To make the motion more complete
Just to make it more a treat
Love will show us where to go
Come on down and see the show
When the rhythm's really right
You can burn it down tonight
When the singing's really fine
Sweet as Spanish sherry wine

When the club can't contain the heat
It just rolls out in the street
Spills on down the avenue
Bringing dancers to their feet
When it's good as it can be
It gets better, wait and see
These folks don't never sleep
Till they're passed out in the street

Way down in the south of France
All the ladies love to dance
Clap their hands and walk on air
Yeah, the feeling's really there
Won't you take a little taste
Raise it to your charming face?
When the rhythm's really right
You can burn it down tonight

When the singing's really fine
Sweet as Spanish sherry wine
Go on, take a chance
The ladies do love to dance

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Sail away from yesterday
Anywhere except tomorrow
Where the people got no heart
Only live to tend and borrow
I don't really need to know
What they've got upon their mind
When they're coming on so low
Never treat each other kind

Hit me easy where I live
I'm no victim to the blues
I just want to stick around
If you help me through the night
I will try to treat you right
Love me, I will love you, too
Nothing else I'd rather do

Down in the south of France
Ladies do the shadow dance
Kick their feet up in the air
Snap their fingers for romance
While the gentlemen compare
Locks of straight and curly hair
Check the motion and the smile
Sense of rhythm and the style

When the rhythm's really right
You can dance away the night
When the rhythm's really fine
Rare and sweet as vintage wine
Play it on the carousel
Where the ponies run pell-mell
They don't run to get away
They just like to run that way

In the quiet of the night
Does your lover treat you right?
Well, just turn to her and say
Love, I love it just this way
Give her roses, maybe jewels
Learn to play it by the rules
Once you know it's true romance
Go ahead and take a chance

All I really want is you
No one else will really do
Taste of lilac in the air
Scent of perfume in your hair
Sail, oh, sail away with me
Out across the seventh sea
With that silver-dollar moon
And a hurdy-gurdy tune

Down in the south of France
All the ladies love to dance
Clap their hands and walk on air
When the feeling's really there
Make that magic in my heart
From the finish to the start
Never take your love away
It grows sweeter day by day

When the rhythm's really right
You can dance away the night
When the rhythm's really fine
Rare and sweet as vintage wine
Nothing else I'd rather do
Than to spend the night with you
Nothing else I'd rather do
Nothing else I'd rather do
 

"'France' was written to tapes of a joyous afternoon Latin jam at Mickey Hart's ranch, the same jam that spawned 'Molly Dee' and 'Northeast by West'. It was recorded by the Dead with
abbreviated lyrics and a very different feel. The first four and a half verses above appear on the album Shakedown Street."
-- Robert Hunter 

Nothin' shakin' on Shakedown Street
used to be the heart of town
Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart
You just gotta poke around

You say you've seen this town clear through
(Well, well, well--you can never tell)
Nothin' here that would interest you
(Well, well, well--you can never tell)
It's not because you missed out
on the thing we had to start
maybe you had too much too fast
maybe you had too much too fast
maybe you had too much too fast
and just overplayed your part

Since I'm passing your way today
(Well, well, well--you can never tell)
I just stopped in 'cause I want to say
(Well, well, well--you can never tell)
I recall your darkness
when it crackled like a thunder cloud
don't tell me this town ain't got no heart
don't tell me this town ain't got no heart
don't tell me this town ain't got no heart
when I can hear it beat out loud

Nothin' shakin' on Shakedown Street
used to be the heart of town
Don't tell me this town ain't got no heart
You just gotta poke around 

Fire--Fire on the mountain
Fire--Fire on the mountain

Almost aflame, still you don't feel the heat
Takes all you got just to stay on the beat
You say it's a living, we all gotta eat
but you're here alone, there's no one to compete
If mercy's a business I wish it for you
More than just ashes when your dreams come true

Fire--Fire on the mountain
Fire--Fire on the mountain

Baby's in scrarlet, her shackles in gray
If loves to love she's got it salted away
Out of the rat trap and under the wire
Out of the frying pan and into the fire
Put it down heavy, strip it down lean
Got to lay it down dirty and play it back clean

Fire--Fire on the mountain
Fire--Fire on the mountain

Fire--Fire on the mountain
Fire--Fire on the mountain

Long-distance runner, what you holding out for?
Caught in slow motion in a dash for the door
The flame from your stage has now spread to the floor
You gave all you had, why you wanta give more?
The more that you give, the more it will take
to the thin line beyond which you really cannot fake

There's a fire
Fire on the mountain
Fire--
Fire on the mountain
 

"Written at Mickey Hart's ranch in heated inspiration as the surrounding hills blazed and the fire approached the recording studio where we were working; verses three and four don't appear in the Grateful Dead recording of this song, but lines five and six of verse three became one of our mottoes, along with 'Record More Than You Erase'." - Robert Hunter 

Baio, Baio, tell me how can this be? 
You arrest the girls for turning tricks
but you're scared of Staggerlee
Staggerlee is a madman and he shot my Billy dead
Baio you go get him or give the job to me

Delia DeLyon, dear sweet Delia-D
How the hell can I arrest him when he's twice as big as me? 
Don't ask me to go downtown -- I wouldn't come back alive
Not only is that mother big but he packs a .45

As Staggerlee lit a cigarette she shot him in the balls
Blew the smoke off her revolver, had him dragged to city hall
Baio, Baio, see you hang him high
He shot my Billy dead and now he's got to die

Delia went a-walking down Singapore Street
A three-piece band on the corner played "Nearer My God to Thee" but Delia whistled a different tune . . . what tune could it be? 

The song that woman sung was Look out Staggerlee
The song that Delia sung was Look out Staggerlee
The song that woman sung was Look out Staggerlee
The song that Delia sung was Look out Staggerlee 

If I had a song to sing
I'd give it to you--long as you live
Lullaby--or maybe a plain serenade
wouldn't you laugh, dance, and cry
or be afraid at the trade you made?

I may not have the world to give to you
but maybe I have a tune or two
Only if you let me be your world
could I ever give this world to you
could I ever give this world to you

If I had a star to give
I'd give it to you--long as you live
Would you have the time
to watch it shine--watch it shine
or ask for the moon and heaven too?
I'd give it to you

Maybe I've got no star to spare
or anything fine or even rare
Only if you let me be your world
would I ever give this world to you
could I ever give this world to you