Compass card is spinning1
Helm is swingin’ to and fro
Ooh, where’s the dog star?2
Ooh, where’s the moon?
You’re a lost sailor
You’ve been too long at sea
Some days the gales are howling
Some days the sea is still as glass
Ooh, reef the mainsail
Ooh, lash the mast
You’re a lost sailor
Now the shore lights beckon
Yeah there’s a price for being free
Yeah the sea birds cry
There’s a ghost wind blowin’
It’s calling you to that misty swirling sea
Till the chains of your dreams are broken
No place in this world you can be
You’re a lost sailor
You’ve been way too long at sea
Now the shore lights beckon
Yeah there’s a price for being free
Drifting yeah drifting3
Yeah drifting and dreaming
’Cause there’s a place you’ve never been
Maybe a place you’ve never seen
You can hear her calling on the wind
Go on and drift your life away
Yeah just drifting and dreaming
Maybe drift your life away
Drifting and dreaming
Yes I’m going on a dream
Maybe going on a dream
Maybe going on a dream
Maybe going on a dream
[The end is largely improvised. An example of a variation:]
Some more time you got to pay
Two kinds of freedom
Freedom from and freedom to be4
One you may know where you’re going
Or maybe you’re just drifting to the sea
Drifting and dreaming
Is this a place you’ve never seen?
Maybe a voice you’ve never heard or a face
you’ve never seen
But you can hear them calling on the way to [hell?]
Drifting and dreaming
Words by John Barlow
Music by Bob Weir
Mariner’s compass in the form of a card that rotates so that 0 degrees, or north, points to magnetic north.
The star is Sirius, often used as a navigational aid by sailors because of its brightness.
The line has frequently been misconstrued as “Where’s the Dark Star?” There’s even an entry for this in Skeleton Key, which serves as an opening for a mini-essay, with examples, of the wonderful opportunities for mis-hearing the words of Grateful Dead songs.
The title of a song: “Drifting and Dreaming (Sweet Paradise) (A Hawaiian Love Song)” (1925) words by Haven Gillespie; music by Egbert van Alstyne, Erwin R. Schmidt, and Loyal Curtis. I will spare you a complete quote of the text, which is of the “Moon, June, spoon” variety. Another song was titled “Dreaming and Drifting” (1877), words by Arthur W. French, music by C. M. Pyke.
Another common distinction made between kinds of freedom is the difference between “freedom from” social and political ills (which, some argue, is really more accurately described as safety or security) and “freedom to” do what one wants (for which some consider the term liberty more precise). (Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia)
Written in Mill Valley, California, July 1979.
Studio recording: Go to Heaven (April 28, 1980).
First performance: August 4, 1979, at the Oakland Coliseum Arena in Oakland, California. It remained in the repertoire through the early part of 1986, then disappeared.