Chopped olive sandwiches, roses, and wine1,2
Red ripe persimmons, my sweet Clementine3
I go on, I go on, I can’t fill my cup4
There’s a hole in the bottom, the well has dried up5
I run through the forest, I cut past the vine
Head through the thickets, many a time
Octave of voices, sweet voices belie
I left for the comfort of cold Clementine
Words by Robert Hunter
Music by Phil Lesh
A recipe yielding 12 servings:
Ingredients:
1 (6 ounce) can ripe black pitted olives, drained, finely chopped
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
3 tablespoons drained sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped
3 tablespoons green onion, chopped
3 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
3 tablespoons pine nuts
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
12 slices firm white sandwich bread
6 tablespoons light cream cheese
Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine all ingredients except bread and cream cheese; mix well. Cover; chill at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours before assembling sandwiches. Cut crusts from bread, forming 4-inch squares; reserve crusts for another use. Spread cream cheese over bread. Spread olive mixture over 6 slices bread; close sandwiches with remaining bread, pressing lightly. Cut diagonally in half or lengthwise into rectangles.
See note under “That’s It for the Other One.”
The fruit by this name is a seedless mandarin orange.
The title of a well-known folk song, with the refrain:
Oh my darling, oh my darling
Oh my darling Clementine
Thou art lost and gone forever
Dreadful sorry, Clementine.
Compare “Ripple”:
Reach out your hand if your cup be empty
and, “Comes a Time”:
You’ve got an empty cup
only love can fill
Compare the folk song “There’s a Hole in the Bucket”:
There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza
There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, there’s a hole.
Then fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry
Then fix it, dear Henry, dear Henry, fix it.
With what shall I fix it, dear Liza, dear Liza
With what shall I fix it, dear Liza, with what?
With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, dear Henry
With a straw, dear Henry, dear Henry, with a straw.
But the straw is too long etc.
Then cut it, etc.
With what shall I cut it?
With an ax
The ax is too dull
Then sharpen it
With what shall I sharpen it?
With a stone
The stone is too dry
Then wet it
With what shall I wet it?
With water
How shall I get it?
In the bucket
There’s a hole in the bucket. . . .
The February 2, 1968, performance was released on the box set So Many Roads.
First performance: January 20, 1968, at the Eureka Municipal Auditorium in Eureka, California. It only appeared twice more in live performance.
Hunter’s original lyrics as given to Lesh:
CLEMENTINE
Chopped olive sandwiches
roses, and wine,
cold ripe persimmons
my sweet Clementine
There’s a chill in the meadow
of bottomless time
I go on I go on
I cannot fill my cup
theres a hole in the bottom
the spring has dried up
I run through the forests
of linear time,
chop through the branches
and cut through the vines
I’ll be back in a moment
though it may take me years
in the lava rock canyons
corroded with fears
of corruptible bodies
and grief beyond tears
I’ll go on till I hear
the sweet sweet voices behind
that I’ve left for the comfort
of cold Clementine
Hunter notes in an email to Alan Trist, 2005:
These are the lyrics I originally gave Phil for Clementine. I’m astounded that I remember this song intact after four decades!