Robert Hunter

Robert C. Hunter was the primary lyricist on Grateful Dead albums from until the band formally retired the name with the death of Jerry Garcia.

(1968)

• Oh no well I / been there before / and I ain't a comin back around / there no more / no I'm not
  • "Alligator" (with )

(1969)

• Shall we go, you and I, while we can? Through... the transitive nightfall of diamonds
  • "Dark Star"

(1969)

• When I was just a little young boy, Papa said "Son, you'll never get far, I'll tell you the reason if you want to know, 'cause child of mine, there isn't really very far to go."
  • "Dupree's Diamond Blues"

(1970)

• See here how everything leads up to this day. And it's just like any other day that's ever been. Sun going up and then, the sun, it going down. Shine through my window, and my friends they come around.
  • "Black Peter"

• Well, the first days are the hardest days, don't you worry anymore. When life looks like Easy Street there is danger at your door.
  • "Uncle John's Band"

• Ain't no time to hate, barely time to wait
  • "Uncle John's Band"

• 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"

• Trouble ahead, Trouble behind, and you know that notion just crossed my mind
  • "Casey Jones"

American Beauty (1970)

• There is a road, no simple highway, between the dawn and the dark of night. And if you go, no one may follow. That path is for your steps alone.
  • "Ripple"

• You who choose to lead must follow, But if you fall, you fall alone, If you should stand then who's to guide you? If I knew the way I would take you home
  • "Ripple"

• Lovers come and go, the river roll, roll, roll.
  • "Brokedown Palace"

• Such a long, long time to be gone, and a short time to be here.
  • "Box of Rain"

• In the secret space of dreams, Where I dreaming lay amazed, When the secrets all are told, And the petals all unfold. When there was no dream of mine, You dreamed of me
  • "Attics of My Life"

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

(1973)

• It seems like all this life was just a dream
  • "Stella Blue"

• Wake up to find out that you are the eyes of the world, but the heart has its beaches, its homeland, and thoughts of its own. Wake now, discover that you are the song that the morning brings, but the heart has its seasons its evenings, and songs of its own
  • "Eyes of the World"

• Sometimes we live no particular way but our own
  • "Eyes of the World"

(1974)

• I like your smile but I ain't your type, Don't shake the tree when the fruit ain't ripe
  • "Loose Lucy"

• Once in a while, you get shown the light, in the strangest of places, if you look at it right.
  • "Scarlet Begonias"

• I won't slave for beggar's pay, likewise gold and jewels, but I would slave to learn the way, to sink your ship of fools.
  • "Ship of Fools"

(1975)

• In another time's forgotten space, your eyes looked through your mother's face, Wildflower seed on the sand and stone, may the four winds blow you safely home. Roll away ... the dew
  • "Franklin's Tower"

• Crippled but free, I was blind all the time I was learning to see.
  • "Help on the Way"

(1977)

• Let my inspiration flow, in token lines suggesting rhythm, that will not forsake me, till my tale is told and done
  • "Lady With a Fan"

• The storyteller makes no choice, soon you will not hear his voice, his job is to shed light, and not to master
  • "Lady With a Fan"

• Inspiration, move me brightly, light the song with sense and color, hold away despair
  • "Terrapin Station"

• While you were gone, these spaces filled with darkness. The obvious was hidden. With nothing to believe in. The compass always points to Terrapin.
  • "At A Siding"

(1980)

• Ain't nobody messin' with you but you
  • "Althea"

• There are things you can replace, and others you cannot. The time has come to weigh those things, this space is getting hot.
  • "Althea"

(1989)

• But never give your love, my friend, Unto a foolish heart
  • "Foolish Heart"

• There are times when you get hit upon, Try hard but you cannot give. Other times you'd gladly part, With what you need to live
  • "Built to Last"

• Don't waste the breath to save your face, When you have done your best, And even more is asked of you, Let fate decide the rest.
  • "Built to Last"

Unsourced

• Sit back picture yourself swooping up a shell of purple with foam crests of crystal drops soft nigh they fall unto the sea of morning creep-very-softly mist...and then sort of cascade tinkley-bell like (must I take you by the hand, every so slowly type) and then conglomerate suddenly into a peal of silver vibrant uncomprehendingly, blood singingly, joyously resoundingbells....By my faith if this be insanity, thenfor the love of God permit me to remain insane.

• I see more of what leadership is about, in the absence of it. It's an instinct for good ideas. An aversion to bad ones. Compromise on indifferent ones. Power is another matter. Power is not leadership but coercion. People follow leaders because they want to.