Lay down my dear brothers, lay down and take your rest
Oh won’t you lay your head upon your savior’s breast
I love you, oh but Jesus loves you the best
Chorus:
And I bid you goodnight, goodnight, good-night (3x)
Lay down, my dear brothers, lay down and take your rest
Oh won’t you lay your head upon your savior’s breast
I love you, oh but Jesus loves you the best
(Chorus)
Walking in Jerusalem just like John (bid you goodnight, goodnight)
I remember right well, I remember right well (bid you goodnight, goodnight)
His rod and his staff shall comfort me (bid you goodnight, goodnight)
Tell “A” for the ark, that wonderful boat (bid you goodnight, goodnight)
Tell “B” for the beast at the ending of the wood (bid you goodnight, goodnight)
Well it eat all the children that would not be good (bid you goodnight, goodnight)
I’m walking in Jerusalem just like John (bid you goodnight, goodnight)
Walking in the valley of the shadow of death (bid you goodnight, goodnight, goodnight)
Lay down, my dear brothers, lay down and take your rest
Oh won’t you lay your head upon your savior’s breast
I love you, oh but Jesus love you the best
(Chorus)
Words and music: traditional
Arranged by the Grateful Dead
I first heard this song on the Incredible String Band’s wonderful LP, The Hangman’s Beautiful Daughter. (It was tucked into their epic composition, “A Very Cellular Song.”) Simultaneously, the Dead were using the song, sung a capella, to close many of their late-sixties shows. According to the String Band’s Robin Williamson, who has been a successful solo performer since his ISB days, the song likely has its roots in English religious music. He and Heron, though, became interested in the song after hearing it performed by the Pindar family on a 1965 Nonesuch album called The Real Bahamas, which was popular in folk circles. Jenny Pindar was the sister of the Bahama’s greatest arranger and interpreter of religious songs, guitarist Joseph Spence. This might explain the slightly Caribbean lilt to the longer Dead versions of the song (the Live/Dead version contains only a fraction of it), with its arching vocals and internal rhythms. (Jackson: Goin’ Down the Road) 94