Well it was early in the morning
When my blues come falling down
I want to tell you, it was early in the morning now
When my blues come falling down1
Well you know, you know, it felt so, so bad
When my baby, yeah, she’s been around
Whoa it was but a while after midnight
When the rooster crowed for day
Whoa it was but a while after midnight
When that rooster began to crow for day2
Well I been mistreating my baby
That’s about a crime that I need to pay
Come back baby
Whoa, please don’t go
I said come back baby
Come on darling, please don’t go
Well you know the way I love you rider
More than you ever know
Yes Lord, please stop her
I won’t get drunk no more
Whoa Lord, please stop her now
I want to tell you that I won’t get drunk no more
Well you know she put me out in the morning
She drive this poor boy from her door
[The 1967 studio version differed substantively:]
Woke up way after midnight, people
Just a little while, a little while before day
I could find no satisfaction
Turned on my pillow to where my baby lay
I remembered I was in a strange old town then
My sweet little angel she’s so far away
Now I ain’t got no friends here
Ain’t got no, no good place to go
All my friends are back home
And I can’t, I can’t go there no more
You know I done just a little bit wrong
And I can’t go back no more
Take me back baby
I can’t help it if I need you so
Well I’ve been a bad man darling
But I won’t, I won’t get drunk no more
But if you did not did like you do
Baby I wouldn’t have had to go
I’m coming back baby, baby I’m coming home
I’m coming back baby, baby I’m coming home
The way I love you darling
You’ve got to, got to know
Words and music by Ron McKernan
Compare the 1937 Robert Johnson song, “Hellhound on My Trail”:
Mmm, blues falling down like hail, blues falling down like hail
And the day keeps on remindin’ me, there’s a hellhound on my trail
Compare line from “The Music Never Stopped”: “Crazy rooster crowin’ midnight.”
American weather folklore has a couple of sayings along these lines:
When the rooster crows at night,
He tells you that a rain’s in sight.
Cockcrow before two in the morning
Of two days wet it is a warning.
Studio recording: June 1966 recording included on The Birth of the Dead in The Golden Road box set, 1967 studio version included as bonus track for remastered Grateful Dead, also included on The Golden Road.
First documented performance: May 19, 1966, at the Avalon Ballroom in San Francisco. One other performance exists on tape.