Two versions of a song from 1949 that I need to listen to today / Another year of the Ox

Our One Sun

A few minutes ago while looking at the Lost Coast
webcam, I experienced the anticipation of sunrise at
the ocean, and then my attention was suddenly drawn
to the vision, through the condensation on my window,
of the sun rising over the nearby mountain and shining
through the fog.

That Lucky Old Sunrise With Crows Flying West From Their Rookery At Lake Whatcom

"If you look deeply into Crow's eye, you will have found the gateway to the supernatural. Crow knows the unknowable mysteries of creation and is the keeper of all sacred law."

"Since Crow is the keeper of sacred law, Crow can bend the laws of the physical universe and 'shape shift.'"

"Crow is an omen of change. Crow lives in the void and has no sense of time. The Ancient Chiefs tell us that Crow sees simultaneously the three fates -- past, present and future. Crow merges light and darkness, seeing both inner and outer reality.

"Crow medicine signifies a firsthand knowledge of a higher order of right and wrong than that indicated by the laws created in human culture. With Crow medicine, you speak in a powerful voice when addressing issues that for you seem out of harmony, out of balance, out of whack, or unjust."

(from Medicine Cards: The Discovery Of Power Through The Ways Of Animals, by Jamie Sams and David Carson, 1988)

"... An' I have no sense of time..." (from "Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again," by Bob Dylan, 1966)

In the 1976 version below, he doesn't sing that verse:



From "That Lucky Old Sun" (music by Beasley Smith and words by Haven Gillespie), sung by Bob Dylan in concert on July 11, 2015, in San Sebastian, Spain:

"... Send down that cloud with a silver linin'
Lift me to Paradise
Show me that river
Take me across
And wash all my troubles away
Like that lucky old sun
Give me nothing to do
But roll around heaven all day

Good Lord above, can't you see I'm pinin'
Tears all in my eyes?
Send down that cloud with a silver linin'
Lift me to Paradise
Show me that river
Take me across
And wash all my troubles away
Like that lucky old sun
Give me nothing to do
But roll around heaven all day

"... show me that river and take me across ..."

Mandala #10 / "That Lucky Old Sun" / Building Bridges, Not Walls

THAT LUCKY OLD SUN

Lyrics: Haven Gillespie, Beasley Smith
Music: Haven Gillespie, Beasley Smith

Played by Jerry Garcia regularly with the JGB from 1986 to 1995. Also covered occasionally by Robert Hunter in 1997.

Up in the morning, out on the job
Work like the devil for my pay
But that lucky old sun has nothing to do
But roll, roll around heaven all day

Fuss with my woman, toil with my kids
Sweat till I'm wrinkled and grey
While that lucky old sun got nothing to do
But roll, roll around heaven all day

Lord above, can't you hear me pining?
Tears all in my eyes
Send down that cloud with a silver lining
Lift me up to Paradise

Show me that river, take me across
Wash all my troubles away
Like that lucky old sun, give me nothing to do
But roll, roll around heaven all day

Show me that river, take me across
Wash all my troubles away
Like that lucky old sun, give me nothing to do
But roll around heaven
Let me roll around heaven
I just want to roll around heaven
All day

"Shadows in the Night", with Bob Dylan and his Band, gets my five stars. Started listening to it this morning in my car. It works for me on many levels. These are the songs that were being sung when my parents were young. These are the songs that I never thought would speak to me at all.  For me, there is something about Bob Dylan's voice that has held my attention since I first heard it when I was 13 years old. I walked into our family living room on August 28, 1963, and heard this:



"... and the sun will respect every face on the deck ..."

"... Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught
They lowered him down as a king
But when the shadowy sun sets on the one
That fired the gun
He'll see by his grave
On the stone that remains
Carved next to his name
His epitaph plain:
Only a pawn in their game."

Hearing "Shadows in the Night" makes me think about my parents and the way the world was when they were young. Bob Dylan builds bridges, not walls. He has done that as long as I have been listening.