"What is the secret of this time of mine?"

The Annotated "The Stranger (Two Souls in Communion)"

An installment in The Annotated Grateful Dead Lyrics.
By David Dodd
Copyright notice; © 1995-2003, David Dodd
"The Stranger (Two Souls in Communion)"
Words and music by Ron McKernan [?]
Copyright Ice Nine Publishing; used by permission

What are they seeing, when they look in each other's eyes?
What are they feeling, when they see each other smile?
Is it love, I don't know - or an emotion that I've outgrown?

Did I take a wrong turn on life's winding road?
Won't somebody help me find the right way to go?
My life need some correction, alteration in [and?] direction.
Won't somebody stand by [comfort?] me - yes, I'm lost, yes, I'm lost,
Yes, I'm lost.

What is the secret of this tie that binds? [time of mine?]
Two souls in communion, both body and mind.
Is it special magic, or just the nature of things?
Conceived of [Come see the?] great spirit, not for beggars but for kings.

You who have found it please help me along.
I'm a man, I'm a man, - I'm not made out of stone.
My needs they are simple, I don't want anything,
but I surely want to fly on those wings, on the run, one more time.

All I wanna do, fly up, fly home.
Fly on those wings of love, fly up, fly home,
I'm a stranger [a staying?] in your town, fly up, fly home,
Help me somebody please! Fly up, fly home.

I wake up early in the morning, fly up, fly home,
you know I never saw you babe, fly up, fly home.

I just can't seem to understand,
can't seem to understand what's wrong, fly up, fly home.

What I wanna do is take a little ride with you, on the wings of love,
woh-oh one more time, one more time.

(Lyrics transcribed by Adam Thomas, with input from Alex Allan.)

"The Stranger (Two Souls in Communion)"

Recordings:

First performance: March 23, 1972, at the Academy of Music, New York. "The Stranger" appreared in the second set, following "Ramble On Rose" and preceding "Mexicali Blues. It was performed a total of nine times in concert.


Authorship question

Following is a series of emails regarding the authorship of The Stranger:
Subject: Re: Two Souls In Communion
Date: Mon, 06 Jan 1997 08:55:02 +0000
From: alex allan

David,

I was fascinated to see you'd got Two Souls In Communion listed as a Pigpen original and copyright by Ice Nine. Did they confirm this? All the stuff I'd seen revealed confusion about whether it was an original or a cover (though no one has ever found the "original" if it was a cover).

....

Subject: Re: Two Souls in Communion
Date: Fri, 17 Jan 1997 09:37:10 -0800
From: tnf@well.com (David Gans)

At 13:56 1/6/97, David Dodd wrote:


>Dear David--

>

>Would you do me a favor and tell me what you know about the song "Two

>Souls In Communion"? My understanding was that Pigpen wrote it, sang it

>for awhile, but never recorded it in studio. True? Anything else you

>might have to say would be greatly appreciated as well. (I'm trying to

>annotate this song, but I've never even heard it! Wah!)

Never even heard it? I shall remedy that by sending you the GD Hour on which is recently appeared.

Alas, I know NOTHING about it. I suggest you write to Alan Trist and ask him if Ice Nine has a copyright on it. That would be a starting place, anyway.

...

Subject: Re: Two Souls in Communion
Date: Wed, 22 Jan 1997 08:49:32 -0800
From: Alan Trist

David,
"Two Souls" is obscure. I'll look into it for you.

Subject: Two Souls in Communion
Date: Thu, 23 Jan 1997 11:18:11 -0800
From: tnf@well.com (David Gans)

Well, the request has come full circle! Dennis McNally called me yesterday to ask me about this. Said Alan Trist was asking about it... :^)

I suggested he ask Phil.

So, we're still waiting for the definitive word on this. Thanks (I think) to Alex Allan for bringing this question to our attention!


This tie that binds

This note from a reader:
Subject: DEAD LYRICS: "two souls in communion" correction
Date: Fri, 3 Jan 1997 18:57:50 -0500
From: Spetsu@aol.com

1/3/97
DEAR DAVID,

HEY NOW! I'M WRITING ABOUT A LINE IN PIG'S "TWO SOULS", I'VE SEEN TWO ONLINE SOURCES CITING A VERSE AS:

What is the secret of this time of mine?
BUT ON THE ONE TAPE I HAVE OF IT FROM THE OLYMPIA THEATRE 5/4/72, PIG CLEARLY SINGS THE FIRST LINE AS "WHAT IS THE SECRET OF THIS TIE THAT BIND(S)"

IT'S MORE MEANINGFUL AND SEEMS TO MAKE MORE SENSE THAN THE LINE YOU HAVE DOWN, CONSIDERING THE WORDS THAT FOLLOW IN THE VERSE. ALSO, IF THE LINES IS REALLY "...OF THIS TIE THAT BINDS" THEN IT CONNECTS WITH THE CHRISTIAN HYMN "BLESSED BE THE TIE THAT BINDS." AND THAT WOULD ADD RELIGIOUS MEANING TO THE SONG.

WELL, IT'S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT SO I THOUGHT I'D SHARE IT WITH YOU.

S. SEBASTIAN PETSU


Keywords:
DeadBase code: [SOUL]
First posted: January 3, 1997
Revised: January 27, 2003