New Lyrics and Possible Tracks on New Album: the Story of the Ghost
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Here are the correct lyrics for 20 of the new tunes that may, appear on
Phish's new album, the Story of the Ghost.. Most were taken from
listening to the Studio Outakes tape...The others from there debute
shows this, and last summer.. There were only about 4 words that
I could not figure out, so these are pretty accurate.. But of course,
they are not the "official" lyrics.. I have included some notes and
also when the song first debuted live...I hope they help you out and
I hope you like them as much as I do.. Phish and Marshall have
come a long way with their lyrics...Don't you agree?
If you have any comments, questions or additions, please
let me know...
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These lyrics were all transcribed by: Julia Mordaunt
Songs Included:
1) Wading in the Velvet Sea
2) Brian and Robert
3) Somanatin
4) Bittersweet Motel
5) Samson Riff (Formerly Blow, wind Blow)
6) Frankie Says
7) Roget
8) Shafty
9) What's The Use
10) Ficus
11) In a Misty Glade
12) Meat
13) Meatcamp
14) Moma Dance
15) Vultures
16) Birds of a Feather
17) Limb by Limb
18) I Saw it Again
19) Fooled By Images
20) Dirt
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WADING IN THE VELVET SEA -By: Anastasio/Marshall
Intro: Beautiful Piano solo, by Page
Chorus:(All 4 singing softly in background)
I've been wading in the Velvet Sea,
I've been wading in the Velvet Sea,
I've been wading in the Velvet Sea,
I've been wading in the, I've been wading in the..
(Page sings)
I took a moment from my day,
And wrapped it up in things you say,
And mailed it off to your address,
You'll get it prettty soon unless..
The packaging begins to break
And all the points I tried to make
I tossed the thoughts into a bin
And time would tell my life leads in
(Page and Trey sing)
You wont find moments in a box,
And 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.
You won't find moments in a box,
And someone else will set your clocks,
I took a moment from my day..
Chorus:(All 4 sing - Beautiful Harmony)
I've been wading in the Velvet Sea
I've been wading in the Velvet Sea
I've been wading in the Velvet Sea
I've been wading in the, I've been wading in the..
(Until song ends)
Notes: This is by far the best, well relativly new song
by Anastasio/Marshall. It's lyrics are remarkable, and
the tune is beautiful. If you have not heard it yet, it's
definatly worth seeking!!
Live debute: 06/6/97 Brad Sand's House
=========================================
BRIAN AND ROBERT -By: Anastasio/Marshall?
Ooooh's (In background repeating throughout song)
If your just staring at your walls,
Observing echoing foot falls,
From tenants wandering distant halls,
Then this one is for you.
If children playing all round,
To you is noise, not pleasant sound,
And you'd be lost on the playground,
Then this one is for you.
All alone in life you lead,
The silent diner where you feed,
You bow your head,
Pretend to read.
'Cause this one is for you.
You slip pass strangers in the street,
There's no one that you care to meet,
Longing for your tv seat.
'Cause this one is for you.
If you're just staring at your walls,
If you're just staring at your walls.
Then this one is for you,
This one is for you,
This one is for you,
This one is for you.
Notes: Another great new song. Slow and nice, yet still
funky with Page's keyboards.
Live debute: 06/30/98
=========================================
SOMANATIN - By: Anastasio/Marshall?
(Trey sings entire song)
Hello my name is Somanatin,
Please hear me out.
The wolves are chasing Liana and Silvermane
Bucklebee's riding Scout.
--My name is Somanatin-- (Fish)
Hello my name is Somanatin,
--I can't get out of here--(Fish)
I need my story told,
--I can't get out of here--(Fish)
The pixie has blown her fairy dust,
--I can't get out of here--(Fish)
And everything turns to gold
My name is Somanatin (8x)
Flying at night through the window,
The owls search for Samone
He snatches the sleeping boots from beneath the bed,
Thinking it was his own.
Hello my name is Somanatin,
Sawing a hole in a tree,
I look to my side and I see you riding on,
Sparkle and Boots is free.
My name is Somanatin (8x)
Time and weather eroding the past in a dream,
Cradle comfort that you wake but you're caught in between.
Time and weather eroding the past in a dream,
Cradle comfort that you wake but you're caught in between.
My name is Somanatin (Until song ends)
Notes: The first time I heard this tune, I didn't particuarly care
for it too much, but after listening to it a couple of times, it's
come to grow on me.
Live debute: Not yet performed live
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BITTERSWEET MOTEL By: McConnell/Anastasio
(Trey and Page)
When the only tool you have is a hammer,
Everything looks like a nail,
And you're living at the Bittersweet Motel
When the only tool you have is a hammer,
Everything looks like a nail,
And you're living at the Bittersweet Motel
Halfway between Erie and Pittsburgh,
You put me through hell.
