a brick wall. So was I.” “About midway through the ‘70s shows became a trial for me to go to. Before then I was there with every note, immersed in the adventure - the blossom was bloomin' and there was no telling what the flower would look like. But something indefinable that attracted me became increasingly rare. Not to say it didn't show up in a thousand instances right up to the end, folks say it did and I believe them. On the other hand, maybe it was just that I was falling into disuse, my personal relations with these "Stars" becoming strained and less productive. Pig was gone, Keith hit the skids pretty quick, I never even got to know Brent. The drug stuff was no longer experimental, just stupid addiction. I'd break away and then wander back. Coteries became entrenched and the politics were insufferable. The understanding among the politicos was: all you needed to do to work your will was to get Jerry on your side - and the way to do that was to isolate him - the rest of us could go fuck ourselves. You can pretty well suss from Rock's book the kind of contempt in which he (and others) held everyone but the big G . They had contempt for him too, but it was tinged with astute respect for his actual power. I think this Machiavellianism was the main source of the leaks in the dream. It conditioned everything. Jerry knew it for what it was and hated it. He retreated into dreams of his own, tried to make music apart from it, but the die was cast. He was like a lost dinosaur trying to fit into a trailer home.” http://deadessays.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-brotherhood-vs-dead-machine… That's some pretty powerful stuff. RH obviously had some serious issues with the scene. He felt ostracized by the "bozos" - or "fools" - to the extent he felt displaced from his friends (and could no longer "share [their] laughter"). This is an open letter to Jerry that he, RH, just can't hang anymore. And shortly after this song was penned and recorded, the Dead went on their hiatus. This reading, to me, makes Jerry's unfailingly heartfelt renditions all the more powerful than if it were about some "other," such as Nixon. But as with all art, who the hell knows what the artist was thinking, so long as you as the listener/viewer/reader can draw some meaning from it. (Side note - this is the definitive Golden Vanity for me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8WbCWbB8I0)
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PORTAL ENTRY # 5 from the FB PAGE:
' MY G.D. FRIENDS PORTAL '

Of 184 original songs, two tunes about vessels in distress on the water, or, perhaps something to do with their officers!? When the verses are sung together, one alongside the other, they make melodic & lyrical sense of each other.

"On the day that I was born
Daddy sat down and cried
I had the mark just as plain as day
which could not be denied!"
+
"Went to see the captain
strangest I could find
Layed my proposition down
Layed it on the line!"
-------------------------
"They SAY that when your ship comes in, first man takes the sails,"
+
"SAW your first ship sink and drown
from rocking of the boat,"

"Second takes THE AFTERDECK,"
+
"and all that COULD NOT SINK or swim,"

"The third, THE PLANKS & RAILS!"
+
"were JUST LEFT THERE TO FLOAT!"
--------------------------
"I'm ON MY WAY, ON MY WAY!"
+
"SAIL AWAY FROM ME!"
---------------------------
"Ship of fools" "Across the Rio Grandeo"
"Across the LAZY RIVER!" "on A CRUEL SEA!"

And finally, when you speed up the intro to S.O.F., or slow down the intro to MHST, you get the same melodic line!!
---------------------------
mere coincidence or pure intention?!
maybe simply co-writing genius~

ciao
🕉
kslewitt@gmail.com

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I've always believed this song was directed toward L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology.