Here’s a slightly easier to access version of the new Dead song (!) that FoTotD Jesse Jarnow dug out of the rehearsal tapes that just entered circulation.

Some thoughts:

  • The beginning of the tune sounds EXACTLY like Steve Martin’s “Ramblin’ Guy” bit.
  • Apparently, the question “How much should Phil be allowed to sing?” has been part of the woof and warp* of the Dead since the beginning.
  • I’m a sucker for songs about Jerusalem.
  • Can’t figure out all the lyrics, but I guarantee this song was written immediately after reading Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land.
  • Hey: new Dead song!

*Woof and weft? Warp and shlorp? Worf and Wu-Tang? I know that phrase has something to do with looms and weaving, but that’s as far as my knowledge stretches.