On the highway, to the Bittersweet Motel
Guitar Solo
Halfway between Erie and Pittsburgh,
You put me through hell.
On the highway, to the Bittersweet Motel
When the only tool you have is a hammer,
Everything looks like a nail,
And you're living at the Bittersweet Motel
Notes: A new tune written while recording the Story
of the Ghost. It was written after an actual stay at
the Bittersweet Motel.
Live Debute: 07/21/98
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SAMSON RIFF (Blow wind Blow) -By: Anastasio
**Funky, Instrumental**
Notes: Great, latin sounding instrumental.
Live debute: Performed once: 6/6/97 Brad's House
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FRANKIE SAYS -By: Phish
(Funky instrumental intro, Page sings
entire tune, unless otherwise noted)
Time is me and I should know, I knew this several months ago.
I knew more than i do now, for I've been turned around some how.
Chorus:(All 4 sing)
Relax, the world will spin beside itself and suck you in,
With threats and hopes beyond compare.
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.
Chorus: (All 4 sing)
Relax, the world will spin beside itself and suck you in,
With threats and hopes beyond compare.
I dont need these orbits in my life, revolving cycle through,
Don't keep coming back for more.
I dont need this circular design, wheel and spin away from me,
You've been by here before.
(Trey, Page, Fish sing)
Relax, the world will spin beside itself and suck you in,
--I've lost my mind-- (Mike sings in background)
With threats and hopes beyond compare.
(Mike continues singing in background)
Relax, the world will spin beside itself and suck you in,
With threats and hopes beyond compare.
Notes: This is definatly one of my favorites. I love any tune
where Page gets to sing.
Live Debute: 04/02/98
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ROGET -By: Phish
(Fish)
The Circus is the place for me,
With bears and clowns and noise.
(Trey)
I love the shiny music that decends from overhead.
(Page)
According to the moment when the stars all turned around.
(Mike)
But from that vantage point I frowned.
Chorus: (All 4 sing)
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..
(Trey and Page)
Now I wonder all the gounds of light and heat and sounds and mist,
Prevoking dreams that don't exist.
A circus of light, where dreams can take flight.
In a peacefulness dreaming dreams exist
If life were easy and not so fast, I wouldn't think about the past.
(Trey and Page)
If life were easy
(Fish and Mike)
The circus is the place for me
Notes: This song is called RO-GAY (Trey gives a tip on how to
remember how to say it.. "It's like Reggae, only Roggae")
Again, one of my favorite new tunes.
Live Debute:06/30/98
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SHAFTY -By: Anastasio/Marshall
The terrible thing about hell,
Is that when your 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.
And that is why hell is so viciously cruel,
But you'll just go on an oblivious fool
(Trey)
You'll just go on an oblivious fool
(Mike)
--You'll just go on an oblivious fool--
(All)
You'll just go on an oblivious fool
Notes: This song was formerly known as "Oblivious Fool".
Live Debute: As Oblivious Fool: 06/6/97 Brad Sand's House
As Shafty: 04/05/98
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WHAT'S THE USE -By: Anastasio/Marshall
(Trey and, sounds like Mike)
Whats the use in going fast?
If you are not in a race.
You'll find soon that everyone,
Accepts a slower pace.
What's the use in in telling them,
It's all right in the same?
Arrows(?) in the tablecloth,
That's going in my brain.
Notes: Very digital, computer effects, and lot's of
Loops by Trey.
Live Debute: Not yet played live
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FICUS -By:Phish
(Mike Sings unless noted)
Ficus dreamed a dream for me,
It cost me nothing it was free.
He dreamed of walking in the sand,
And blossoms forming in his hand,
Of kitchen cake and cedar shakes
--Kitchen cake, and Cedar shakes--(Page)
--Dancing hydrofoils--(Trey)
Of waterfalls and yellow snakes
--Waterfalls and yellow snakes--(Page)
--Watching water till it boils--(Trey)
A perfect dance of Hydrofoils
--Moving forth from singing words--(Trey)
And flying south with flocks of birds
None of this was charged to me
--None of this was charged to me--(Trey)
For as I said it was for free
--For as I said it was for free--(Trey)
Notes: This tune kind of scared me the first time I heard it,
but after hearing it live, I knew it was another great new Phish
tune. This was the hardest song to get the lyrics from because
all of the parts are being sung at the same time by each of
the members, but I did my best and figured it out.
Live Debute: 07/02/98
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IN A MISTY GLADE -By: Fishman?
(Fishman sings)
While lying in a misty glade,
The stars aboue begin to fade, Before approaching dawn
I watch the tide begin to swell,
And wash across the quake.
Across the sky an image flies,
If it were not for my disguise, you'd understand the view
Just yesterday I thought of you, while I was watching,
Recalling how your eyes would close,
A thing of beauty it had seen.
Those eyes are gone,
I am alone.
