The wheel is turning
and you can't slow down
You can't let go
and you can't hold on
You can't go back
and you can't stand still
If the thunder don't get you
then the lightning will
Won't you try just a little bit harder?
Couldn't you try just a little bit more?
Won't you try just a little bit harder?
Couldn't you try just a little bit more?
Round round robin run around
Gotta get back where you belong
Little bit harder, just a little bit more
Little bit farther than you than you've gone before
The wheel is turning
and you can't slow down
You can't let go
and you can't hold on
You can't go back
and you can't stand still
If the thunder don't get you
then the lightning will
Small wheel turn by the fire and rod
Big wheel turn by the grace of God
Everytime that wheel turn round
bound to cover just a little more ground
The wheel is turning
and you can't slow down
You can't let go
and you can't hold on
You can't go back
and you can't stand still
If the thunder don't get you
then the lightning will
Won't you try just a little bit harder
Couldn't you try just a little bit more?
Won't you try just a little bit harder?
Couldn't you try just a little bit more?
Covered by
First performance June 3, 1976, at the Paramount Theater in Portland, Oregon. It occupied the encore position. Other firsts at the concert were "Lazy Lightning"/"Supplication," "Might As Well," and "Samson and Delilah." "The Wheel" usually appeared out of "Space" or "Drums." It occupied a steady spot in the repertoire since its first introduction.
"Age by age the ancient wheel
creaks and turns around"
A potent symbol throughout human history.
"Also called WHEEL OF LIFE ... a representation of the endless cycle of rebirths governed by the law of dependent origination..., shown as a wheel clutched by a monster, symbolizing impermanence.
"In the center of the wheel are shown the three basic evils, symbolized by a red dove (passion), a green snake (anger), and a black pig (ignorance). The intermediate space between the center and the rim is divided by spokes into five (later, six) sections, depicting the possible states into which a man can be reborn: the realm of gods, titans (if six states are shown), men, animals, ghosts, and demons. Around the rim of the wheel the 12 nidanas, or interrelated phases in the cycle of existence, are shown in an allegorical or symbolical manner--ignorance, karman formations, rebirth consciousness, mind and body, sense organs, contact, sensation, craving, grasping, becoming, birth, and old age and death." --Encyclopedia Britannica 15th ed.
and
"The card thus represents the Universe in its aspect as a continual change of state. Above, the firmament of stars. These appear distorted in shape, although they are balanced, some being brilliant and some dark. From them, through the firmament, issue lightnings; they church it into a mass of blue and violet plumes. In the midst of all this is suspended a wheel of ten spokes, according to the number of the Sephiroth, and of the sphere of Malkuth, indicating governance of physical affairs.Aleister Crowley's book also has an interesting epigram page:"On this wheel are three figures, the Sworded Sphinx, Hermanubis, and Typhon; they symbolize the three forms of energy which govern the movement of phenomena.
"...One of the most important aphorisms of Hindu philosophy is: "The Gunas revolve". This means that, according to the doctrine of continual change, nothing can remain in any phase where one of these Gunas is predominant; however dense and dull that thing may be, a time will come when it begins to stir.
"...On the right hand side, precipitating himself downward, is Typhon, who represents the element of salt. Yet in these figures there is also a certain degree of complexity, for Typhon was a monster of the primitive world, personifying the destructive power and fury of volcanos and typhoons. In the legend, he attempted to obtain supreme authority over both gods and men; but Zeus blasted him with a thunderbolt. [!--italics mine] ... But this card...may also be interpreted as a Unity of supreme attainment and delight. The lightnings which destroy, also beget; and the wheel may be regarded as the Eye of Shiva, whose opening annihilates the Universe, or as a wheel upon the Car of Jaganath, whose devotees attain perfection at the moment that it crushes them."--Crowley, The Book of Thoth. pp. 90 and 91.
"WHEEL AND--WHOA!and
The Great Wheel of Samsara.
The Wheel of the Law. (Dhamma.)
The Wheel of the Taro.
The Wheel of the Heavens.
The Wheel of Life.
All these Wheels be one; yet of all these the Wheel of the TARO alone avails thee consciously.
Meditate long and broad and deep, O man, upon this Wheel, revolving it in thy mind!
Be this thy task, to see how each card springs necessarily from each other card, even in due order from The Fool unto The Ten of Coins.
Then, when thou know'st the Wheel of Destiny complete, may'st thou perceive THAT Will which moved it first. [There is no first or last.]
And lo! thou art past through the Abyss.
--The Book of Lies."
