Grateful Dead - St. Stephen Lyrics

Saint Stephen with a rose
In and out of the garden he goes
Country garland in the wind and the rain
Wherever he goes, the people all complain

Stephen prospered in his time
Well he may and he may decline
Did it matter, does it now?
Stephen would answer, if he only knew how

Wishing well with a golden bell
Bucket hanging clear to hell
Hell halfway, twixt now and then
Stephen fill it up and lower down and lower down again

Lady finger, dipped in moonlight
Writing, "What for?" across the morning sky
Sunlight splatters, dawn with answer
Darkness shrugs and bids the day goodbye

Speeding arrow, sharp and narrow
What a lot of fleeting matters you have spurned
Several seasons with their treasons
Wrapped the babe in scarlet covers, call it your own

Did he doubt or did he try?
Answers aplenty in the bye and bye
Talk about your plenty, talk about your ills
One man gathers what another man spills

Saint Stephen will remain
All he lost he shall regain
Seashore walk by the suds and the foam
Been there so long, he's got to calling it home

Fortune comes a calling, calliope woman
Spinning that curious sense of your own
Can you answer? Yes I can
But what would be the answer to the answer-man?

High green chilly winds and windy vines
In loops around the twining shafts of lavender
They're crawling to the sun

Wonder who will water all the children of the garden
When they sigh about the barren lack of rain
And droop so hungry 'neath the sky

Underfoot the ground is patched
With climbing arms of ivy wrapped around the manzanita
Stark and shiny in the breeze

William Tell has stretched his bow
'Til it won't stretch no furthermore
And or it may require a change that hasn't come before