ADD: Joseph's Dream/Get No Better (John Hartford)

Subject: Joseph's Dream lyrics by John Hartford
From: GUEST,grit
Date: 05 May 04 - 07:22 PM

Am looking for the lyrics for "Joseph's Dream" off the "Nobody Knows What You Do" album. Please help!! Thanx!

Subject: RE: Joseph's Dream lyrics by John Hartford
From: Morticia
Date: 06 May 04 - 09:11 AM

this seems to be his message board, perhaps you can request them with more success there?

http://www.johnhartford.com

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Joseph's Dream lyrics by John Hartford
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 07 May 04 - 10:14 PM

First, I found a sound sample of JOSEPH'S DREAM at Barnes & Noble, and transcribed these words:

Seems like all them good things come at once, yes they do,
And just when you think it can't get no better, then it does.

Then I Googled with the words "just when you think it can't get no better" (in quotes), and I got several hits.

I was surprised to find this phrase being used as a song title. I'm guessing people are referring to Hartford's song by the wrong title. Several sites mentioned that Leftover Salmon has performed it. They seem to be a sort of quasi-rock-neo-bluegrass band. (Is that descriptive enough?) They have performed several of Hartford's songs, but I don't think they've recorded this one.

The Internet Archive claims to have a complete live concert of Leftover Salmon which you can download, with the band's permission. (I didn't try it.) It includes the song called JUST WHEN YOU THINK IT CAN'T GET NO BETTER.

If you download it and transcribe the lyrics, please post them here.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Joseph's Dream lyrics by John Hartford
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 10 May 04 - 04:47 PM

Was just listening to the downloaded version of Nobody Knows What You Do and "Josephs Dream" is NOT the song which is on the original vinyl Flying Fish 028. I am crushed because that was one of the best songs on that album. Too bad people who think they are getting the real deal on CD or Download (Music Match) are missing such a treat.

Even the recording time matches between the vinyl and the CD, but the song's not the same.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Joseph's Dream lyrics by John Hartford
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 12 May 04 - 09:28 PM

Guest: Do you mean to say that the lyrics I quoted above aren't really from JOSEPH'S DREAM, but from a different song that is mislabeled as JOSEPH'S DREAM on the CD?

Do you have the LP? If so, can you transcribe and post the correct lyrics to JOSEPH'S DREAM?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Joseph's Dream lyrics by John Hartford
From: GUEST,J
Date: 15 May 04 - 04:46 PM

Well, I actually have Leftover Salmon's version of the song. And I have it labeled as Joseph's Dream in the set list. To be percise, they played this song on September 15, 2001 at the electric Kool-Aid Festival.

http://web1.nugs.net/salmon/010915_mp3.asp?artist=31&show=199&cmd=shows

You won't be able to download the song right now, or find the lyrics on that page, but I have it on my disk, and it is sung "Just when you think it can't get no better, than it does..."

Subject: Lyr Add: GET NO BETTER (from Leftover Salmon)
From: GUEST,J
Date: 15 May 04 - 05:49 PM

Okay everyone. I figured it was high time someone tried to get these words down. I couldn't do a perfect job with it, and so at four places in the song, I have a ?, possibly followed by some brackets, with the closest thing I could figure phonetically. This is transcribed from Leftover Salmon's version of the song, and it probably slightly different than Hartford's original words, especially at the end which is spouted out at a million words a minute. If anyone can post any corrections, I'd greatly appreciate it. So without further ado:

GET NO BETTER
As recorded by Leftover Salmon
Original song by John Hartford
Transcribed by Jesse Swidler

He caressed her breast and she ?[hi di died] his thighs
And ?[ in the middle] was a wine bottles and cheese
He took a Polaroid picture that was naughty, in a slip, yes he did
Just when you think it can't be getting no better then it did

Just when you think it can't get no better than it does
It's always so much better than it ever was
Seems like all them good things come at once, yes it does
Just when you think it can't get no better than it does

Well they both wanted off today but neither one of them ?[got it]
He said I'll probably get in trouble now, but this time I don't care, now
I should be going to work but I would rather be right here with you instead, oh
Just when you think it can't get no better, than it did

Just when you think it can't be gettin' no better, than it does
It's always so much better than it ever was
Seems like all them good things come at once, yes it does
Just when you think it can't be gettin' no better than it does

He dropped school and she played the five-string banjo
She lived here in town and he traveled the whole world wide
He got in the car, scored a lid, ?[she caught a fly in the tea], oh
Just when you think it can't be gettin' any better, than it did

