Gazing at the fire
Burning by the water
Before he speaks, the world around us quiets
With eyes as sharp as arrows
And turning to the fire
He clears the air and cuts it with a feather
Many in a circle
Slowly ’round the fire
When he is gone, I want to know him better
No one is forsaken
No one is a liar
He plants the tree of life on our foreheads with water1
He hums
There are drums
Four winds2
Rising suns
We are singing and playing
I hear what he’s saying
I remember breezes
From winds inside your body
Keep me high
Like I told you
I’ll sing to them this story
And know why
Words and music by Donna Godchaux
The tree planted by God in the Garden of Eden, along with the Tree of Knowledge. And more generally, the World Tree or axis mundi of many mythological systems.
See note under “Franklin’s Tower.”
Studio recording: Terrapin Station (July 27, 1977).
First performance: May 1, 1977, at the Palladium in New York.
This song is about a Native American ceremony conducted by the Grateful Dead’s shaman associate, Rolling Thunder, a Paiute, in honor of the passing of Rex Jackson, Grateful Dead roadie and road manager after whom the Rex Foundation is named. Jackson died in October 1976.