Phish

Phish is an American rock band noted for jamming and improvisation. The band's four members performed together for the better part of 21 years until their breakup in August 2004, but have since reunited in 2009. Their music has elements of a wide variety of genres, including rock, jazz, bluegrass, heavy metal, folk, blues, progressive rock, reggae, acoustic music, and European classical music. Each Phish concert is original in terms of the songs included, the order in which they appear, and the way in which they are performed: most of their songs are never played the same way twice. Although the group receives little radio play or MTV exposure, Phish has developed a large following by word of mouth and the exchange of live recordings.

The following quotes are from a variety of Phish songs performed throughout their history. The majority of Phish lyrics are penned by lyricist Tom Marshall, a childhood friend of founding member Trey Anastasio.

The following lyrical excerpts are listed in alphabetical order.

Lyrics

 * All of These Dreams
 * If you go there, and after you do
 * All of these dreams would be yours to pursue
 * The rest of your lifetime devoid of a care
 * If you keep your eyes open, you may find yourself there


 * Anything But Me -
 * You've become an island in the hazy world surrounding me
 * Offering a vast reward each time I safely cross the sea
 * All too often I become lost in the fog and haze
 * Clinging still against my will to promises of clearer days


 * Back on the Train -
 * When I jumped off, I had a bucket full of thoughts
 * When I first jumped off, I held that bucket in my hand
 * Ideas that would take me all around the world
 * I stood and watched the smoke behind the mountains curl
 * It took me a long time to get back on the train


 * Brian and Robert -
 * If you're just staring at your walls
 * Observing echoing footfalls from tenants wandering distant halls
 * Then this one is for you
 * If children playing all around to you is noise, not pleasant sound
 * And you feel lost on the playground...
 * Then this one is for you


 * Bug -
 * Nothing I see can be taken from me


 * Bye Bye Foot -
 * Where I end and you begin
 * I wanna find that line and cross it back and forth
 * Until it's erased by our footsteps


 * Crowd Control -
 * It's crowded in the lowlands but the fools stay on the hill
 * You control us now, you have the reins
 * Do something or we will


 * The Curtain -
 * As he saw his life run away from him
 * Thousands ran along
 * Chanting words from a song.
 * 'Please me have no regrets'


 * Dear Mrs. Reagan -
 * Dear Mrs. Reagan, I hope you're feeling well
 * Fighting drugs and abortion will keep you out of Hell
 * Send in the troops, they'll shut the system down
 * Take away their leaders and replace them all with clowns
 * Out in the Rose Garden, time for a speech
 * Make up your face so it looks like a peach
 * Aw, Nancy dear, what shall I say?
 * Tell ol' Ronnie it's all okay


 * Destiny Unbound -
 * She started the ignition and without permission, the two of them flew down the dusty road
 * But the road wasn't finished and the pavement diminished
 * They soared off the edge and they plunged in the sludge
 * She said, "There isn't even any road, our destiny was bound
 * We were the ones for us, but now we're in the ground"


 * Dirt -
 * I'd like to live beneath the dirt
 * A tiny space to move and breathe is all that I would ever need
 * I wanna live beneath the dirt
 * Where I'd be free from push and shove like all those swarming up above
 * Beneath their heels I'll spend my time
 * I'll wriggle in the earth and dew
 * And sometimes I will think of you
 * And if you ever think of me, kneel down and kiss the earth
 * And show me what this thought is worth
 * I'll never hear your voice again


 * Discern -
 * I think I hear a whisper around nearly every turn
 * But what the voice is saying, I barely can discern
 * The echoes that are following the contours of the ground
 * Ebb and flow and ease into a tidal wave of sound


 * Dog-Faced Boy -
 * Whenever I think of you it only makes me feel sad
 * Whenever I think of you....the best friend I ever had
 * Before I give it up all for nothing:
 * Well, I lied and I cheated, and it made me feel bad
 * It made me feel guilty for not being true
 * For the months I spend trying for a way to explain
 * In the end all I could do was turn my head in shame


