The Grateful Dead - Mexicali Blues

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★ Verse 1 ★
Laid back in an old saloon with a peso in my hand
Watching flies and children on the street
And I catch a glimpse of black-eyed girls who giggle when I smile
There's a little boy who wants to shine my feet
And it's three days ride from Bakersfield and I don't know why I came
I guess I came to keep from paying dues
So instead I've got a bottle and a girl who's just fourteen
And a damn good case of the Mexicali Blues, yeah

★ Chorus ★
Is there anything a man don't stand to lose
When the devil wants to take it all away?
Cherish well your thoughts, and keep a tight grip on your booze
'Cause thinkin' and drinkin' are all I have today

★ Verse 2 ★
She said her name was Billie Jean and she was fresh in town
I didn't know a stage line ran from Hell
She had raven hair, a ruffled dress, a necklace made of gold
All the French perfume you'd care to smell
She took me up into her room and whispered in my ear
"Go on, my friend, do anything you choose"
Now I'm payin' for those happy hours I spent there in her arms
With a lifetime's worth of the Mexicali Blues, yeah

★ Chorus ★
Is there anything a man don't stand to lose
When the devil wants to take it all away?
Cherish well your thoughts, and keep a tight grip on your booze
'Cause thinkin' and drinkin' are all I have today

★ Instrumental Break ★

★ Verse 3 ★
And then a man rode into town, some thought he was the law
Billie Jean was waiting when he came
She told me he would take her, if I didn't use my gun
But I'd have no one but myself to blame
I went down to those dusty streets, blood was on my mind
I guess that stranger hadn't heard the news
'Cause I shot first and killed him, Lord, he didn't even draw
Now I'm spending my lifetime running with the Mexicali Blues, yeah

★ Outro ★
Is there anything a man don't stand to lose
When he lets a woman hold him in her hands?
You just might find yourself out there on horseback in the dark
Just riding and running across those desert sands, yeah

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The Grateful Dead

Amidst the growing counter-culture scene in the San Francisco Bay Area, The Grateful Dead were founded by lead guitarist/vocalist Jerry Garcia, bass player Phil Lesh, rhythm guitarist Bob Weir, keyboardist Ron “Pigpen” McKernan, and drummer Bill Kreutzmann in Palo Alto in 1965, originally as The Warlocks. Percussionist Mickey Hart later joined the group in 1967 and other members cycled through the group in following years as the core remained intact. Their eclectic music formed the archetype for the “Jam Band” genre, combining elements from rock, blues, folk, country, bluegrass, and psychedelic music into improvisational performances.

Over the years the Dead released 22 recorded albums, although they were most famous for their improvisational jams at concerts, earning them a cult-like following of self-proclaimed “Dead Heads” who would follow the band from concert-to-concert throughout the band’s career.

The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and they’ve sold more than 40 million albums in total; all that with only one top 40 hit (“Truckin”), and one Top 10 hit (“Touch of Grey”) that came near the end of the band’s run, shortly before Jerry Garcia’s death in 1995. Grateful Dead was also ranked 57th in Rolling Stone’s “The Greatest Artists of All Time” issue in 2004 and 2005. Since then, various incarnations of the Dead have continued to tour, although a 2015 farewell tour was said to be the band’s last.

In 2015 Bob Weir, Mickey Hart, and Bill Kreutzmann started a new group called Dead and Company with John Mayer, Allman Brothers bassist Oteil Burbridge, and former Dead keyboardist Jeff Chimenti which Weir has said may have a future in the studio and will continue to tour in coming years.

In 2008, The Grateful Dead named the University of California, Santa Cruz McHenry Library as the home of their complete archival history, including their recorded music, live bootlegs, and artworks. The collections are are now housed at UC Santa Cruz.