Just when you think it can't be gettin' no better than it does
It's always so much better than it ever was
Seems like all them good things come at once, yes it does
Just when you think it can't be gettin' no better than it does

It was the perfect day for a ?[damure] and a picnic
And the driving range was a beautiful place for love, love yeah
Overhead, the big Texas sky with stars all shinning, yeah
Just when you think it can't be getting no, no better than it does

Just when you think it can't be gettin' no better than it does
It's always so much better than it ever was
Seems like all them good things come at once, yes it does, yes it does
Just when you think it can't be gettin' no better
Just when you think it can't be gettin' no better
Just when you think it can't be gettin' no better than it does, oh now
It's always, (so much),
Always, (so much), so much, (so much)
So much better than it ever was

Just like all of them good things come at once, oh now
Just when you think it can't be gettin' no better than it does, oh now
Just when you think it can't be gettin' no better, oh
Just when you think it can't get no better,
Just when you think your down,
Just when you think you it's out
Just thinking about thinking about keeping on thinking ohhh
It time to get to be gettin' better
Woah you know you're gonna feel all right
Oh dancin'll make you feel better, make you feel better,
Feel all around the country, gonna feel good
It gonna get, I'm gonna give it to you
It's gonna feel strong, and you know, oh gonna get better
It's gonna get better and then it always does

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Joseph's Dream lyrics by John Hartford
From: harpgirl
Date: 15 May 04 - 08:59 PM

sorry, but I've never liked this song so I haven't transcribed it. But if you send me a snail mail address I'll send you a tape.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Joseph's Dream lyrics by John Hartford
From: GUEST,sandy mackay
Date: 10 Sep 04 - 07:57 AM

If anyone gets the urge to transcribe the REAL lyrics to Joseph's Dream, I'd love to have it- I play the 5 string banjo, and would love to re-learn Joseph's Dream again, but hard finding the lyrics it is!
Thanks, Sandy

Subject: ADD: Joseph's Dream (John Hartford)
From:
Date: 12 Nov 04 - 11:34 AM

Near as I can remember:

JOSEPH'S DREAM
(John Hartford)

Joseph had a dream when he was just a boy of 17
he dreamed some day he'd be the leader of the family
and he told this to his father,
and his brothers, they got mad and tried to kill him.
Yeah, his father just took note,
but his brothers, they got mad and tried to kill him.

Now, Joseph was a young man with 11 older brothers.
He was given by his folks a coat of many colors
and this mad his brothers jealous
so they sold him into slavery down in Egypt.
Yeah, they tried but couldn't kill him
so they sold him to the service of the Wahzeer [?]

Now, the Wahzeer's wife, when Josehph was a slave to him,
was heavily attractive. She bragged to all her ladies
that she'd have this gorgeous slave to be her lover
and she tried but then she failed.
Yeah, she had it all worked out, but Joseph,
he refused to go along with it.

Well, the Wazeer was wise when she had Joseph busted
and he didn't have him put to death the way it was expected.
He just threw him in the dungeon for 2 years
with a butler and a baker.
Who were havin' crazy dreams that Joseph had the knowledge to interpret.

When the dreams came true, the Pharoah was advised of it
and he sent for Joseph then to hear the dream of 7 cows
and Joseph gave such good advice, the Pharoah released him from his slavery;
and not only that, he also made Joseph the new Wazeer!

There was a famine up in Canaan, Joseph's father sent his brothers
down to Egypt to buy corn but they were thrown in jail as spies.
In three days he had released them to return and come again and bring their father
who forgave them and they gathered 'round and lived regular old lives right there with Joseph.
Just the way that he had dreamed it way back when he was only 17!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Joseph's Dream lyrics by John Hartford
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 14 Nov 04 - 12:34 PM

I think I can finally clear up the confusion (in case anyone, like me, was still confused.)

In 1977, brothers Doug and Rodney Dillard collaborated with John Hartford, calling their band "Dillard Hartford Dillard," and released a bluegrass album called "Glitter Grass from the Nashwood Hollyville Strings," (Flying Fish LP FF-036). This album contained a song written by Hartford called GET NO BETTER which has the refrain, "Just when you think it can't get no better, then it does."

In 1980, they released another album called "Permanent Wave," (Flying Fish LP FF-233). In 1992, or thereabouts, these two albums were reissued on one CD, called (according to Rounder Records, which now owns the Flying Fish label) "Glitter Grass/Permanent Wave" (CDFLY 36). (There are sound samples at that web page.) Fans sometimes refer to this CD misleadingly as "Dillard Hartford Dillard."

