Standing on the moon
I got no cobweb on my shoe
Standing on the moon
I’m feeling so alone and blue
I see the Gulf of Mexico
As tiny as a tear
The coast of California
Must be somewhere over here—
Over here
Standing on the moon
I see the battle rage below
Standing on the moon
I see the soldiers come and go
There’s a metal flag beside me
Someone planted long ago
Old Glory standing stiffly
Crimson, white, and indigo—1
Indigo
I see all of Southeast Asia
I can see El Salvador
I hear the cries of children
And the other songs of war
It’s like a mighty melody
That rings down from the sky
Standing here upon the moon
I watch it all roll by—
All roll by
I see a shadow on the sun
Standing on the moon
The stars go fading one by one
I hear a cry of victory
Another of defeat
A scrap of age-old lullaby2
Down some forgotten street
Standing on the moon
Where talk is cheap and vision true
Standing on the moon
But I would rather be with you
Somewhere in San Francisco
On a back porch in July
Just looking up at heaven
At this crescent in the sky
In the sky
Standing on the moon
With nothing left to do
A lovely view of heaven
But I’d rather be with you—3
Be with you
Words by Robert Hunter
Music by Jerry Garcia
The color indigo, often associated with political power or religious ritual, has held a significant place in many world civilizations for thousands of years. In the excavation of Thebes, an indigo garment dating from ca. 2500 B.C.E. was found, for example — furthermore, the Hindu god Krishna is most often depicted in blue, human sacrifices were often painted blue in ancient Mayan culture, and the Virgin Mary is regularly imagined draped in blue clothes in Christian art.
The indigo dye comes from a leguminous plant of the Indigofera genus, of which over three hundred species have been identified. Only two species are named frequently in the commercial history of the dye, namely: Indigofera tinctoria (native to India and Asia) and Indigofera suffructiosa (native to South and Central America). Indigo plants have a single semiwood stem, dark green leaves that are oval-shaped in most species, and clusters of red flowers that look like butterflies and turn into pea-pods. The plants can grow from two to six feet in height and the dye is obtained mainly from the leaves through a process of fermentation. (Mattson) 89
Compare the lines in “Stella Blue”:
In the end there’s still that song
comes crying like the wind
down every lonely street
that’s ever been
An emotionally charged line, often sung over and over by Garcia in concert. Proposed by some as an appropriate epitaph for him.
Studio recording: Built to Last (October 31, 1989).
First performance: February 5, 1989, at Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center in Oakland, California. It remained steadily in the repertoire thereafter.