Textual Representation - Cows Giving Kerosene

Robert Hunter is a genius.

Must be getting early
Clocks are running late
Paint by number morning sky
Looks so phony

Dawn is breaking everywhere
Light a candle, curse the glare
Draw the curtains
I don't care 'cause
It's all right

I will get by / I will get by
I will get by / I will survive

I see you've got your list out
Say your piece and get out
Yes I get the gist of it
but it's all right

Sorry that you feel that way
The only thing there is to say
Every silver lining's got a
Touch of grey

I will get by / I will get by
I will get by / I will survive

It's a lesson to me
The Ables and the Bakers and the C's
The ABC's we all must face
And try to keep a little grace

It's a lesson to me
The deltas and the east and the freeze
The ABC's we all think of
Try to give a little love.

I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
but it's all right.

Cows giving kerosene
Kid can't read at seventeen
The words he knows are all obscene
but it's all right

I will get by / I will get by
I will get by / I will survive

The shoe is on the hand it fits
There's really nothing much to it
Whistle through your teeth and spit
causeit's all right.

Oh well a Touch Of Grey
Kind of suits you anyway.
That was all I had to say
It's all right.

I will get by / I will get by
I will get by / I will survive
We will get by / We will get by
We will get by / We will survive

"This from Robert Hunter's online journal, January 8, 2006:

Flipping through a green hardbound 1980 notebook I come upon a run of pages in which I discover "Touch of Grey" - dozens of verses that gradually fall away until the familiar ones emerge. As I read, I'm not otherwise than the person who wrote it down. It's the blear light of dawn after being up all night. I sit at the kitchen table in a 16th Century house in rural England, turning what I feel into images, awash in that writing trance in which I spent, and spend, so much of my life; a place that doesn't have much relationship to the nominal time stream. If I could slip back physically and change anything, perhaps I'd rip out those pages. No getting the genie back in the bottle."

Wow. So Robert Hunter wishes he never wrote the Grateful Dead's only chart making song? Robert Hunter was responsible for giving the Grateful Dead a beautiful and metaphorical voice through story-telling. I have to relate you to Terrapin Station - one of the most beautiful story-telling songs that comments on it's own voice. But I digress...kind of. It's still relevant to your dead education.

Alternate Verses:
Even this is bound to pass
Not the first, you're not the last
Fortune smiles then turns away
but it's okay
When it goes from bad to worse
Not the last, you're not the first
Today's tomorrow yesterday
So what's to say?
I will get by
I will get by
I will survive
It's a lesson to me
The Ables, the Bakers and C's
The ABC's of the fast ball curve
Trying not to lose your nerve

The first refrain, "must be getting early... looks so phony," suggests how quickly the morning has crept upon them. It has a sort of "morning after" feel, where the party is winding down at dawn. There is a sense of contentment that the party has lasted this long, yet annoyance at the morning's onslaught. The clocks are running late suggests a certain disregard towards time. The paint by number morning sky is seen through hazy drunk and psychedelic glasses. For people who live mostly during the night, the morning sky could appear oddly colorful.
The second part, "dawn is breaking...it's alright," introduces the carefree and contented nature of the song. According to Robert Hunter, Jerry wrote the line "light a candle, curse the glare," in reference to a comment made by Adlai Stevenson about Eleanor Roosevelt's death, "she would rather light a candle than curse the darkness." (How did he come up with that?! How did he know that?!... amazing). Playing on that line creates a character opposite to that of Eleanor Roosevelt, who's compasion and good nature would never let her be angry at the night. The Dead however, could light candles after partying all night, and have the disposition to wish ill-will upon the dawn. But! It's alright.
I will get by, I will survive - is probably one of the most self-explanitory lyrics ever. Despite what may be, I will be ok. Peace and Love, man.
"I see you've got your list out... but it's alright," refers to what I mentioned earlier about anger. Hunter is confronted with passion or anger concering something, and he rolls it right off his shoulder like a water dropplet on a duck's wing. You can say what you want to me, but I'm at peace, everything's alright.
"Sorry that you feel that way...touch of grey," a play on the idiom, "Every cloud has a silver lining." Well, silver has a grey in it. This introduces a cycle of sorts, from cloud -> silver lining -> back to the grey of the cloud. Take it at face value. But! It's alright!
"It's a lesson...keep a little grace," Ables and the Baker's and the C's is a potential reference to military code at the time, now it's the known alpha, beta, charlie. "I'm not sure what it's about, either."
The next two verses focus on the problems people and society are facing. Making rent, caustic problems with the environment, schooling systems, could drive a person crazy with worry and struggle. Sometimes you have to step back and take a breath. Think of the big picture and your job at the moment. And as Jerry inspires me, have faith that everything will be alright.
The shoe is on the hand that fits? Well that doesn't make sense... exactly! Sometimes life doesn't always add up, but you have to grin and bear it and everything will turn out alright.
Oh well a touch of grey, kinda suits you anyway - sure, it could be about getting old, for that certainly does make sense. But it also could mean that it's ok to be sad sometimes. Your lining doesn't always have to shine silver.
The change at the end of the song in the chorus from "I will get by, I will survive," to "we will get by, we will survive," places emphasis on the communal aspect of the Grateful Dead's music. In their music business, trusting in their fans and playing for them, not focusing on CD sales, and in their personal philosophies of humanity.

"I'm not sure what it's about, either. But everybody seems to think it's about growing older and something like that, so I'll go along with that. It seems reasonable. I don't know whether Hunter meant that in the lyric or not, but for me, the song has turned into an anthem in this last tour. Everybody loves it. It doesn't matter what it originally meant anymore. It's acquired a meaning. Hopefully, it does mean different things to different people. I like to not tie things down, if possible. But it's a great song to sing. It's a great song to perform. It really works well. So from a musician's point of view, does the song have a life of its own? It has a life of its own, so it's a good choice."
- Jerry Garcia.

I think this takes some pressure off of Robert Hunter and the feelings he expressed. It might be heavy for him, but each person takes something else away from his words.