Words by Robert Hunter; music by Jerry Garcia.
("Ripple" composed and written by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter. Reproduced by arrangement with Ice Nine Publishing Co., Inc. (ASCAP))
And my tunes were played on the harp unstrung
Would you hear my voice come through the music
Would you hold it near as it were your own?
It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken
Perhaps they're better left unsung
I don't know, don't really care
Let there be songs to fill the air
Ripple in still water
When there is no pebble tossed
Nor wind to blow
Reach out your hand if your cup be empty
If your cup is full may it be again
Let it be known there is a fountain
That was not made by the hands of men
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
(Chorus)
You who choose to lead must followBut 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
I really do not know why that is so very central. I hear those words often in my head. I go to write and those are the words that spill forth.
I think at times I was touched by an unseen force and altered in a way that can not be explained. The universe and my perceptions of it forever bent. And then with the past and growing up and the cultivation of the self. How different would those words be on a tabla rosa. If the slate were blank when they were written on the soul. Instead imposed and altered by the self.
