# 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