My time coming, any day, don’t worry ’bout me, no
Been so long I felt this way, ain’t in no hurry, no
Rainbows end down that highway where ocean breezes blow
My time coming, voices saying, they tell me where to go
Don’t worry ’bout me, no no, don’t worry ’bout me, no
And I’m in no hurry, no no no, I know where to go
California, preaching on the burning shore
California, I’ll be knocking on the golden door
Like an angel, standing in a shaft of light
Rising up to paradise, I know I’m gonna shine
My time coming, any day, don’t worry bout me, no
It’s gonna be just like they say, them voices tell me so
Seems so long I felt this way and time sure passin’ slow1
Still I know I lead the way, they tell me where I go
Don’t worry ’bout me, no no, don’t worry ’bout me, no
And I’m in no hurry, no no no, I know where to go
California, a prophet on the burning shore
California, I’ll be knocking on the golden door2
Like an angel, standing in a shaft of light
Rising up to paradise, I know I’m gonna shine
You’ve all been asleep,
You would not believe me
Them voices telling me,
We’re standing on the beach,
The sea will part before me3
(Fire wheel burning in the air)4
And you will follow me,
And we will ride to glory
(Way up the middle of the air)
And I’ll call down thunder
And speak the same
And my word fills the sky with flame
And might and glory gonna be my name
And men gonna light my way
My time coming, any day, don’t worry ’bout me, no
It’s gonna be just like they say, them voices tell me so
Seems so long I felt this way and time sure passin’ slow
My time coming, any day, don’t worry ’bout me, no
Don’t worry ’bout me . . .
Words by John Barlow
Music by Bob Weir
Compare the Bob Dylan song from 1970’s New Morning: “Time Passes Slowly”:
Time passes slowly up here in the daylight,
We stare straight ahead and try so hard to stay right,
Like the red rose of summer that blooms in the day,
Time passes slowly and fades away 79
A reference to the Golden Gate, the entrance to the San Francisco Bay. Also immortalized in the 1924 song “California, Here I Come,” by Al Jolson, Bud DeSylva, and Joseph Myers:
Open up that golden gate,
California here I come
Exodus 14:21–31:
Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea away all night with a strong east wind and turned the seabed into dry land.
A familiar story, and one of the most powerful tales of the power of a prophetic presence. Invoked here, visions of Cecil B. DeMille’s screen epic The Ten Commandments come to mind. Moses also appears in Hunter’s “Greatest Story Ever Told.”
Daniel 7:9:
Flames of fire were his throne and its wheel blazing fire
Ezekiel 10:9–10:
They had the sparkle of topaz, and all four were alike, like a wheel inside a wheel.
These two Bible passages found life in a spiritual, “ ’Zekiel Saw De Wheel”:
Wheel, oh wheel,
Wheel, in de middle of a wheel;
Wheel, oh wheel,
Wheel in the middle of a wheel.
’Zekiel saw de wheel of time,
Wheel in the middle of a wheel,
Ev’ry spoke was humankind,
Wheel in the middle of a wheel.
Way up yonder on de mountain top,
Wheel in de middle of a wheel,
My Lord spoke an de chariot stop,
Wheel in de middle of a wheel.
’Zekiel saw de wheel,
Way up in de middle of de air,
’Zekiel saw de wheel,
Way in de middle of de air.
De big wheel run by faith,
Little wheel run by de grace of God;
Way in de middle of de air.” (Johnson)
There is an echo here, as well, of the Robert Hunter lyric “The Wheel” in the lines “De big wheel run by faith / Little wheel run by de grace of God.”
The reference on Weir and Barlow’s part is to the “Prophet” of the title, as reflected in the words of the prophets Ezekiel and Daniel, via the traditional spiritual.
Written in Cora, Wyoming, and Mill Valley, California, January 1977.
Studio recording: Terrapin Station (July 27, 1977).
First performance: February 26, 1977, at the Swing Auditorium in San Bernardino, California. A steady number in the repertoire thereafter.
According to Weir, he and Barlow wrote the song from the perspective of a crazy, messianic zealot, a type which one invariably encounters in Deadhead crowds now and again. As Weir explains: “The basis of it is this guy I see at nearly every backstage door. There’s always some guy who’s taken a lot of dope and he’s really bug-eyed, and he’s having some kind of vision. He’s got a rave he’s got to deliver.” In “Estimated Prophet,” the psychopath claims “My time comin’ any day, don’t worry about me,” and Weir essentially lets him rave. (Jackson: Grateful Dead) 80