“Friend of the Devil”

Grateful Dead

ALBUM: American Beauty

1970

Songwriter(s): Jerry GarciaJohn Dawson and Robert Hunter 



I lit up from Reno

I was trailed by twenty hounds

Didn’t get to sleep that night

Till the morning came around

 

I set out running but I’ll take my time

A friend of the Devil is a friend of mine

If I get home before daylight

I just might get some sleep tonight

 

I ran into the Devil, babe

He loaned me twenty bills

I spent that night in Utah

In a cave up in the hills

 

I set out running but I take my time

A friend of the devil is a friend of mine

If I get home before daylight

I just might get some sleep tonight

 

I ran down to the levee

But the Devil caught me there

He took my twenty dollar bill

And he vanished in the air

 

I set out running but I take my time

A friend of the Devil is a friend of mine

If I get home before daylight

I just might get some sleep tonight

 

Got two reasons why I cry

Away each lonely night

The first one’s named sweet Anne Marie

And she’s my heart’s delight

Second one is prison, baby

The sheriff’s on my trail

And if he catches up with me

I’ll spend my life in jail

 

Got a wife in Chino, babe

And one in Cherokee

First one says she’s got my child

But it don’t look like me

 

I set out running but I take my time

A friend of the Devil is a friend of mine

If I get home before daylight

I just might get some sleep tonight

 

Got two reasons why I cry

Away each lonely night

The first one’s named sweet Anne Marie

And she’s my heart’s delight

Second one is prison, baby

The sheriff’s on my trail

And if he catches up with me

I’ll spend my life in jail

 

Got a wife in Chino, babe

The one in Cherokee

The first one says she’s got my child

But it don’t look like me

 

I set out running but I take my time

A friend of the Devil is a friend of mine

If I get home before daylight

I just might get some sleep tonight