Second to last song off of the Stand Up album to debut live, this song only clocks at 1:57 on the studio album but averaged 7:30 on its debut tour. All time, this song holds the record for highest ratio of album length to average live length (4.29). It is one of the more recent songs in DMB history to feature extensive live instrumental solos (violin, guitar, horn) not present on the album version.
Lyrically, although there are few lyrics, a general theme can be derived through the following evidence:
1) War theme: Album version features gunfire/war sounds
2) Matrimony/Lovers theme: "She said... yeah"
3) Soldier going off to war:
5.27.07 Alternate Lyrics4) Unwilling distance separation of lovers:
6.7.05 Improv Jam lyrics,
7.27.05 Two Step Intro lyrics.
It was played most extensively in the
2005 Summer Tour. The
2006 Summer Tour saw the song transition into being played almost exclusively in the encore 1 slot. The song then went missing in 2008 through the Summer of 2010 where it made a one-time return after 251 shows and 1016 days and also seeing a couple of plays during the 2011 caravan shows.
The longest version to date was played during the 4th night of the historic 2005 Red Rocks run on
9.12.2005 with only a handful of future versions ever coming close on time.
Other notable performances and references include:
7.20.05 - First time played.
8.21.05 - First time played with guest performers (Rashawn Ross and Eric Krasno)
9.23.06 - Towards the end of the song, a man in a trench coat sneaked through back-stage security and stumbled on stage and was tackled by security.
5.25.07 - Tom Morello guests on an epic 10 minute version
5.27.07 - Alternate lyrics included
10.02.07 - cross-segues directly into Grey Street
9.29.07 - Bass-line extended through a segue into the Ants Marching Intro (also see 10.1.07)
6.10.06 - First time played in the encore.
8.27.10 - First time played in 251 shows, 1016 days. First time played with Tim Reynolds.
9.05.10 - Lyrically interpolated by Dave during Lying in the Hands of God outro
9.02.11 - First time song segued into American Baby.
Other facts (as of 2012)
-Butch Taylor and LeRoi Moore have played on 50 out of 53 versions
-Rashawn Ross has played on 34 out of 53 versions.
-Eric Krasno and Tom Morello are the only non-band guests to have played on the song (aside from Rashawn Ross during his non–band-member guesting period in 2005).