One of the Grateful Dead's songs I really like is "Wharf Rat".
Having listened to the lyrics, read them and researched about the details and characters depicted, I'd like to share an impression...
Garcia sings impersonating someone who walks around the docks of San Francisco (possibly, but any city with a wharf) and comes across a blind old man in misery who asks him for a dime and tells him his story.
Well, the poor August West says that he loved "Pearly Baker" more than anything in his life, even more than alcohol and than God Himself. Most interpretations associate "Pearly Baker" with his alcoholism, and with the figure of Rev. Purley Baker, who was the head of the Anti-Saloon League of America. This group lead the fight for prohibition in the US.
BUT: How can Pearly Baker be his relation with alcohol or the impersonation of his alcoholism if he loves Pearly more than his wine?
My feelings when I listen to this song: The fact that August West still wanders around the wharf and loves this "Pearly Baker" more than his wine and than God makes me think he was a sailor and that "Pearly Baker" was the ship in which he served.
Maybe when he says
"Everyone said
I'd come to no good
I knew I would
Pearly believed them"
I think it could mean that he was expelled from the ship/service because of his addiction to alcohol...
Anyone else has this impression?