"Wheel of Fortune is the universal principles of abundance, prosperity and expansion. In astrological terms this is Jupiter, the planet of luck, opportunity, and abundance. This symbol reminds us that like the goddess Fortuna in Roman mythology that we can turn our lives in more fortunate and positive directions by being objective like the Sphinx, flexible like the monkey, and reaching for new opportunities and ways to express our creative power like the crocodile. The stars exploding into lightning bolts represent the experience of awakening to the possibilities that can turn our lives in more positive and expansive directions. Often these experiences are referred to as the aha! or peak experience..."--Arrien, The Tarot Handbook, p. 63.It seems worth noting that the Tarot was used by T.S. Eliot (whose "Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" may have provided Hunter with lines for both "Dark Star" and "Stella Blue") in his "The Waste Land":
"Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante,
Had a bad cold, neverthless
Is known to be the wisest woman in Europe,
With a wicked pack of cards. Here said she,
Is your card, the drowned Phoenician Sailor,
(Those are pearls that were his eyes. Look!)
Here is Belladonna, the Lady of the Rocks,
The lady of situations.
Here is the man with three staves, and here the Wheel..." --ll. 43-51.
"Fortuna...the goddess of fortune or chance. She was identified with the Greek Tyche, and she was often depicted with a rudder, as the pilot of destiny, with wings, or with a wheel. The wheel of fortune was a widely used symbol in medieval art and literature, forming the concept of which Lydgate's Falls of Princes (1494) and Chaucer's Monk's Tale from the Canterbury Tales were based."--Benet, p. 359.
"Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces. The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel." --Chapter 1, vv. 15 and 16.This reference was used in the spiritual, "'Zekiel Saw De Wheel," which is referred to and quoted in "Estimated Prophet." Hunter quotes from the spiritual later in the song, in the Small wheel...Big wheel line.
This note from a reader:
From: Matthew Carl [mailto:macarl@jtsa.edu]Sent: Tuesday, November 26, 2002 11:10 PM
Subject: "the wheel"
hi david.
I've been a big fan of your annotated lyrics site for years (back when it was at UCCS.) I never looked at "the wheel" until now. I wonder why no one (except the spiritual) ever wrote on the connection to the "merkavah vision" from the book of Ezekiel (Ez 1...)
A standard of jewish mysticism, the merkavah or chariot vision is a striking visual of God and has imagery reminiscent of "the wheel" (rather, vice-versa.) Ezekiel sees God represented by four somewhat "human-like creatures, each with four faces, four wings, a single rigid leg and feet like a single calf's hoof... they had human hands below their wings... they did not turn when they moved; each could move in the direction of any of its faces. each had a human face [in front]... the face of a lion on the right... the face of an ox on the left and... the face of an eagle [in back.]" (Ez 1:5 - 10.)
"As I gazed on the creatures, I saw one wheel on the ground next to each of the four-faced creatures. As for the appearance and structure of the wheels, they gleamed like beryl. All four had the same form; the appearance and structure of each was as of two wheels cutting through each other. And when they moved, each could move in the direction of any of its four quarters; they did not veer when they moved...
Wherever the spirit impelled them to go, they went--wherever the spirit impelled them--and the wheels were borne alongside them; for the spirit of the creatures was in the wheels" (Ez 1:15 - 21.)
There's some great and not-so-great literature on the merkavah (alt. merkabah, et al.) vision and other relevant kabbalistic texts. These are becoming easier to find and harder to sort through. Also, the hebrew word ofanim means "wheels" and also refers to a class of angelic beings. I hope this helps someone somewhere.
Thanks,
Matthew Carl
[rabbinical student, jtsa] please write me if you'd like more information or citations on this subject.
Subject: Round Robin
Date: Wed, 12 Mar 1997 13:15:12 -0500
From: "Thomas E. Malloy"Dear David,
I enjoy your excellent Dead pages. Your work has become a resource for me as I learn new Dead songs and think more deeply about them.
I was reading your analysis of The Wheel and wanted to pass along an idea. The phrase "round round robin ..." may not be a reference to the bird. Rather, there is a reserach design used in biology and psychology called the round robin. Imagine four people A, B, C, and D that all interact with one another. Measurements of each person's behavior in response to another is measured (e.g., smiling). The data structure looks like this:
A B C D A - x x x B x - x x C x x - x D x x x -where x's are one person's response to another and -'s are diagonal elements. This is a very unusual design in science and indeed has a wheel like quality. I don't know if Robert Hunter had this in mind when composing the lyrics, but the logic of this design is highly consistent with the theme of this song. Also, this is a sturcture used in athletic events (round robin tennis tournament).Again, thank you for such high quality scholarship.
Sincerely.
Tom Malloy
Professor of Psychology
Rhode Island College
"De big wheel run by faith,
Little wheel run by de grace of God..." ---Johnson: The Books of American Negro Spirituals. ii, 145.