My Brother Esau Songtext
von Grateful Dead

My brother Esau killed a hunter
Back in 1969
And before the killing was done
His inheritance was mine

But his birthright was a wand to wave
Before a weary band
Esau gave me sleeplessness
And a piece of moral land

My father favoured Esau
Who was eager to obey
All the bloody wild commandments
The old man shot his way

But all this favour ended when
My brother failed at war
He staggered home
And found me in the door


Esau skates on mirrors any more
Meets his pale reflection at the door
Yet sometimes at night I dream
He′s still that hairy man

Shadowboxing the apocalypse
Wandering the land
Shadowboxing the apocalypse
And wandering the land

Esau holds a blessing
Brother Esau holds a curse
I would say that the blame was mine
But I suspect it's something worse

More my brother looks like me
The less I understand
The silent war that bloodied both our hands
Sometimes at night, I think I understand
Way late at night, more I feel I understand

It′s brother to brother and it's man to man
And it's face to face and it′s hand to hand
We shadowdance the silent war within
The shadowdance, it never ends
Never ends, never ends


Shadowboxing the apocalypse, yet again
Yet again
Shadowboxing the apocalypse
And wandering the land