Truckin' - Grateful Dead, The (cover-live by Bill Sharkey)

Truckin' (Grateful Dead, The, 1971). Live cover performance by Bill Sharkey, Home Studio, Hawaii Kai, HI. 2021-11-11. "Keeping the Oldies Alive"

"Truckin'" was the Grateful Dead's second entree onto the Billboard Hot 100 chart hitting the #64 position in 1971 (Whitburn, 2013). The song was a group project with Garcia, Weir, and Lesh providing the music, while Hunter provided the lyrics (D. Dodd, dead.net, Oct. 24, 2013). The song closed out the "American Beauty" album, which was released the previous year (Whitburn, 2009). The album cut was quite a bit longer than the single version performed here with a number of additional verses clocking in at 5:05 (allmusic.com, 2021; deaddisc.com, 2021). Truckin'" is an autobiographical picture painted by the band about their touring experiences (songfacts.com, 2021). “'Truckin’' was first performed on August 18, 1970, at the Fillmore West. The show opened with an acoustic set, and 'Truckin’" was their opening song (D. Dodd, dead.net, Oct. 24, 2013).

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Lyrics:

Truckin', got my chips cashed in
Keep truckin', like the do-dah man
Together, more or less in line
Just keep truckin' on

Arrows of neon and flashing marquees out on Main Street
Chicago, New York, Detroit and it's all on the same street
Your typical city involved in a typical daydream
Hang it up and see what tomorrow brings

Dallas, got a soft machine
Houston, too close to New Orleans
New York got the ways and means
But just won't let you be

What in the world ever became of sweet Jane?
She lost her sparkle, you know she isn't the same
Livin' on reds, vitamin C, and cocaine
All a friend can say is, "Ain't it a shame?"

Truckin', up to Buffalo
Been thinkin', you got to mellow slow
It takes time, you pick a place to go
And just keep truckin' on

You're sick of hangin' around and you'd like to travel
Get tired of travelin', you want to settle down
I guess they can't revoke your soul for tryin'
Get out of the door and light out and look all around

Sometimes the light's all shinin' on me
Other times, I can barely see
Lately, it occurs to me
What a long, strange trip it's been

Truckin', I'm a goin' home
Whoa, whoa, baby, back where I belong
Back home, sit down and patch my bones
And get back truckin' on