 * Down With Disease -
 * Waiting for the time when I can finally say
 * That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way
 * But when I think it's time to leave it all behind
 * I try to find a way to, but there's nothing I can say to make it stop


 * Driver -
 * I'll tell you about the driver who lives inside my head
 * He starts me up and stops me, then puts me into bed
 * He opens up my mouth when it's time for me to talk
 * He fires up my legs when he wants me to walk
 * He keeps my eyes open for most of the day
 * Adds to my memories the things that people say
 * And when he makes decisions, I don't have to wait
 * But sometimes it seems that he's got too much on his plate
 * Like this morning when I woke up and he dressed me in this shirt
 * That looks a little ragged where he dragged me through the dirt
 * I'm moving through this life and I'm thinking about the next
 * And hoping when I get there, I'll be better dressed


 * Farmhouse
 * Each betrayal begins with trust, every man returns to dust


 * Fast Enough for You -
 * If time were only part of the equation and you could draw the boundaries of our cage
 * You wouldn't pile another stone upon me, and I'd be happy just to watch you age
 * But everything is in its own dominion, and waiting in the shadows as I do
 * Appeases me as water slowly trickles out, which isn't nearly fast enough for you


 * Frankie Says -
 * Relax
 * The world will spin beside itself and suck you in
 * With threats and hopes beyond compare
 * I change the landscape as I pass, meandering from sand to glass
 * I suction there for one whole day, until the feeling goes away


 * Free -
 * I feel no curiosity, I see the path ahead of me
 * In a minute I'll be free, and you'll be splashing in the sea
 * We hear a tiny cry as the ship goes sliding by


 * Mountains in the Mist
 * Rain falls on my shoulders, sun rises in the east
 * I'm worn and bruised, but I am here at least


 * Friday -
 * I crashed, I burned
 * But then I learned to keep my eye on you
 * You always say you'll lead the way
 * But then you never do


 * Heavy Things -
 * Things are falling down on me, heavy things I could not see
 * When I finally came around, something small would pin me down
 * And when I tried to step aside I moved to where they'd hoped I'd be


 * The Horse -
 * It's time I sling the baskets off this overburdened horse
 * Sink my toes into the ground and set a different course
 * Because if I were here and you were there, I'd meet you in between
 * And not until my dying day confess what I have seen


 * If I Could -
 * Stay with me till time turns over
 * I wanna feel my feet leave the ground
 * Take me where the whispering breezes
 * Can lift me up and spin me around
 * If I could I would, but I don't know how


 * It's Ice -
 * Slipping on the friction slide, my skin peels to the bone
 * The flesh I leave behind is something that is not my own
 * I beg my mirror image for a moment with my soul
 * He's pleading back, it's time to attack
 * It's me who's in control
 * With every move I make, he's got a hand up just in time
 * He's throwing several punches and he's blocking most of mine
 * Defeated now, I sulk and squirm in mud with frozen mice
 * Waiting, calculating 'til next he ventures onto the ice


 * Julius -
 * 'Cause a week is a month and an hour a day
 * When your reaching just pushes it further away now
 * With your past and your future precisely divided
 * Am I at that moment? I haven't decided, I haven't decided


 * Jennifer Dances -
 * You ought to know from long ago to listen to the winds that blow
 * Cause when the past creeps up at last, you'll see the landscape open fast
 * And you'll be standing on a landing, crumbling despite your demanding


 * Lifeboy -
 * When the line is breaking and when I'm near the end
 * When all the time spent leading, I've been following instead
 * When all my thoughts and memories are left hanging by a thread
 * God never listens to what I say


 * Limb by Limb -
 * I never want my hand cut off, I never want a hacking cough
 * I never need a cliffside push, I never turn my brain to mush
 * Always give me what I lack, always take the best parts back
 * Always recognize your fate, always just a moment late
 * Left is where I always turn, left is how I'm forced to learn
 * Left the route my walking takes, left alone with my mistakes
 * Up against the person who up 'til now I never knew
 * Up from hell the answer blew, up or down...it's up to you


