MASON'S CHILDREN

Words by Robert Hunter; music by Jerry Garcia
Copyright Ice Nine Publishing

    Mason died on Monday
    We bricked him in the wall
    All his children grew and grew
    They never grew so tall before
    They may never grow so tall again

    We dug him up on Tuesday
    He'd hardly aged a day
    Taught us all we ever knew
    We never knew so much before
    We may never know so much again

    Mason was a mighty man
    A mighty man was he
    All he said: when I'm dead and gone
    don't you weep for me

    The wall collapsed on Wednesday
    We chalked it up to fate
    All his children ran and hid
    We never hid so well before
    Swore we'd never show our face again

    Thursday came and Friday
    with fires tall and bright
    Mason's children cooked the stew
    and cleaned up when the feast was through
    Swore we'd never had such times before

    Take me to the Reaper Man
    to pay back what was loaned
    If he's in some other land
    write it off as stoned

    Mason was a mighty man
    A mighty man was he
    All he said: when I'm dead and gone
    don't you weep for me