Notes: Weird song
Live Debute: Not yet played live
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MEAT -By Phish
(Mike Sings)
I am a prince, I have it all.
And I hear your footsteps through the hall.
I wait in silence for your call,
The take a shot and watch you fall.
(Page, Trey, Fish sing the chorus in the background and at
the same time, Mike continues singing verses. The chorus
repeats in the background throughout the entire song)
Chorus (Trey, Page, Fish)
If I had a host of ghosts living on my street,
I'd jive and strive to stay alive and offer them some meat.
If I had a host of ghosts living on my street,
I'd jive and strive to stay alive and offer them some meat.
(Mike.. Verse)
I am a ghost but I cannot fly,
I'm stuck here as you slide by,
I need a resting place cause I,
I've already felt my body die.
(Distorted Fish voice, Fish also sings this part live)
It just felt like your heart stopped beating,
You just thought that you heard me laughing
I don't????????
Then why'd you put the pillow on it?
You just thought that your heart stopped beating,
You just thought that you heard me laughing,
I don't?????
Then why'd you put the pillow on it?
(In back ground)
Jive and strive to stay alive (Trey and Page)
Offer them some meat (Trey)
(Mike)
I need a different life I think,
Perhaps I'd be the missing link,
I treasure moments as I drink
Hold away the memories, let them sink.
Notes: I love this tune!! So funky!! And a treat with Mike on
Vocals. Trey deems this as the second part of ghost duelogy.
He wants to make it Trilogy, but no luck yet.
Live Debute: 07/02/98
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MEATCAMP -By: Phish
Trey.. Throughout tune, in background sings "on a string")
(Trey sings, unless otherwise noted)
I'm trapped here as my senses bleed,
--I'm trapped here as my senses bleed--(Mike)
I can't recall which things I need
--I can't recall which things I need--(Mike)
You show up late and stumble in
--You show up late and stumble in--(Mike)
----------------?
My captive gaze inside your eyes
--My captive gaze inside your eyes--(Mike)
Reveal a thing you've tried to hide
--Reveal a thing you've tried to hide--(Mike)
Attempting to record this view
--Attempting to record this view--(Mike)
Reflections drive me out of you
--Reflections drive me out of you--(Mike)
Chorus:
Time for the meatstick,
Bury the meatstick,
Take out the meatstick time.
Whoa, pox(?) my brain
Whoa, pox(?) my brain
But long before the scene concludes,
In the end I'm seaking still aludes.
My every effort to reply
My world in moments passing by
But everytime we say goodbye,
cant tie down to --
Reveals to me the hidden door,
That leads to seldom moments more.
Chorus (5x)
Time for the meatstick,
Bury the meatstick,
Take out the meatstick time.
Whoa, pox(?) my brain
Whoa, pox(?) my brain
(Guy on phone rambling...)
Holy shit, that's making all kinds of rules
I'm not even going to go there
Hey just for a second, I'll just go for a second.
Oh, meatstick? Ah.. I don't know.. On a string?
Time for the meatstick?
Bury meatstick
Bury meatstick time?
Oh meatstick!!
The music stops: Phone guy says..
"Hey..That song could be the next cha cha"
Oooh (Repeated by Trey until song ends)
Notes: FUNKY TUNE!!! The chorus to this song
was first known as "Time" when part of it was
first played
Live Debute: Chorus first played 6/25/97
Entire tune : Not yet played
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MOMA DANCE By: Anastasio/Gordon/McConnell/Fishman
All throughout, I gaze and glimpse you,
Although they never did convice you,
I see you when your all alone,
It's like a person that's not known,
The moment ends though I feel winds,
Blowing differently then ever before,
And they're pushing me further from shore,
The moment ends though I feel winds,
The moment ends though I feel winds.
The moment ends, the moments ends (5x)
Here the ringing,
Taking Sail,
A mindless skimmer,
That will not fail.
We'll bring out wine,
And we'll be fine,
Just hear the oar (order?),
And watch the sail.
The moment ends, though I feel winds. (6x)
The moment ends, the moments ends (5x)
Notes: This, Black Eyed Katy, with words is my
3rd favorite new tune.. They wanted to make a
Funk song, and here it is.. Yes, they are saying,
"The moment ends" but, it's called the Moma Dance..
Live Debute: 6/30/98 - Trey teaches everyone
how to do "the moma dance"
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VULTURES By:Anastasio/Marshall
(Trey sings)
Blinding with ambition like a razor to the throat,
Cast aside your foolish pride and cast a final vote.
The feelings you've been waiting for are clawing through your skin,
And if you look above you'll see the vultures moving in.
(Very, very fast)
Timing is everything, that much I know,
Sometimes it's faster and sometimes it's slow,
It seems ---- ?
