Scarlet Begonias?

Question

Has anyone heard this song "Scarlet Begonias" by the Grateful Dead? If so, what is it about? So many people have so many different views about what this song is about. Is it about love, or the one that got away, or the one you let go?

Answer 1

I think it was the one he let go without ever even trying for; he thought about it,
"but I might as well try
Might as well try. "
but as he watched her
"She was too pat to open and
too cool to bluff" and he decided that
"As I picked up my matches and
was closing the door
I had one of those flashes:
I'd been there before--
been there before."

If you haven't seen it there is a website that has lots of thoughts about this song --The Annotated "Scarlet Begonias" at http://arts.ucsc.edu/gdead/agdl/scarlet.html

Hope this helps

Answer 2

IMO: Love at first sight comes to a man walking down the street and he follows her home. He tries figuring her out and realizes she's not that type. However, on the way out the door he suddenly has a flash of insight that this woman who he thought was so different from all the other women he had met was just another one night stand. He's a realist who knows there aren't always happy endings, but it's okay because he's leaving with new insight.

Scarlet Begonias has been covered quite often. The most famous covers are by Sublime on their album 40 Oz. to Freedom and Phish. The song has also been covered by Jimmy Buffett on his album License to Chill and by Bruce Hornsby in concert.



Scarlet Begonias

Lyrics: Robert Hunter
Music: Jerry Garcia

As I was walking round Grosvenor Square
Not a chill to the winter but a nip to the air
From the other direction she was calling my eye (note 1)
It could be an illusion, but I might as well try
Might as well try

She had rings on her fingers and bells on her shoes
And I knew without asking she was into the blues
She wore scarlet begonias, tucked into her curls
I knew right away she was not like other girls
Other girls

In the thick of the evening when the dealing got rough (note 2)
She was too pat to open and too cool to bluff
As I picked up my matches and was closing the door
I had one of those flashes I had been there before
Been there before

Well I ain't often right but I've never been wrong
It seldom turns out the way it does in the song
Once in a while you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right

Well there ain't nothing wrong with the way she moves
Scarlet begonias or a touch of the blues
And there's nothing wrong with the look that's in her eyes (note 3) (note 4)
I had to learn the hard way to let her pass by
Let her pass by

The wind in the willows playing Tea for Two (note 5)
The sky was yellow and the sun was blue
Strangers stopping strangers just to shake their hand
Everybody is playing in the heart of gold band
Heart of gold band

Answer 3

It's about two dopers who drive across the nation in a micro-minibus, selling drugs to school age children's and eventually get arrested by the super cops.