Dead Songs in Depth

    
Dire Wolf
w: Hunter m: Garcia
AGDL: http://arts.ucsc.edu/gdead/agdl/direwolf.html
LASF: http://www.whitegum.com/songfile/DIREWOLF.HTM
  

    
Dire Wolf 
Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia

Copyright Ice Nine Publishing; used by permission.

In the timbers of Fennario the wolves are running round
The winter was so hard and cold, froze ten feet 'neath the ground

Chorus:
Don't murder me, I beg of you don't murder me
Please don't murder me

I sat down to supper, 'twas a bottle of red whiskey
I said my prayers and went to bed, that's the last they saw of me
[chorus]

When I awoke, the dire wolf, six hundred pounds of sin
Was grinning at my window, all I said was "Come on in"
[chorus]

The wolf came in, I got my cards, we sat down for a game
I cut my deck to the queen of spades but the cards were all the same 
[chorus]

In the back-wash of Fennario, the black and bloody mire
The dire wolf collects his due while the boys sing round the fire 
[chorus]
  

    
Posted on behalf of Matt O'Neill:

David,
 
I am particularly fond of the song "Dire Wolf" and have enjoyed
reading your annotations to it. The section on "Red Whiskey" got me
thinking about other possible explanations to the term besides the very
eloquent one offered by "David" on your website (which I happen to
think is very plausible and even quite possible). I have two ideas,
first, "Red Whiskey" could be referring to the mixed drink by that name
whose ingredients include: sloe gin, whiskey and lemon juice (the sloe
gin gives the drink a red hue due to the gin being flavored with sloe
berries  - the fruit of the blackthorn - which give off a deep red
color). A second possible explanation of the term "Red Whiskey" is that
perhaps Johnnie Walker Red Label whiskey which is the worlds most
common whiskey (a purported favorite of Winston Churchill when mixed
with soda - but I digress) could have been the term used to describe
"their whiskey" or "a whiskey of quality" or even the band's "favorite
whiskey." I would love to know what you think about either idea. 
 
Cheers,
 
Matt
 
Matthew C. O'Neill
  

    
Could be, sloe gin and scotch has been called a red whiskey. Or maybe
"red" fitted the rhythm scheme best.
  

    
There's also the old term "red-eyed whiskey" that my grandpa used in
his drinking days.