Meanwhile, Hartford's 1976 LP "Nobody Knows What You Do," (Flying Fish FF-028) contained a song called JOSEPH'S DREAM. Apparently, when Flying Fish reissued the album as a CD, for whatever reason, they omitted JOSEPH'S DREAM and substituted GET NO BETTER. One person who posted at a forum at John Hartford's web site said it was because the original master tape of JOSEPH'S DREAM had been damaged. However, that doesn't excuse the fact that GET NO BETTER was misidentified in the CD's liner notes as JOSEPH'S DREAM.

This has led to a lot of confusion. Track lists of "Nobody Knows What You Do" at various usually reliable websites such as allmusic, Barnes & Noble, CD Universe, and Yahoo! Shopping > Music contain the same misinformation. (You can easily tell by listening to sound samples at those sites that the song they identify as JOSEPH'S DREAM is really the same song that is identified as GET NO BETTER on "Glitter Grass/Permanent Wave.")

However, amazon.com and Rounder Records simply omit any mention of this track, making it appear that the album contains 11 tracks instead of 12.

Even this website devoted to Leftover Salmon, a band that covered the song, misidentifies it as JOSEPH'S DREAM.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Joseph's Dream lyrics by John Hartfor
From: GUEST,oj
Date: 29 Dec 04 - 02:16 AM

i have found a place on the web that has a recording of the real "joseph's dream". go to www.johnhartford.org. it is a fan site put up by a childhood friend of john's. scroll down the contents to "walnut valley 76". click on that and you'll find four live tracks from the festival, one of which is the actual song with the bible story lyrics.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Joseph's Dream lyrics by John Hartford
From: robomatic
Date: 29 Dec 04 - 06:20 PM

Thank you Guest OJ. I looked at those downloads, but the extension was .flac which I do not recognize as a music extension.

That web site is a real work of love, and had an interesting article on the distinctions between making copies of music, pirating music, and bootlegs.

Harpgirl hello. You helped me out a couple three years back with lyrics to "Before They Take My Car Away" and I'm still gratitudinous. In spite of the music background on that song, old John had a voice you could put your feet up to the speakers and warm 'em by.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Joseph's Dream lyrics by John Hartford
From: GUEST,Art Thieme
Date: 29 Dec 04 - 06:42 PM

(Yes, that's exactly what John told me about this song ;-)

Art

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Joseph's Dream lyrics by John Hartfor
From: GUEST,hartford fan
Date: 02 Jan 05 - 07:01 PM

johnhartford.org was created by a guy named John Hotze who
was in Hartford's first band. The website is indeed a labor
of love, well tended and often updated.   There is another
site where you can download live shows www.thespps.org
Its legal, no RIAA guy will come busting down your door
thanks to John, who was very taper friendly

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Joseph's Dream lyrics by John Hartford
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Jan 05 - 11:58 PM

tech question: how do you get those tunes at spps to download? i've tried to figure it out but haven't yet. i'm working on an Imac with a fast connection. anybody know what to do?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Joseph's Dream lyrics by John Hartford
From: wysiwyg
Date: 03 Jan 05 - 12:09 AM

Look around some at spps-- I think there is a tech advisory or a software download link to run 'em. I was hoping someone around here would comment about all that before I go try it.

~S~

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Joseph's Dream lyrics by John Hartfor
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Jan 05 - 06:06 PM

You need to have the program for the ftp downloads, but I
can't remember where to get it. I know you can download
the ftp or bittorrent software. etree.org has a great
page that explains the process.

http://wiki.etree.org/index.php?page=GettingStarted#software

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Joseph's Dream lyrics by John Hartford
From: GUEST,sandy
Date: 17 Feb 05 - 03:47 PM

Hey, thanks for the lyrics, donn@...!
Now I will be able to impress my friends and family!

Subject: ADD: Get No Better (John Hartford)
From: GUEST,Justin James
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 07:56 PM

John Hartford lyrics
Alright, I wrote down exactly what I could understand from the album version of this song by John Hartford.

