Home
And We Bid You Goodnight
Composer: Traditional

The Grateful Dead performed the song a number of times in the 1968-1970 and 1989-1990 periods but infrequently during the rest of their performing career. On Grateful Dead recordings the title used is either And We Bid You Goodnight or We Bid You Goodnight.

The Grateful Dead version of this traditional 'lowering down' funeral song originates from a recording by Joseph Spence and the Pindar Family which was released in 1965. The title used on that recording, as on many others, is I Bid You Good Night. This song appears to share a common ancestry with the song Sleep On Beloved from North East England.

Part of the liner notes for the Waterson:Carthy album provide information about Sleep On Beloved:

"In the 1960s, the Incredible String Band renamed a song called 'I Bid You Goodnight' which they learned from Jody Stecher's recordings of the great Bahamian guitarist Joseph Spence and his family, the Pindar family, and the song became, for some folkies, one of those great standards. A year or two ago, John Howson visited Staithes to record the Fisherman's Choir, and was accompanied by Maggie Hunt who, at the same time, was interviewing the individuals involved. During conversations, Mr Willie Wright sung a snatch of the Sankey hymn 'Sleep On Beloved' which he described as a lowering down song at funerals, and which was clearly the same song as 'I Bid You Goodnight' but in an earlier form, and when Norma heard it she went to see Willie, who kindly provided her with the other verses. When we sang the song to Jody Stecher, he was enormously pleased, not least because its function as a funeral song in the Bahamian fishing community was identical to that in its North Yorkshire counterpart."
I Bid You Goodnight and Sleep On Beloved appear to have developed from the hymn The Christian's "Good Night" written by Ira Sankey and Sarah Doudney probably towards the end of the nineteenth century. The music can be heard by loading the following web page; http://tch.simplenet.com/htm/goodnite.htm

The first lines, or part of the first lines, of the hymn "Sleep on beloved sleep on take thy rest lay down thy head upon the Saviours breast we loved thee well but Jesus loved thee best" have at times been a commonly used memorial inscription on gravestones. The words of the hymn are given at the bottom of this page.



Grateful Dead

info Live/Dead, 1969
info Dick's Picks, Vol. 4, 1996
info Dozin' At The Knick, 1996
info Dick's Picks, Vol. 8, 1997
info Fillmore East 2.11.69, 1997
info Downhill from Here, 1997
info Dick's Picks, Vol. 16, 2000
info Best Of The Grateful Dead Hour, 2000
info Ladies and Gentlemen ... The Grateful Dead, 2000
info Nightfall Of Diamonds, 2001
info The Golden Road (1965-1973), 2001
info Dick's Picks, Vol. 28, 2003
info The Closing of Winterland, 2003
info The Closing of Winterland (DVD), 2003
info Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack, 2004
info Fillmore West 1969: The Complete Recordings, 2005
info Fillmore West 1969: Compilation, 2005
info Trilogy, 2005
info Live at the Cow Palace: New Year's Eve 1976, 2006
info Winterland 1973: The Complete Recordings, 2008
info Formerly The Warlocks, 2010
info Road Trips: Vol 4, No 1: Big Rock Pow Wow 69, 2010
info Dave's Picks Vol. 6, 2013
info Live Albums Collection, 2013
info Dave's Picks Vol 10, 2014
info Spring 1990 (The Other One), 2014
info 30 Trips Around The Sun Box Set, 2015
info Dave's Picks Vol 19, 2016
info Dave's Picks Vol 21, 2017
info Aoxomoxoa (50th Anniv. Edition), 2019
info Fillmore West 1969: Feb 28th, 2019
info The Story Of The Grateful Dead, 2020
info Dave's Picks Vol 42: Winterland, 2/23/74, 2022

The Dead

info Saratoga Springs, NY, June 20, 2003
info Camden, NJ, June 28, 2003
info Ft Lauderdale, FL, July 29, 2003
info Somerset,WI, August 3, 2003
info Irvine, CA, September 18, 2003
info Morrison, CO, June 16, 2004, 2004
info Indianapolis, IN, July 25, 2004, 2004
info Wantagh, NY, August 13, 2004, 2004
info Atlanta, GA, August 19, 2004, 2004

Furthur

info Feb 6, 2010, Orlando, FL
info Feb 12, 2010, Hampton, VA
info Feb 20, 2010, Utica, NY
info Mar 6, 2010, Denver, CO
info June 25, 2010, Rochester, NY
info July 4, 2010, Oxford, ME
info July 29, 2010, New York, NY
info September 18, 2010, Redmond, WA
info November 9, 2010, Ames, IA
info December 30, 2010, San Francisco, CA
info March 6, 2011, Boston, MA
info March 19, 2011, Upper Darby, PA
info March 29, 2011, Binghamton, NY
info April 6, 2011, Boca Raton, FL
info July 15, 2011, Masontown, WV
info July 26, 2011, Canandaigua, NY
info Sept 25, 2011, Eugene, OR
info Nov 21, 2011, Indianapolis, IN
info April 13, 2012, New York, NY
info July 7, 2012, Philadelphia, PA
info September 29, 2012, Troutdale, OR
info December 30, 2012, San Francisco, CA
info January 16, 2013, Mill Valley, CA
info Sept 24, 2013, Redmond, WA

Phil Lesh & Friends

info April 20, 2014, Las Vegas, NV, 2014

Tom Constanten

info Nightfall Of Diamonds, 1992
info Relix Sampler 4, Various Artists, 1992
info Dead Delites, Vol. 2, Various Artists, 1998

