The song "Oh, The Wind And Rain" by Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band is actually an adaptation of a traditional folk ballad. The lyrics tell the story of two sisters walking along a stream. One sister pushes the other into the water, leading to her eventual drowning. The youngest sister receives a gold ring from a man named Johnny, while the oldest sister is left with nothing. The older sister's body floats down the river until it reaches a miller's pond, where she is discovered by her parents. The miller uses a fishing hook to retrieve her from the water. Later, as her body is left to dry on the riverbanks, a fiddling fool comes by and takes thirty strands of her long yellow hair to make a fiddle bow. The fiddler then uses the older sister's long finger bones to make fiddle pegs. Finally, he constructs a little fiddle out of her breastbone. However, the fiddle can only play one tune – the haunting melody of "Oh, The Wind And Rain." The meaning of the song is open to interpretation, but it can be seen as a cautionary tale about jealousy and the consequences of one's actions. The lyrics vividly depict a dark and tragic story, filled with symbolism and supernatural elements.
