Saw a bird with a tear in his eye
Walking to New Orleans my oh my
Hey now Bird, wouldn’t you rather die
Than walk this world when you’re born to fly?
If I was the sun, I’d look for shade
If I was a bed, I would stay unmade
If I was a river I’d run uphill
If you call me you know I will
If you call me you know I will
Chorus:
Ooo, freedom—ooo, liberty1
O . . . Leave me alone
To find my own way home2
To find my own way home
Say what I mean and I don’t give a damn
I do believe and I am who I am
Hey now Mama come and take my hand
Whole lotta shakin’ all over this land3
If I was an eagle I’d dress like a duck
Crawl like a lizard and honk like a truck
If I get a notion I’ll climb this tree
or chop it down and you can’t stop me
Chop it down and you can’t stop me
(Chorus)
Went to the well but the water was dry
Dipped my bucket in the clear blue sky
Looked in the bottom and what did I see?
The whole damned world looking back at me
If I was a bottle I’d spill for love
Sake of mercy I’d kill for love
If I was a liar I’d lie for love
Sake of my baby I’d die for love
Sake of my baby I’d die for love
(Chorus)
Words by Robert Hunter
Music by Jerry Garcia
Hunter’s liner notes to his release of Liberty carried this quote:
We must all be foolish at times
It is one of the conditions of liberty.
—Walt Whitman
Compare “Ripple”: “If I knew the way I would take you home.”
Title of a Top 10 hit for Jerry Lee Lewis in 1957, written by Dave Williams and Roy Hall.
Original version was the title track of Robert Hunter’s 1988 album and was eventually rewritten by Garcia for performance by the Grateful Dead. No Grateful Dead studio recording. The March 30, 1994, performance was included on the So Many Roads (1965–1995) box set.
First performance: February 21, 1993, at the Oakland Coliseum Arena in Oakland, California. The song remained in steady rotation thereafter.
