Firefly,
can you see me?
Shine on, glowing
Brief and brightly
Could you imagine,
One summer day
That same night
Be on your way
Do you remember?
Hearts were too cold
Seasons had frozen us
Into our souls
People were saying
The whole world is burning
Ashes were scattered
Too hard to turn
Chorus:
Upside out
Or inside down
False alarm, the only game in town
No man’s land, the only game in town1
Terrible, the only game in town
Passenger
Don’t you hear me?
Destination
Seen unclearly
What is a man
Deep down inside
But a raging beast
With nothing to hide
(Chorus)
Words by Peter Monk
Music by Phil Lesh
See Hal Kant’s essay on gambling, under “Loser.”
Studio recording: Terrapin Station (July 27, 1977).
First performance: May 17, 1977, at Memorial Coliseum, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. “Passenger” remained in the repertoire fairly steadily through 1981 and was then dropped.
In an interview in Dupree’s Diamond News, Lesh says:
What’s weird about that song is I sort of did it as a joke. It’s a take on a Fleetwood Mac tune called “Station Man.” I just sort of sped it up and put some different chord changes in there.
Outtakes from the Terrapin Station album sessions reveal that when the song was being developed, the lyrics after the first chorus were sung in a different order and included additional verses:
Jet plane shadows
Under the sky
Just like the elephant
Planning to die
Ask me no questions
Sing you no names
No more mysteries
Simple games