There are times that you can beckon
There are times when you must call
You can take a lot of reckoning
But you can’t take it all
There are times when I can help you out
And times that you must fall
There are times when you must live in doubt
And I can’t help at all
Three blue stars/Rise on the hill
Say no more, now/Just be still
All these trials/Soon be past1
Look forsomething/Built to last
Wind held by the collar
Yes, a cloud held by the breeze
You can walk on coals of fire
But sometimes you must freeze
There are times when you offend me
And I do the same to you
If we can’t or won’t forget it,
I guess we could be through
One blue star/Sets on the hill
Call it back/You never will
One more star/Sinks in the past
Show me something/Built to last
Built to last till time itself
Falls tumbling from the wall
Built to last till sunshine fails
And darkness moves on all
Built to last while years roll past
Like cloudscapes in the sky
Show me something built to last
Or something built to try
There are times when you get hit upon
Try hard but you cannot give
Other times you’d gladly part
With what you need to live
Don’t waste the breath to save your face
When you have done your best
And even more is asked of you
Let fate decide the rest.
All the stars/Are gone but one
Morning breaks/Here comes the sun
Cross the sky/Now sinking fast
Show me something/Built to last
Three blue stars rise on the hill
Sing no more now just be still
All these trials soon be past
Look for something built to last
One blue star sets on the hill
Call it back you never will
One more star sinks in the past
Show me something built to last
All the stars are gone but one
Morning breaks here comes the sun2
Cross the sky now sinking fast
Show me something built to last
Words by Robert Hunter
Music by Jerry Garcia
Compare the traditional hymn “All My Trials, Lord”:
Hush, little baby, don’t you cry
You know your mama was born to die
All my trials, Lord, soon be over
Too late, my brothers
Too late, but never mind
All my trials, Lord, soon be over
If religion were a thing that money could buy
The rich would live and the poor would die
All my trials, Lord, soon be over
I’ve got a little book that was given to me
And every page spells liberty
All my trials, Lord, soon be over
There is a tree in Paradise
And the pilgrims call it the Tree of Life
All my trials, Lord, soon be over
Evokes George Harrison’s “Here Comes the Sun,” from the Beatles’ Abbey Road.
Studio recording: title track from Built to Last (October 31, 1989).
First performance: October 20, 1988, at the Summit, Houston, Texas. It was performed infrequently through early 1990.