Went to see the captain
strangest I could find
Laid my proposition down
Laid it on the line;
I won’t slave for beggar’s pay
likewise gold and jewels
but I would slave to learn the way
to sink your ship of fools
Chorus:
Ship of fools1
on a cruel sea
Ship of fools
sail away from me
when I first believed you
now I cannot share your laughter
Ship of Fools
Saw your first ship sink and drown
from rocking of the boat
and all that could not sink or swim
was just left there to float
I won’t leave you drifting down
but—whoa!—it makes me wild
with thirty years upon my head
to have you call me child
(Chorus)
The bottles stand as empty
as they were filled before
Time there was and plenty
but from that cup no more
Though I could not caution all
I still might warn a few:
Don’t lend your hand to raise no flag
atop no ship of fools
(Chorus)
It was later than I thought
when I first believed you
now I cannot share your laughter
Ship of fools
No I cannot share your laughter
Ship of fools
Words by Robert Hunter
Music by Jerry Garcia
From the Dictionary of the Middle Ages’ article on Sebastian Brant (1457–1521):
Brant’s fame stems from Das Narrenschiff (The ship of fools), published in 1494.
In concept and style Das Narrenschiff belongs to the satiric genre of the Middle Ages, and stands in an old tradition, to a degree biblical in origin. . . .
Brant sees follies as sins. This concept makes up the framework of his book: A ship—an entire fleet at first—sets off from Basel to the paradise of fools. . . .
Each chapter chastises a type of fool who is depicted graphically in the accompanying woodcut.
From Jose Barchilon’s introduction to Michel Foucault’s Madness and Civilization:
Renaissance men developed a delightful yet horrible way of dealing with their mad denizens: They were put on a ship and entrusted to mariners.
Katherine Anne Porter’s novel Ship of Fools (1962) uses the metaphor of the ship Vera to represent the entire world as it drifts into World War II. Her note at the start of the novel states:
The title of this book is a translation from the German of Das Narrenschiff, a moral allegory by Sebastian Brant first published in Latin as Stultifera Navis in 1494. I read it in Basel in the summer of 1932 when I had still vividly in mind the impressions of my first voyage to Europe. When I began thinking about my novel, I took for my own this simple almost universal image of the ship of this world on its voyage to eternity. It is by no means new—it was very old and durable and dearly familiar when Brant used it; and it suits my purpose exactly. I am a passenger on that ship.
—K.A.P. 61
Porter’s book was made into a memorable movie with an all-star cast including Vivian Leigh, Jose Ferrer, Lee Marvin, and many others in 1965.
Studio recording: Grateful Dead from the Mars Hotel (June 27, 1974).
First performance: February 22, 1974, at the Winterland Arena in San Francisco.