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“If I Don't Be There By Morning” is a rarity in several ways. It is one of the few Bob Dylan compositions that the master has never recorded or performed live. And there is only one known Phish performance, at the release party for Junta on 5/9/89 at The Front. This mid-tempo rocker, which Dylan co-wrote with Helena Springs, came into the public eye when Eric Clapton recorded it for his 1978 hit album Backless. It also appears on Clapton’s 1980 live album Just One Night.

(Dylan/Springs)
© Dwarf Music

Blue sky upon the horizon,
Private eye on my trail,
And if I don't be there by morning
She'll know that I must've spent the night in jail.

I been runnin' from Memphis to L.A.,
Had an appointment set sometime for today
And if I don't be there by morning
She'll know that I must have gone the other way.

Finding my way home to you, girl, lonely and blue, mistreated too,
Sometimes I think about you, girl, is it true that you think of me too?

I got a woman living in L.A.,
I got a woman waiting for my pay,
And if I don't be there by morning
Pack my clothes, get down on your knees and pray.

I left my woman with a twenty-dollar bill,
Left her waiting, hope she's waiting for me still.
But if I don't be there by morning
I guess that I never will.

Finding my way home to you, girl, lonely and blue, mistreated too,
Sometimes I think about you, girl, is it true that you think of me too?

I left my woman with a twenty-dollar bill,
Left her waiting, hope she's waiting for me still.
Well, if I don't be there by morning
I guess that I never will.