You told me good-bye
How was I to know
You didn’t mean good-bye
You meant please
don’t let me go
I was having a high time
Living the good life
Well, I know
The wheels are muddy
Got a ton of hay
Now listen here baby
’cause I mean what I say
I’m having a hard time
Living the good life
Well, I know
I was losing time
I had nothing to do
No one to fight
I came to you
Wheels broke down
The leader won’t draw
The line is busted
the last one I saw
Tomorrow come trouble
Tomorrow come pain
Now don’t think too hard, baby
’cause you know what I’m saying
I could show you a high time
living the good life
Don’t be that way
Nothing’s for certain
It could always go wrong
Come in when it’s raining
Go on out when it’s gone
We could have us a high time
living the good life
Well, I know
Words by Robert Hunter
Music by Jerry Garcia
Studio recording: Workingman’s Dead (May 1970).
First documented performance: June 21, 1969, at the Fillmore East in New York. Over the years, the song dropped in and out of the repertoire, never for more than six years, however.