Yeah, That Everlovin' Funky Goddamned Resurrection Rag

 

In ruby light of a crescent moon

Calm in the aftermath of doom

Vines twine round

The slice of a knife

Flowers, seeds

Traces of life

A wind from the west

Plays flute on the holes

Of ash blue craters

Melody rolls

The voice of the song

So strangely like you

When the moon was white

And the sky was still blue

Resurrection Rag

The voice of the moon

I've heard it before

I remember the tune

Twelve crimson stars

Shining bright overhead

They shall make music

To wake the dead

With breath in our bodies

We sing the refrain

With flesh on our bones

We feel softness and pain

With hope in our hearts

With trust in our eyes

We arise

We have risen

We arise

We have risen

We arise

Robert C. Christie Hunter (born Robert Burns; June 23, 1941 – September 23, 2019) was an American lyricist, singer-songwriter, translator, and poet, best known for his work with the Grateful Dead. Born near San Luis Obispo, California, Hunter spent some time in his childhood in foster homes, as a result of his father's abandoning his family, and took refuge in reading and writing. He attended the University of Connecticut for a year before returning to Palo Alto, where he became friends with Jerry Garcia. Garcia and Hunter began a collaboration that lasted through the remainder of Garcia's life.

In George R R Martin's novel Armageddon Rag, The Nazgûl sing very different lyrics at their reunion concert:

This is the day we've dreamed about

This is the land where flowers grow

And all my hopes I'm bringing

Oh, don't you hear the singing

And all my dreams I'm bringing

Well, can't you hear the singing

And all my pain I'm bringing

And I'm joining in that singing

They're playing the resurrection rag, oh

Playing that resurrection rag

Yeah, that everlovin' funky goddamned resurrection rag