The Grateful Dead
My Brother Esau (Live at The Centrum, Worcester, MA, October 21, 1983)
[Verse 1]
My brother Esau killed a hunter
Back in 1969
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

[Verse 2]
My father favored Esau
Who was eager to obey
All the wild commandments
The Old Man shot his way
But all this favor ended
When my brother failed at war
He staggered home
And found me in the door

[Chorus]
Esau, he's on roller skates today
So hе made a statement to somеone in L.A., hey
Sometimes at night I dream
He's still that hairy man
Shadowboxing the Apocalypse
And wandering the land
Shadowboxing the Apocalypse
And wandering the land
[Verse 3]
Esau holds a blessing
Esau holds a curse
I would say that the blame is mine
But I suspect it's something worse
The 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, some think, I think I grasp it

[Outro]
So it's brother to brother and man to man now
The silent war that rage within now
Neither one can win now
Shadowboxing the Apocalypse within now
No one can win now
Shadowboxing the Apocalypse
And wandering the land
Shadowboxing the Apocalypse
And wandering the land
Shadowboxing the Apocalypse
And wandering the land