Okay, don't ask me why, but I think this song in particular brings us together. Some facts and the lyrics to come. The YouTube playlist will be on the first page as well as this one.
Basic facts
You can find this anywhere on the Web, but here's some basics on the "work"--it's not a song--from
http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=3005 .(I'll be posting a page for proper use of punctuation and syntax for online sources. For now, you get a link. The following is a complete quote AND NOT WRITTEN BY ME. You should know that you can download the entire thing for free, and I'll have to find that link again.
A Terrapin is a North American sea turtle, as opposed to a tortoise (freshwater) or a true turtle (saltwater). The Webster's dictionary entry is "Any of various edible North American web-footed turtles living in fresh or brackish water" - this includes the diamond back turtle. There is a legend that the Earth rests on the back of a turtle or tortoise. The turtle now appears even as a symbol of the entire universe (e.g. in China). (thanks, Laurie - Central, NY)
Robert Hunter wrote the words, Jerry Garcia wrote the music.
Hunter's new journal of September 24, 2001, contains this entry:
"After dark fell, I sat alone on the roof, fifteen stories high, of a building in Soho commanding a panoramic and unobstructed view of the skyscrapers of midtown Manhattan and the lights of the bridges. I had my guitar in hand and felt moved to sing "Terrapin Station" to the City. While I sang, rain began falling - I stood and edged around to the other side of the roof, still singing, to the corner of the roof facing the World Trade Center, some fifteen blocks away, where the sky is bright with floodlight illuminating the work of the excavation crew. A great plume of smoke continues to rise from the site of the devastation. As I sang, a powerful wind blew up very suddenly - wind so strong it threatened to rip my guitar out of my hands - reminding me of the storm in which I first composed the words I now sang. I wondered if I was involved in some kind of sacrilege, singing like this in the face of all that had gone down - the wind roaring increasingly louder and stronger, as though filled with spirits, as though trying to blow me over, make me stop. I kept singing until the end, repeating the "hold away despair," expressing all the sorrow I felt for the lost loved ones and for the healing of this magnificent and resilient City. I hope it helped. Helped me, anyway."
The lyrics contain references to quotes by Vincent Van Gogh, TS Elliot and Lewis Carroll. (thanks, Amy - Chicago, IL, for above 3)
This is based on a traditional Folk song called Lady With A Fan. Many of Hunter's songs have their roots in Folk music. (thanks, Eli - Birdsboro, PA)
