the Eleven

"The Eleven"
Song by Grateful Dead
Album	Live/Dead
Released	November 10 1969
Recorded	1969
Genre	Psychedelic rock Jam
Length	9:18
Label	Warner Bros.
Writer	Robert Hunter
Composer	Phil Lesh
Producer	Grateful Dead Bob Matthews Betty Cantor
Live/Dead track listing
St. Stephen (2) "The Eleven" (3) Turn on Your Lovelight (4)

"The Eleven" is a song by American psychedelia-influenced rock band The Grateful Dead. It was written by long-time lyricist Robert Hunter and bassist Phil Lesh.

The song was first released into the general public via the Grateful Dead's seminal live album, Live/Dead; however, it was performed live various times before as evidenced by the collection So Many Roads (1965-1995). It was noted among deadheads for being capable of producing exceptional jamming with its eponymous musical meter.^[1] It would often achieve its jam potential by being segued together with songs like "Dark Star" (another song famous for its spontaneity and being the Grateful Dead's signature song^[2]) and "Saint Stephen".

Lyrics

The lyrics to the song were recurrently sung out of place or changed grammatically, and some of them were in fact missing from performances. Bob Weir and Phil Lesh would often sing from the two uppermost paragraphs, while Jerry Garcia sang fragments from the bottom paragraph. Some of the lyrics allude to biblical stories such as Jonah. Other lyrics echo passages from other songs in the Grateful Dead lineup.

No more time to tell how

This is the season of what

Now is the time of returning

With thought jewels polished and gleaming

Now is the time past believing

The child has relinquished the reign

Now is the test of the boomerang

Tossed in the night of redeeming

Eight sided whispering hallelujah hatrack

Seven faced marble eye transitory dream doll

Six proud walkers on jinglebell rainbow

Five men writing in fingers of gold

Four men tracking down the great white sperm whale

Three girls wait in a foreign dominion

Ride in the whale belly

Fade away in moonlight

Sink beneath the waters to the coral sand below

Now is the time of returning

See also

• Dark Star
• Musical improvisation

Notes

External links

• Dead.net, the official site of the Grateful Dead

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