Bertha1

I had a hard run

Running from your window

I was all night running, running, running

I wonder if you care?

I had a run-in

Run around and run down

Run around a corner

Run smack into a tree

Chorus:

I had to move

Really had to move

That’s why, if you please

I am on my bended knees

Bertha, don’t you come around here anymore

Dressed myself in green

I went down to the sea

Try to see what’s going down

Try to read between the lines

Had a feeling I was falling, falling, falling

Turned around to see

Heard a voice a-calling, calling, calling

You was coming after me

Back to me

(Chorus)

Ran into a rainstorm

Ducked into a bar door

It was all night pouring, pouring rain

But not a drop on me

Test me, test me

Why don’t you arrest me?

Throw me in the jailhouse

Until the sun goes down

Till it go down

(Chorus)

Words by Robert Hunter

Music by Jerry Garcia

1 Bertha

The name given to a large fan (a machine, not a Deadhead) in the Grateful Dead’s office. Apparently, the fan would walk itself across the floor when activated.

Images

Notes:

Recording: Grateful Dead (Skull & Roses) (October 1971).

First performance: February 18, 1971, at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York. It remained in the repertoire thereafter.