From what I can tell the chords are
E G# C#m E7? A B E B7

E7? I play a basic C7 chord in the fifth fret


GET NO BETTER
(John Hartford)

Well he caressed her breast she hie di died his thigh
And the pill lit on the pillow amongst the wine bottles and the cheese
Took a Polaroid picture that was naughty and it slipped yes it did
And just when I thought it couldn't get no better then it did

Just when you think it can't get no better then it does
It's always so much better than it ever was
Seems like all the good things come at once, yes they do
And just when you think it can't get no better then it does

Well they knew what they liked they ain't neither one of them naive
She said I'll probably get in trouble but this time I don't care
Well I should go to work but I'd rather be with you instead
And just when I thought it couldn't get no better then it did

Just when you think it can't get no better then it does
It's always so much better than it ever was
Seems like all the good things come at once, yes they do
And just when you think it can't get no better then it does

She taught school and he played the five string banjo
She lived here in town and he traveled the whole world wide
Well she packed the lunch brought the wine he drove the car and scored a lid
And just when I thought it couldn't get no better then it did

Just when you think it can't get no better then it does
It's always so much better than it ever was
Seems like all the good things come at once, yes they do
And just when you think it can't get no better then it does

It was a perfect day for a dalliance and a picnic
And a riverbank was an excellent place to love
Well the sun was a shining and the birds were a singing overhead
And just when I thought it couldn't get no better then it did

Just when you think it can't get no better then it does
It's always so much better than it ever was
Seems like all the good things come at once, yes they do
And just when you think it can't get no better then it does

Subject: ADD: Get No Better (John Hartford)
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Dec 05 - 08:21 PM

GET NO BETTER
(John Hartford)

Well he caressed her breast she hie di died his thigh
And the pill lit on the pillow amongst the wine bottles and the cheese
Took a Polaroid picture that was naughty and it slipped yes it did
And just when I thought it couldn't get no better then it did

Just when you think it can't get no better then it does
It's always so much better than it ever was
Seems like all the good things come at once, yes they do
And just when you think it can't get no better then it does

Well they knew what they liked they ain't neither one of them naive
She said Ill probably get in trouble but this time I don't care
Well I should go to work but I'd rather be with you instead
And just when I thought it couldn't get no better then it did

Just when you think it can't get no better then it does
It's always so much better than it ever was
Seems like all the good things come at once, yes they do
And just when you think it can't get no better then it does

She taught school and he played the five string banjo
She lived here in town and he traveled the whole world wide
Well she packed the lunch brought the wine he drove the car and scored a lid
And just when I thought it couldn't get no better then it did

Just when you think it can't get no better then it does
It's always so much better than it ever was
Seems like all the good things come at once, yes they do
And just when you think it can't get no better then it does

It was a perfect day for dalliance and a picnic
And a riverbank was an excellent place to love
Well the sun was a shining and the birds were singing overhead
And just when I thought it couldn't get no better then it did

Just when you think it can't get no better then it does
It's always so much better than it ever was
Seems like all the good things come at once, yes they do
And just when you think it can't get no better then it does

E G# C#m E7(C7 in 5th fret) A B E B7

Subject: ADD: Get No Better (John Hartford)
From: GUEST,bob
Date: 07 Jan 11 - 10:29 PM

these are the actual lyrics from "no one knows what you do".
Song on the CD is called "Joseph's Dream"

I'm pretty sure these are right... these are 100% by hand


Get No Better
(John Hartford)

he caressed her breast; she "hi-de-di'd" his thigh
and it billowed on the pillow amongst the wine bottle and the cheese
he took a poloriod picutre her, so naughty in her slip, yes he did
n'just when he thought it couldn't get no better than it did



R:
just when you think it can get no better than it does
it's always so much better than it ever was
it seems like all them good thing come at once, yes it do
and just when you think it can't get any better than it does



well, they knew what they liked they were neither one of them naive
she said I'll probably get in trouble but this time I don't care
well I should go to work but I'd rather be with you instead
and (sic[ it ]) just when I though it couldn't get no better than it did

R:
just when you think it can get no better than it does
well, it's always so much better than it ever was
seems like all them good things come at once, yes it do
and just when you think it can't get any better than it does



a'she taught school and he played the five-string banjo
she lived here in town and he traveled the whole world wide
well'a she a packed a lunch, brought the wine; he drove the car and scored a lid, hmm
and just when they thought it couldn't get no better than it did.


R:
just when you think it can get no better than it does
well, it's always so much better than it ever was
seems like all them good things come at once, yes it do


and just when you think it can't get no better than it does




it was a perfect day, for a dalliance and a picnic
and a riverbank was an excellent place for love
well, the sun was a shinin' and the birds were a singin' overhead (bird sound effects)
and just when I thought it couldn't get no better than it did



R:
just when you think it can get no better than it does
it's always so much better than it ever was
it seems like all them good things come at once, yes it do
n'just when you think it can't get any better than it does

---

yea well can = can't but otherwise.

Subject: RE: ADD: Joseph's Dream/Get No Better (John Hartford)
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 30 May 13 - 01:30 AM

Scored a lid?   I've always heard it as "scored a hit". Little lady, little picnic, little weed, little bit o'wine. Sounds like a great day.