"Hard Times Come Again No More," (sometimes, "Hard Times") is an American parlor song written by Stephen Foster. It was published in New York by Firth, Pond & Co. in 1854 as Foster's Melodies No. 28. Well-known and popular in its day,[1] both in America and Europe,[2][3] the song asks the fortunate to consider the plight of the less fortunate and ends with one of Foster's favorite images: "a pale drooping maiden".
The first audio recording was a wax cylinder by the Edison Company (Edison Gold Moulded 9120) in 1905. It has been recorded and performed numerous times since. The song is Roud Folk Song Index #2659.
A satirical version about soldier's food was popular in the American Civil War, Hard Tack Come Again No More.
1.
Let us pause in life's pleasures and count its many tears,
While we all sup sorrow with the poor;
There's a song that will linger forever in our ears;
Oh hard times come again no more.
Chorus:
Tis the song, the sigh of the weary,
Hard Times, hard times, come again no more
Many days you have lingered around my cabin door;
Oh hard times come again no more.
2.
While we seek mirth and beauty and music light and gay,
There are frail forms fainting at the door;
Though their voices are silent, their pleading looks will say
Oh hard times come again no more.
Chorus
3.
There's a pale drooping maiden who toils her life away,
With a worn heart whose better days are o'er:
Though her voice would be merry, 'tis sighing all the day,
Oh hard times come again no more.
Chorus
4.
Tis a sigh that is wafted across the troubled wave,
Tis a wail that is heard upon the shore
Tis a dirge that is murmured around the lowly grave
Oh hard times come again no more.
Chorus
.
It's always refreshing to see a young artist at the top of their game not taking shit from no-one. And being brilliant.
Today it is just doing or saying something outrageous to get on a tweet or twitter.
Artists back then were aware of the press.
Many used it to their advantage.
The early Beatles come to mind.
But many didn't.
And yet the creme rose to the top.
Can you imagine the Grateful Dead trying to make it in a twitter age?
'
Unfortunately those days are gone.
And buying what he has in his hand is a gamble.
There are so many fraudsters out there.
I've yet to see an Acid Test item I have really wanted.
Those handbills don't excite me. And there is a few others.
But there is always new stuff that shows up.
Kesey's original bus I believe is just rusting outside in Oregon.
Anyway.
I don't advocate drug use.
But taking LSD at a Grateful Dead concert..........
Well Garcia died in 95.
I do sort of feel for the straight people who never got to experience that ride.
Heading out on the Road. In America. Young. No place to go but experiences. And at the end of it was three Grateful Dead concerts. Or nine. And maybe one of them had some Lysergic Acid involved. hehehe......
I'm 45 and haven't taken LSD since I was in college.
But suffice it to say it was an eye opening experience(s). I'd never do it again, but I don't need to.
Those times were incredible. From 16-22.
.
I had never seen the video of Weir talking about the BG....
I have never really researched the BG much.
But I will say.
If Weir is knocking drinks back - then it isn't very exclusive. Beyond what some people may say.
The interview with Kesey is interesting.
Robert Hunter - the main lyricist of the Dead - was also part of those early 60's LSD experiments/tests. By the Government.
In my opinion.......
The Gov gave up on this stuff relatively early.
It is too unpredictable.
And they didn't invent it.
Ultimately they outlawed it.
Should it be illegal?
Should people be thrown in jail for taking heroin, coke, LSD etc.?
The drug war has obviously failed.
But LSD is a very powerful drug.
Not addictive.
But the dose is everything and when you are dealing with micrograms it is very......unknown.
People can create a sheet of blotter in a lab and some of the doses may be very potent while others not.
I was always incredibely careful when I took the stuff.
When buddies were taking two hits I was taking a half of one and waiting an hour to see the effects.
That is the great thing and also the scary thing about it.
It is very powerful.
And ultimately you are in someone elses hands when you do it.
You aren't taking clinical doses. Just something you buy from a dude. That you don't know. And if you do know him - well he got it from someone you don't know.
It is a very interesting drug.
I was just reading a few days ago about Synesthesia.
The mixing of the senses. It seems to hit artists more.
And some have indentified it to be like being on a LSD trip without the high.
Pretty incredible brain stuff.
Billy Joel has it.
But LSD is powerful.
And the Government realized early on that it was not usable for any of their purposes.
Powerful and unpredictable.
Whether it was banned because pretty much all other mind altering drugs were also illegal at the time......
Or other reasons. Well who knows.
It had a major impact on artists and culture in the 60's.
Once you do it. Well you never forget it.
When the sleigh is heavy
And the timber wolves are getting bold
You look at your companions
And test the water of their friendship with your toe
And they significantly edge
Closer to the gold
Each man has his price Bob
And yours was pretty low
Now history is short
The sun is just a minor star
The poor man sells his kidneys in some colonial bazaar
Que sera sera
Is that your new Ferrari car
Nice, but I think I'll wait for the F50
You don't have to be a Jew
To disapprove of murder
Tears burn my eyes
Moslem or Christian, Mullah or Pope
Preacher or poet, who was it wrote
Give any one species too much rope
And they'll f*** it up
And last night on TV
A Vietnam vet takes his beard and his pain
And his alienation twenty years
Back to Asia again
Sees the monsters they made
In formaldehyde floating 'round
Meets a gook on a bike
A good little tyke
With the same soldier's eyes
What does it mean
This tearjerking scene
Beamed into my home
That it moves me so much
Why all the fuss
It's only two humans being
It's only two humans being
Tears burn in my eyes
What does it mean
This tender TV
This tearjerking scene beamed into my home
And you don't have to be a Jew
To disapprove of murder
Tears burn my eyes
Moslem or Christian, Mullah or Pope
Preacher or poet, who was it wrote
Give any one species too much rope
And they'll f*** it up