"Now don't think too hard baby 'cause you know what I'm saying"

The Annotated "High Time"

An installment in The Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics.
By David Dodd
1997-1998 Research Associate, Music Dept., University of California Santa Cruz
"High Time"
Words by Robert Hunter; music by Jerry Garcia
Copyright Ice Nine Publishing; used by permission.

You told me goodbye
How was I to know
You didn't mean goodbye
You meant please don't let me go
I was having a high time
Living the good life
Well I know

The wheels are muddy
Got a ton of hay
Now listen here baby
'Cause I mean what I say
I'm having a high time
Living the good life
Well I know

I was losing time, I had nothing to do
No-one to fight, I came to you
Wheels broke down, leader won't draw
The line is busted, the last one I saw

Tomorrow comes trouble
Tomorrow comes pain
Now don't think too hard, baby
'Cause you know what I'm saying
I could show you a high time
Living the good life
Don't be that way

Nothing's for certain
It could always go wrong
Come in when it's raining
Go on out when it's gone
We could have us a high time
Living the good life
Well I know


"High Time"

Recorded on

Covered by Henry Kaiser on Eternity Blue.

First known performance: June 21, 1969, at the Fillmore East in New York City. "High Time" followed "Me and My Uncle" and preceded "China Cat Sunflower." Over the years, the song dropped in and out of the repertoire, never for more than six years, however.


DeadBase code: [HIGH]
First posted: January 30, 1996
Last revised: November 28, 2001