 * The Mango Song -
 * Your hands and feet are mangos, but you're gonna be a genius anyway


 * Maze -
 * The torrent of helplessness swept me away to the cavern of shame and the hall of dismay
 * Inside me a voice was repeating the phrase, "You've lost it, you'll never get out of this maze"


 * Meat -
 * I need a different life, I think
 * Perhaps I'll be the missing link
 * I treasure moments as I drink away the memories
 * Let them sink


 * The Meatstick -
 * Long before this scene concludes, the end I'm seeking still eludes
 * My every effort to apply, my will to moments passing by
 * But everytime we say goodbye, there's a pain I can't identify
 * That reveals to me the hidden door that leads to several moments more


 * Mike's Song -
 * Trapped in time and I don't know what to do
 * These friends of mine, I can see right through 'em
 * You don't gotta tell me, cause I don't gotta move
 * I'm sittin' back here just sharin' in the groove


 * The Moma Dance -
 * All throughout I gaze and glimpse you
 * Loving never did convince you
 * I see you when you're all alone
 * It's like a person I've not known
 * The moment ends though I feel winds
 * Blowing differently than ever before, and then pushing me further from shore


 * Mound -
 * Ice is all he was made of
 * The bitter blue had frozen through
 * He went over to the mound
 * Reclining down his final thoughts
 * were drifting to a time this life had shined


 * Never -
 * Never is that point in time that doesn't have dimension
 * Always is the measure of how long time's been around


 * Nothing -
 * I stand on a featureless sheet of blue stone
 * And then for one instant I'm not quite alone
 * Your hand is extended but then you rescind
 * And you, like my thoughts, are borne off by the wind


 * Pebbles and Marbles -
 * She started a blaze from one tiny spark I didn't even detect
 * She loved the light, was dismayed by the dark, the stars, though, she seemed to respect
 * The faint light that flutters at night to the earth would land in her eyes and collect
 * Luminous creatures she'd find in the surf I never thought to inspect
 * Pebbles and marbles, like things on my mind, seem to get lost and harder to find
 * When I am alone, I am inclined, if I find a pebble in the sand, to think that it fell from my hand
 * She gave me ideas and planted the seed, but she never stopped to reflect
 * The course that she's on, wherever it leads, I never would redirect
 * Pebbles and marbles, like words from a friend, make us hold tight but are lost in the end
 * When we're alone, we all seem to tend, if we find a marble in dust, to wish someone left it for us


 * Prep School Hippie -
 * Prep school hippie, or hip school preppie
 * I can't decide
 * Should I spend my adolescent days wearing tie dyes or Vuarnets
 * I can't decide
 * A big ten kegger at the frat, or watching Jerry shake his fat
 * Prep school hippie, or hip school preppie
 * I can't decide


 * Rift -
 * Silence contagious in moments like these
 * Consumed me and strengthened my will to appease
 * The passion that sparked me one terrible night
 * Had shocked and persuaded my soul to ignite


 * Roggae -
 * If life were easy and not so fast, I wouldn't think about the past
 * I can't forget to turn the earth so both sides get their share of darkness and of light


 * Round Room -
 * If I pass out, take me to the round church
 * Where echoes resound and my spirit is found
 * And when I float high, take my arm and I'll fly you by
 * To the outskirts of town to a garden that's round


 * Run Like an Antelope -
 * Set the gearshift to the high gear of your soul
 * You've got to run like an antelope out of control


 * Sample in a Jar -
 * You tricked me like the others and now I don't belong
 * The simple smiles and good times seem all wrong


 * Sand -
 * I will choose my own religion and worship my own spirit
 * And if you ever preached to me, I wouldn't want to hear it


