.

Simple Twist of Fate Lyrics

Lyrics: Bob Dylan
Music: Bob Dylan

Played by Dylan with the Grateful Dead and by Jerry Garcia with the JGB, but never by the Grateful Dead on their own.
They sat together in the park (note 1)
As the evening sky grew dark
She looked at him and he felt a spark tingle to his bones
'Twas then he felt alone and wished that he'd gone straight
And watched out for a simple twist of fate (note 2)

They walked along by the old canal
A little confused, I remember well
And stopped into a strange hotel with a neon burnin' bright
He felt the heat of the night hit him like a freight train
Moving with a simple twist of fate

A saxophone someplace far off played (note 3)
As she was walkin' by the arcade
As the light bust through a beat-up shade where he was wakin' up
She dropped a coin into the cup of a blind man at the gate
And forgot about a simple twist of fate
He woke up, the room was bare (note 4)
He didn't see her anywhere
He told himself he didn't care, pushed the window open wide
Felt an emptiness inside to which he just could not relate
Brought on by a simple twist of fate

He hears the ticking of the clocks (note 5)
And walks along with a parrot that talks
Hunts her down by the waterfront docks where the sailors all come in
Maybe she'll pick him out again, how long he must wait
Once more for a simple twist of fate

People tell me it's a sin
To know and feel too much within (note 6)
I still believe she was my twin, but I lost the ring
She was born in the spring, but I was born too late
Blame it on a simple twist of fate
Notes
(1) Dylan sang "They sat together in the dark" with the Dead.
(2) Dylan sang "And forgot about that simple twist of fate."
(3) Dylan sang "A saxophone someplace quietly played."
(4) Dylan sang a more-or-less different verse here:
He woke up and she was gone
He couldn't see nothing but the dawn
[Got up] and put his suit back on and pushed back the blind
Found a note she'd left behind but just could not relate
Oh nothing except that simple twist of fate

(5) Dylan missed out this verse.
(6) Dylan sang "To remember her for too long [?]."
Report lyrics
All Good Things: Jerry Garcia Studio Sessions (2004)
Let It Rock When the Hunter Gets Captured by the Game That's What Love Will Make You Do Russian Lullaby Turn on the Bright Lights He Ain't Give You None What Goes Around Let's Spend the Night Together Mississippi Moon Midnight Town That's a Touch I Like (I'm a) Road Runner It's Too Late I'll Forget You Tragedy Think I Know It's a Sin Lonesome Town Cardiac Arrest (Studio Jam) Back Home in Alabama Deal Bird Song Sugaree Loser Late for Supper Spidergawd Eep Hour To Lay Me Down An Odd Little Place The Wheel Sugaree (alternate take) Loser (alternate take) Late for Supper-Spidergawd-Eep Hour (alternate takes) The Wheel (alternate take #1) The Wheel (alternate take #2) Study for "Eep Hour" Dealin' From the Bottom Study for "The Wheel" Might as Well Mission in the Rain They Love Each Other I'll Take a Melody It Must Have Been the Roses Tore Up Over You Catfish John Comes a Time Mystery Train (Studio Jam) All by Myself (Studio Jam) Oh Babe, It Ain't No Lie You Win Again Orpheus Ruben and Cherise Love in the Afternoon Palm Sunday Cats Under the Stars Rhapsody in Red Rain Down Home Gomorrah Magnificent Sanctuary Band I'll Be With Thee The Way You Do the Things You Do Mighty High Don't Let Go Down Home (rehearsal version) Palm Sunday (alternate take) Run for the Roses I Saw Her Standing There Without Love Midnight Getaway Leave the Little Girl Alone Valerie Knockin' on Heaven's Door Fennario Alabama Getaway Tangled Up in Blue Simple Twist of Fate Dear Prudence Valerie (alternate mix) Deal (alternate take) Let's Spend the Night Together (alternate take) Mississippi Moon (alternate take) Lonesome Town (acoustic version) Catfish John (alternate take) I'll Take a Melody (alternate take) My Sisters and Brothers Hully Gully / Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu (studio jam) Streamlined Cannonball (studio jam) Iko Iko (studio jam) Hey Bo Diddley / Hide Away (studio jam) Accidentally Like a Martyr