The Annotated "Shakedown Street"

Lyrics omitted. The annotations below are reproduced by permission of David Dodd; the song lyrics themselves are copyrighted and are not reproduced here. Read them at the official source: dead.net/songs.

• Shakedown Street
• Dick's Pick's, vol. 5

Covered by

• Freshly Baked on Tie-Dye Album (1993)
• The David Murray Octet on Dark Star

First performance: August 31, 1978, at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, Colorado. "Shakedown" opened the second set, and was followed by "Good Lovin'." Also performed for the first time was "From the Heart of Me."

you can never tell

Sunny side of the street

"One of [McHugh's] earliest and best-known songs is "On the Sunny Side Of The Street," from "Lew Leslie's International Revue" (1930). It's one of the jazz musicians' favorites, havingprecisely the springboard from which they love to leap. Singers, as well, love it as much for its extremely fine lyric, by Dorothy Fields, as for its music." (p. 406)

"Grab your coat, and get your hat,
Leave your worry on the doorstep,
Just direct your feet
To the sunny side of the street,
Can't you hear a pitter-pat?
And that happy tune is your step,
Life can be so sweet
On the sunny side of the street.
I used to walk in the shade
With those blues on parade
But I'm not afraid
This Rover crossed over
If I never have a cent
I'll be rich as Rockefeller,
Gold dust at my feet
On the sunny side of the street."