Deed Is Done (Lyrics)

It has been said that this song was inspired from a young female fan, "Emily", who was terminally stricken with leukemia. As the story goes, her last request was to meet Dave Matthews in person, and after visiting her, he was inspired to write "Deed is Done". The song was recorded in Fall of 1995 for the "Crash" album, and was not a "road-tested" tune. It and three other songs recorded ("Help Myself," "Little Thing," and Boyd Tinsley's "True Reflections") were chosen to not be included in the album's line-up. "Deed is Done" was first played during a Dave and Tim live soundcheck for the 9.24.95 show. Has only been played twice by the full band twice. The song took its most popular form as a passionate Dave and Tim song where Tim could add his manic sounds to the mood of the song and where Dave has occasionally quoted lines from The Who's "Pinball Wizard". With the release of Before These Crowded Streets in April of 1998, fans heard the "Deed is Done" riff towards the end of the thirty-second jam following "Pig" on the album. - dmbalmanac

Oh, so I'm praying all at night
And I wake up praying the whole daylight
I pray to you, and hear my request
I ask of you to save this baby
Oh, look at the girl
Awful inside, is cancer-eaten, is life-deprived,
And if so by who? Could it be you?
I see no need for a baby's wisdom for you

Oh, God, the girl, all yellow turned
Her cheeks are swollen, and soul is burned
Oh, but the girl, the girl is gone
And the deed is done, oh it must be wrong

Oh and I pray, my prayer's not heard
Could it be your death, death to mortal words?
Oh, and see her pain, and drain and drain
Could you be deaf, and blind my friend?
Oh, and so we hold
Cannot you not hear? Cannot you not see?
And if with words
You could change the way things are arranged
Surely you'd be speaking, speaking no change
Oh, but the girl, deaf, dumb, and blind
From the cancer burning deep down inside
Oh, but the deed is done
And the girl is gone
I see no faith
That I have won

Well, you may find your religion
You may find your attraction
You may go, for me the girl is gone

Oh, you may find you're faithful
You may find out the reaction
But to me, the baby's gone
The baby...
Hey... hey...