 * Scents and Subtle Sounds -
 * If you would only start to live one moment at a time
 * You would, I think, be startled by the things that you would find
 * Like scents you never noticed, and many subtle sounds
 * Like colors in the landscape and textures of the town
 * Then the winds would lift you up into the sky above
 * And you'd be treated to a view of everything you love
 * And if the moment passes, you should try it once again
 * For if you do it right, you'll find the moment never ends


 * Shafty -
 * The terrible thing about Hell is that when you're there, you can't even tell
 * As you move through this life you love so, you could be there and not even know
 * But you say, "So what, I'm doing just fine"
 * The irony is that it's all in your mind
 * That's why Hell is so vicious and cruel, but you'll just go on an oblivious fool


 * Silent in the Morning -
 * You're silent in the morning, suspended in the trees
 * Lunch time comes, you've found your voice, it brings me to my knees
 * The volume just increases and the resounding echoes grow
 * Until once again, I bask in morning stillness I love so
 * The target that I shoot for seems to move with every breath
 * I tighten all my arteries and make one last request
 * Divine creation hears me, and he squashes me with fear
 * I think that this exact thing happened to me just last year


 * Sleep -
 * I can't describe the feeling when I'm in my bed asleep, and then
 * I wake up with a vision blurred and all my efforts are deterred
 * To reconstruct this image lost
 * There're certain things my mind won't do, and even though they're very few
 * The image glistens like a gem, repairing is not one of them
 * So I'm awake, though in my mind, the image that so unrefined
 * Is calling to me from the deep, tempting me to fall asleep


 * Spices -
 * A single cloud within a storm descends and leaves behind a form
 * Someone that you knew appears in front of you: a woman's figure, rain-cloud-born
 * She blinks but doesn't see you yet, she shivers and is soaking wet
 * You cross the sand and take her hand, a lifetime passed since last you met
 * Centuries now fall away, seems so long since yesterday
 * When you were young and in the sun, you let your woman slip away
 * You take the hands that you have missed and kiss the lips you haven't kissed
 * For many years, taste the tears
 * Spices that you can't resist


 * Split Open and Melt -
 * I wake up on my stomach with my face between my hands
 * And crawl along the floor toward the doorway
 * Jumping to my feet, I try to put myself together
 * But I feel it in my knees and the room begins to spin
 * I slip and bump my head and raise a welt, split open and melt


 * Spread it Round -
 * Together we are all alone, united on a spinning stone
 * So if your love is running down, don't concentrate it....spread it round


 * Steep -
 * Much ado is all I see, in fact, it is surrounding me
 * The seething crowd intrudes all day until I'm finally swept away
 * Although I thought my roots were deep, I sank them into hillsides steep
 * And riverbanks that soon erode and canyons that have overflowed


 * Strange Design -
 * Dripping in this strange design, none is yours and far less mine
 * Hold the wheel, read the sign, keep the tires off the line
 * Just relax, you're doing fine
 * Swimming in this real thing I call life
 * Can I bring a few companions on this ride


 * Taste -
 * I'm down, and I will drag you along and around
 * Until you burst into song and unwind, and leave your new life behind for a while
 * Cause I can see through the lines


 * Tela -
 * As I look into her eyes, my frozen heart begins to thaw
 * And burn, 'til layer after layer melts away into a pool
 * The sky blue mirror of her eyes
 * And my soul is made of marble, but in her gaze I crumble into dust
 * And drift away on the wind: the wind from beyond the mountain


 * Theme From the Bottom -
 * Pantomime mixtures of heaven and earth
 * Jumbled events that have less than no worth
 * Time in the forest to dig under rocks
 * Or float in the ocean asleep in a box
 * Or sink just below all the churning and froth
 * And swim to the light source or fly like a moth
 * So toss away stuff you don't need in the end
 * But keep what's important and know who's your friend