To go to the end of the line
For all I see that's expected of me,
I look at the clock, it's late as can be,
The vultures move past without reason or rhyme,
And the I see, I see the vultures moving in.
I see the vultures, see the vultures moving in.
I see the vultures, see the vultures moving in.
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On the Ghost tape.. Trey add's some humor to this tune
Ooh potato...
Blinding with ambition like a potato to the throat,
Cast aside your foolish pride, I'll put you in a boat.
I'll send you to the orient and put you on a train
Notes: Try and find a copy of this song from the Europe
97 shows.. There are some great versions of this song.
12/13/97 and most recently 8/6/98, have very nice
versions of Vultures
Live Debute: 06/6/97 Brad Sand's House
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BIRDS OF A FEATHER By: Anastasio/Marshall
It's easy sometimes, when you just, coast along,
But like it or not something always seems to go wrong.
Sometimes people build you up,
Just so they can knock you down,
Sometimes they will have you there,
Cause they need someone around.
Perhaps you'll recieve invitations for tea,
Perhaps you will laugh,
And you'll make them all smile,
Or maybe you'll join them,
Cause it had to be.
Perhaps you'll forget that you forgot for a while.
Birds of a feather, are flocking outside (4x)
Like wicketts- they dance in a curly-q dance,
The pulses and ringing,
They can't find the chance.
A ritual drumming,
Although at first glance,
You though you could run,
But you won't take a chance.
It's not an experience,
If they can't bring someone along,
They hang on emotions they bottle inside,
They peck at the ground,
And they strut out of stride.
Birds of a Feather are flocking outside.
Notes: I've heard people deem this song, the "My Soul"
of 98. I'd have to disagree with that. Yes, we all have
noticed that they seem to pull this one out very often, but
everytime I hear it, I'm thankful they played it.. Nice and
funky.. Especially Trey's great solo in the middle..
Live Debute: 04/02/98
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LIMB BY LIMB By:Anastasio/Marshall
(Trey)
The shoulder that I leaned on was carved out of stone,
But when I'm done freezing, I want to be alone.
(Trey and Page alternate lines, Trey begins)
Never want my hand cut off, (Trey)
-Never want a whooping cough (Page)
Never need a cliffside push,
-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's the room my walking takes,
-Left alone with my mistakes
Up againsed a person who,
-Up 'till now I never knew
Up from hell the answer blew,
-Up and down, it's up to you
(All 4)
Drop me off the chinese wall,
And peel my fingers off the rim.
I'm come unglued while in mid-air,
And land to reform,
Limb by Limb,
And I am taken far away (Mike)
--Lingering slowly and melting away (Trey)
And I am taken far away
--Tossed with the salad and bailed with the hay,
And I am taken far away
--Pooling like water that drips from above
And I am taken far away
--Trampled by lambs and pecked by the dove
And I am taken far away
--Silence is suddenly smothering me
And I am taken far away
--Nothing I touch and nothing I see
And I am taken far away
--Posseses impulses fit to be seen-
And I am taken far away
--If I am the drone than where is my queen
(Repeat verse again)
Drop me off the chinese wall,
And peel my fingers off the rim.
I'm come unglued while in mid-air,
And land to reform,
Limb by Limb by Limb by Limb by Limb
Notes: The new version is similar to the old but with a
nicer "middle" with great jams.... Try and find your-
self a copy of a recent limb, such as 8-3-98 (great
version) and see what you think.
Live Debute: 06/6/97 Brad Sand's House
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I SAW IT AGAIN By: Anastasio/Marshall
I saw it again,
--I saw it again
A form in my window,
--In my window
It wants to come in.
Well, I seen it before,
When I wake in the night
--When I wake up, in the night,
--Wake from my dreams.
I try not to look,
But my curtains blow open.
Then there is the shape,
That I fear,
And I'm fully awoken.
I saw it again, I saw it again..
Notes: none
Live Debute: 6/6/97 Brad's House
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FOOLED BY IMAGES -By: Anastasio/Marshall
Waking up,
Wrapped in Lace.
Cigarette,
From your face,
Time to go.
I don't know, what to believe
For I've been fooled by images,
That whirl around me like you do
Of all the dreams,
I've ever had,
Why would you come true?
Why would you come true?
Notes: Very slow ballad
Live Debute: 6/6/97 Brad Sand's House
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DIRT By: Anastasio/Marshall
(Whistling Introduction)
(Mike)
Never hear your voice again...
(Trey)
I'd like to live beneath the dirt.
A tiny space to move and breathe,
Is all that I would ever need.
I want to live beneath the dirt.
Where I'd be free from push and shove,
Like all those swarming up above.
Beneath your heals I'll spend my time.
I'd wiggle 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.
Notes: This song is so down to earth, no pun
intended.. This is one song by Trey and Tom
that show just how far they have come in
writting together.
Live Debute: 6/6/97 Brad's House
==================================
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