If you wanna know what time it is, you don’t have to ask
If you wanna know what hers and his is, you don’t have to ask
If you wanna know what’s real or not, you don’t have to ask
Chorus:
If you wanna know where to find your spot, you don’t have to ask You don’t have to ask
You don’t have to ask
You already know
You already know
If you wanna leave your troubles behind, you don’t have to ask
If you wanna go away and lose your mind, you don’t have to ask
If it’s peace that you’re looking for
You got the key to every door, you already know1
If there’s a way out you’ll find out and see all and be all
You’ll never wonder what spell you been under
To make you forget all this time
If you’re looking for the way, you don’t have to ask
You can see it plain as day, you don’t have to ask
(Chorus)
Words and music by the Grateful Dead
Presages the line in “Unbroken Chain”: “They’re telling me forgiveness is the key to every door.”
First known performance: March 25, 1966, at Trouper’s Club in Los Angeles. The song was played a few times during 1966, then dropped. The version on The Golden Road box set is from July 16, 1966, at the Fillmore in San Francisco.