 * Thunderhead -
 * I need a new way to express myself
 * So you don't need to guess what otherwise I'd say aloud
 * And watch it float just like a cloud, high up above you like a thunderhead
 * But you would just look down instead and wait 'til foggy skies appear
 * And vapor clouds all disappear
 * And with them, all my words for you have softly sublimated too
 * And you'll just hope that I've moved on, so you'll look up and find me gone


 * Train Song -
 * The glass on the lantern casts back the sight of a drive-in movie, we drove by below
 * We saw where we'd been in the pictures within, projecting all the places we would go
 * So we followed the scene and flowed up your steps to a smooth wooden floor in a trance
 * The train whistle melody woved through the trees and in through the door to signal the turns of a dance


 * Two Versions of Me -
 * Ten mountains stand tall, nine seasons since fall
 * Eight eons of sand, seven oceans began
 * Now there is none, no more light from the sun
 * Now waters run free, no more phish in the sea
 * One more name on the slate, one less minute to wait
 * Too busy to see two versions of me
 * One more bottle is dry, one less reason to try
 * Six feet underneath, five fingers don't reach
 * Four seconds it seems for all of our dreams
 * Three oceans away, two children at play
 * Too bust to see two versions of me


 * Vultures -
 * Blind me with ambition like a razor to the throat
 * Cast aside your foolish pride, I'll cast the final vote
 * The feelings you've been waiting for are clawing thru your skin
 * And if you look above, you'll see the vultures moving in


 * Wading in the Velvet Sea -
 * I took a moment from my day and wrapped it up in things you say
 * Mailed it off to your address, you'll get it pretty soon...unless
 * The packaging begins to break and all the points I tried to make
 * Are tossed with thoughts into a bin, time leaks out my life leaks in
 * You won't find moments in a box, nd someone else will set your clocks
 * I took a moment from my day and wrapped it up in things you say
 * And mailed it off to you.....


 * Walls of the Cave -
 * I'm leaving you a message, I'm leaving you a trace
 * I'm leaving thoughts for you I hope that time will not erase
 * And when the moment comes to read the words that I engrave
 * You'll find them on the walls of the cave
 * I know you heard the question but you didn't make a sound
 * And when it fell you caught my heart before it hit the ground
 * But if you ever need the names of those you couldn't save
 * You'll find them on the walls of the cave


 * Waste -
 * Don't want to be a farmer working in the sun
 * Don't want to be an outlaw always on the run
 * Don't want to be a climber reaching for the top
 * Don't want to be anything where I don't know when to stop
 * A dream, it's true
 * But I'd see it through if I could be wasting my time with you
 * So if I'm inside your head, don't believe what you might have read
 * You'll see what I might have said
 * To hear it, come waste your time with me


 * Water in the Sky -
 * Listen as she speaks to you
 * Hear the voices flutter through the barriers arranged by you
 * Close the shutters, draw the shades
 * Filter out the everglades, glistening with evening dew
 * Thunder calls through waterfalls, rising tides, and ocean walls
 * I can hear you when you sigh
 * Listen as she speaks to you, hear the voices flutter through
 * Watch them fall and let them lie


 * Waves -
 * How is it I never see the waves that bring her words to me
 * For though unseen, they drift around, they catch my breath and knock me down
 * I feel them quickly swirling by as they withdraw with my reply
 * And slip into the dark of night as I attempt to stay upright
 * Instead I'm stranded on my knees as words depart upon the breeze
 * Which quickly drifts away from here and possibly won't reach her ear
 * If we could see the many waves that flow through clouds and sunken caves
 * She'd sense at least the words that sought her on the wind and underwater


 * The Wedge -
 * It's the ocean flowing in our veins and it's the salt that's in our tears
 * We could have come so very far in at least as many years


 * Wolfman's Brother -
 * I might be on a side street or a stairway to the stars
 * I hear the high pitched cavitation of propellers from afar
 * So with meaningless excitement and a smooth atonal sound
 * It's like a cross between a hurricane and a ship that's run aground