Dark Star Orchestra

info DSO Live: Feb 2, 2004, Columbia, SC, 2004
info DSO Live: Feb 17, 2004, Albuquerque, NM, 2004
info Werewolves of Atlanta: Halloween 2004, 2005

 
Other recordings

info Real Bahamas, Vol. 1, Various Artists (Pinder Family), 1965
info Good Morning Mr. Walker, Joseph Spence, 1972
no info Fox Hollow Vol VII: 1972, Various Artists (Jane Voss), 1972
info Hard Times in the Country, Happy & Artie Traum, 1975
info Any Old Time String Band, Any Old Time String Band, 1978
info Blue Skies Black Heroes, Ralph McTell, 1988
info Warm Your Heart, Aaron Neville, 1991
info The Spring of Sixty-Five, Joseph Spence & The Pinder Family, 1992
info Bridges, Bill Staines, 1992
info Pickin' Up the Spirit, Marianne Antonse, 1992
info Sleep Baby Sleep, Nicolette Larson, 1994
info Out On The Rolling Sea, Various Artists (Blue Murder), 1994
info The Music Never Stopped: Roots of the Grateful Dead, Various Artists (Joseph Spence), 1995
info Lullabies: 15 Soothing Songs for Babies, Susan McRae, 1995
info I Bid You Goodnight, Any Old Time String Band, 1996
info Our Bed Is Green, Charalambides, 1996
info Arhoolie Presents American Masters, Vol. 7: 15 World Music Classics, Various Artists, 1997
info The Bahamas: Islands of Song, Various Artists, 1997
info Ticket To Fly, Mike Lawson, 1998
info Real Bahamas, Vols. 1-2, Various Artists (Pinder Family), 1998
info Women in (E)motion, Ellen McIlwaine, 1998
info Bahamas 1935: Chanteys & Anthems from Andros & Cat, Various Artists, 1999
info Might as Well...The Persuasions Sing Grateful Dead, The Persuasions, 2000
info A Tour of Two Cities, Soup, 2000
info Destiny, Rick Redington, 2001
info Solo Acoustic, David Gans, 2001
info Magical Lullabies: Fairy Dreams, Various Artists, 2001
info Bedtime Lullabies, Various Artists, 2001
info Spontaneous Combustion, Ellen McIlwaine, 2002
info Starlight Lullabies: Fairy Dreams, Various Artists, 2002
info Diamond Jubilation: 75th Anniversary, The Dixie Hummingbirds, 2003
info Grateful Guitar, David Cullen, 2003
info Explorer Series: The Bahamas - The Real Bahamas, Various Artists (Pindar Family), 2003
no info Over My Head, Heidi Joy, 2004
info Blessed, The Soweto Gospel Choir, 2005
info Guitar Player, Brooks Williams, 2005
info Acoustic Guitar Highlights, Vol. 5, Various Artists (David Cullen), 2006
info Make It Rain, Keith Greeninger & Dayan Kai, 2009
info Persuasions Of The Dead, The Persuasions & Friends, 2011
info They All Played For Us: Arhoolie Records 50th Anniversary Celebration, Various Artists (2 versions), 2013
info 8/2/14, Bridgeport, CT, Disco Biscuits, 2014
info Day Of The Dead, Various Artists (Sam Amidon), 2016
info The Bodhisattva Blues, Reverend Freakchild, 2020
info Chip's Picks Vol 2, High Time, 2020

Sleep On Beloved

info Waterson:Carthy, Waterson:Carthy, 1995
info Season Round, Various Artists (Waterson:Carthy), 1997
info The Definitive Collection, The Watersons / Waterson:Carthy, 2005

The Christian's "Good Night"

info Holly Ding, Tom, Brad & Alice, 2000

As a part of A Very Cellular Song

info The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, Incredible String Band, 1968
info On Air, The Incredible String Band, 1994
info The Hannibal Sampler, The Incredible String Band, 1994
info The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion / The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter, The Incredible String Band, 2002
info Nebulous Nearnesses, The Incredible String Band, 2004


The words of the hymn The Christian's Goodnight are as follows;

Sleep on, beloved, sleep, and take thy rest;
Lay down thy head upon the Savior's breast;
We love thee well, but Jesus loves thee best
Good night! Good night! Good night!

Calm is thy slumber as an infant's sleep;
But thou shalt wake no more to toil and weep;
Thine is a perfect rest, secure and deep
Good night! Good night! Good night!

Until the shadows from this earth are cast,
Until He gathers in His sheaves at last;
Until the twilight gloom be over past
Good night! Good night! Good night!

Until the Easter glory lights the skies,
Until the dead in Jesus shall arise,
And He shall come, but not in lowly guise
Good night! Good night! Good night!

Until, made beautiful by love divine,
Thou, in the likeness of thy Lord shalt shine,
And He shall bring that golden crown of thine
Good night! Good night! Good night!

Only "Good night," beloved--not "farewell!"
A little while, and all His saints shall dwell
In hallowed unison indivisible
Good night! Good night! Good night!

Until we meet again before His throne,
Clothed in the spotless robe He gives His own,
Until we know even as we are known
Good night! Good night! Good night!

 
album cover

album cover

album cover

album cover

album cover

album cover

album cover

album cover

album cover

album cover

album cover

album cover