Halfway past cool on Monday for the sight of her
Rode in town while he built afar [a fire?] with the riders and then the poor
Hot damn, it’s a mother’s day, don’t you all look fine
Promenading down long car ocean, yes it’s mine and it’s sniffing white
They got poets, shuckers and Godzillas ’round
Mother’s sweet little frozen no suit
We got Speed Racer and his archaic as words1
Revolutionary Hamstrung Blues
Bringin’ all the mares hide in your cabs, honey now loosen your load
You belong to this has-no-name, what
I remember some chicks from the sciz would come along and sit and squeeze too
Silly says, I say it once, for you it’s cold steel and slow
Its sounds have all ruptured, it sounds just like glass
Suspect out in the corners, sounding verse and kickin’ ass
I felt the city have a narly, don’t make the six o’clock news
Speed Racer and the band here playing
As I recall I went for the window, but I never did get me there
Hit me hard with his hickory stick was the last thing I saw, met you
Drag me down and tangle, you carry the charges if you feel
Pray for the day that one yourself, but then figure we’ll lick a few
But when I try to look up, don’t want to let me loosen your load
Here alone take this grenade for me, well I
The forerunner radiates wild help up far now, gun ships pass so far
Pass me a vote, silly, and how we did it all over
Did it all over, did it all over the road
We got broads, suckers, and guys in this jail mother sweet little frozen no suit
We got Speed Racer and his archaic A.M. words
Revolutionary Hamstrung Blues
Words by Robert M. Petersen
Music by Phil Lesh
A 1970s cartoon character still alive in the world of anime.
No recordings.
Only performance: March 27, 1986, at Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine.
Christian Crumlish and Nicolas Meriwether have done considerable work in deciphering this lyric, and the results of their efforts can be found in their article “Revolutionary Hamstrung Blues:
A First Transcription,” which is replete with notes and annotations, in Dead Letters, vol. 1 (inaugural issue, 2001). This version of the lyrics is theirs, because the original probably went through the wash in somebody’s back pocket.