I probably heard Garcia sing this song 25-30 times at various concerts over the years, and I never failed to be impressed by the similarities between the two stories. There are certain eerie similarities: the passerby stopped by a down-and-out character, the wild yet true story of how the unfortunate came to be there, and especially the way in which the passerby is moved by the tale to examine his own life in light of what the down-and-out tells him. Hunter is a highly literate person (witness the Dame Edith Sitwell references in China Cat), and the story in this song always struck me as being remarkably similar in context to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the text of which can be found at: Your annotations are excellent, but I am wondering if this thought ever occurred to anyone else. It is a testimonial to the lasting effect of the Dead on the world that their music continues to inspire such animated discussion seven years after Garcia's unfortunate demise. Your site is absolutely awesome - keep up the good work, brother. Was reading something today and remembered a link I've always thought of - Wharf Rat and 'The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner' - mostly in the narrative device of storytelling. Have been through many times over the years. These notes on a possible overall similarity/influence on the piece from two readers: From: David Callaway Friday, Aug1:33 PM Their motto is'One show at a time.' They put out a newsletter, and may be reached at: P.O. 1836 Franklin Repository (Chambersburg, PA) 4 Oct 1/3 'I've an idea, my man, that you are one of the wharf rats and, if so, the less lip yougive me the better.'Īdditionally, the Wharf Rats are the name of a group of loosely-organized sober Deadheads,patterning themselves roughly on the Alcoholics Anonymous model of a twelve-step program tomaintain sobriety in the often slippery atmosphere of a Grateful Dead concert. a vagrant or petty criminal who haunts wharves. Wharf rat.(b)one who is frequently found on or near wharves, esp. Goode,' 'Loser,' and 'Playing in the Band.' It remained in the repertoire thereafter.įrom the Dictionary of Americanisms: 2. 'Wharf Rat' appeared in the first set, sandiwched between two segments of 'Dark Star.' Other firsts in the show included 'Bertha,' 'Greatest Story Ever Told,' 'Johnny B. 'Wharf Rat'Hunter has posted a page from the mansucript for 'Wharf Rat.'įirst performance: February 18, 1971, at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, NY. Words by Robert Hunter Music by Jerry GarciaĬopyright Ice Nine Publishing used by permission. Research Associate, Music Dept., University of California Santa Cruz

We're all passionate Welsh people who love our country.The Annotated 'Wharf Rat' 'I'll get up and fly away.fly away.' The Annotated 'Wharf Rat'An installment in The Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics. The song is very poignant to what we're all about. We played it everyday before training and on the coach, and that's something we've got now as our anthem. Page said this week: 'Yma o Hyd, that's a massive anthem for us now. However, its use ahead of Wales games at Cardiff City Stadium is actually a relatively new phenomenon.Ĭonnor Roberts and Chris Gunter are big fans of the song, with Rob Page recently revealing that it was the latter who played a big part in its introduction to the Welsh national team set-up. Now, it's recently become something of an unofficial anthem for the Welsh national football team, with the Football Association of Wales recently inviting Iwan himself to sing the song ahead of the team's World Cup play-off win over Austria on Thursday. Back in 2020 the track even got to the top of the UK iTunes chart. The influence of what is Iwan's finest work, as a musician anyway, has also grown alongside the Welsh independence movement, where it unsurprisingly strikes a chord, but even outside the nationalist movement it remains popular. Read more: Welsh football fans left legendary folk singer Dafydd Iwan in tears 38 years after he wrote it Recently, it has also become a part of Cardiff City's pre-match preparations, and is often played alongside the equally iconic 'Men of Harlech', which greets the Bluebirds players as they walk out on to the pitch. Dafydd Iwan's 'Yma o Hyd' has been a familiar anthem to Welsh speakers for some time, but has firmly moved into the mainstream in recent years, and sport has had a big part to play in its popularity.Ī song about the survival of Welsh culture and language, it has been a mainstay of pre-match festivities at the Scarlets and Wrexham AFC for some time, and has also been heard at Welsh international rugby matches.

New lands lyrics meaning