The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a rigorous touring schedule that draws a famously dedicated fan base. Their music blends elements of a wide variety of genres, including funk, progressive rock, psychedelic rock, folk, country, jazz, blues, bluegrass, and pop. Phish were part of a movement of improvisational rock groups, inspired by the Grateful Dead and colloquially known as "jam bands", which gained considerable popularity as touring concert acts in the 1990s.
After 15 years of performing together, Phish went on hiatus in 2000. They resumed touring in December 2002, but disbanded in 2004 after a farewell performance at their Coventry Festival in Vermont. They reunited in March 2009 for a series of three consecutive concerts played in the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia, and have since resumed performing regularly.
Although the group received little radio play or MTV exposure, Phish developed a large following by word of mouth during the 1990s, particularly through fan-record tapes of their concerts, which circulated for free online with the band's permission. While often compared to the Grateful Dead, Phish finds their roots in styles such as jazz, funk and alternative rock as opposed to the Dead, who were more influenced by folk, country and blues.
Each Phish concert is different in terms of the songs included and the order in which they appeared, and (for many songs) in the way in which they were performed. Also unique to Phish are their large summer festivals which draw upwards of 70K people to remote areas in Maine and New York State as well as close to 100K for their epic Millennium Show in the Everglades of South Florida.
Along with Bob Dylan and The Beatles, Phish were one of the first bands to have an Internet newsgroup - rec.music.phish - launched in 1991.
In regards to Phish, Rolling Stone magazine proclaimed "Given their sense of community, their ambition and their challenging, generous performances, Phish have become the most important band of the Nineties."
Roggae
Phish Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I love the shiny music that descends from overhead
Gordan knew the moment when the stars all turned around
But from that vantage point I frowned
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
So now I wander over grounds of light and heat and sound and mist
Provoking dreams that don't exist
A circus of light where dreams can take flight
In the peacefulness dreaming dreams brings
The lyrics to Phish’s song Roggae are full of metaphors and imagery, depicting a pensive and nostalgic mood. The singer reflects on their love for the circus – a place that is noisy and chaotic but also full of wonder and excitement. The shiny music that descends from overhead represents a moment of pure bliss and transcendence, an escape from the mundane realities of life. However, despite this joyfulness, the singer is also aware of the passing of time and the impermanence of things. Gordan, a reference to Mike Gordon, one of the members of Phish, is mentioned as having some kind of insight into the universe, but the singer is unable to find that same clarity.
The second stanza seems to be a reflection on how the complexities of life can sometimes make it hard to stay in the present moment. The singer acknowledges that if life were easy and slow-paced, they wouldn’t have to dwell on the past. They also allude to the need for balance, acknowledging the coexistence of darkness and light. The final stanza gets more abstract, as the singer talks about wandering over the “grounds of light and heat and sound and mist,” alluding to some otherworldly realm where dreams can take flight. The circus of light represents a space of infinite possibility where the imagination can run wild and bring peacefulness.
Line by Line Meaning
The circus is the place for me with bears and clowns and noise
I find solace and purpose amidst chaos and confusion.
I love the shiny music that descends from overhead
I am awed by the unexpected beauty life can bring.
Gordan knew the moment when the stars all turned around
Some people have a deep understanding of the universe and its mysteries.
But from that vantage point I frowned
Despite having access to such wisdom, it's easy to get lost.
If life were easy and not so fast
Life is challenging and overwhelming at times.
I wouldn't think about the past
As we struggle to keep up, we often lose sight of what matters most.
I can't forget to turn the earth so both sides get their share
We must take responsibility for our actions and choices to create balance in the world.
Of darkness and of light
The world is made up of both good and bad, and we must learn to navigate both.
So now I wander over grounds of light and heat and sound and mist
I am still searching for answers and meaning in a world that is often confusing.
Provoking dreams that don't exist
I am often disappointed by the gap between my hopes and reality.
A circus of light where dreams can take flight
Despite these challenges, I find hope and inspiration in the world around me.
In the peacefulness dreaming dreams brings
It is in our dreams and imagination that we can find peace and creativity.
Lyrics © Downtown Music Publishing
Written by: JON FISHMAN, MIKE GORDON, PAGE MC CONNELL, TOM MARSHALL, TREY ANASTASIO
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
patrick pilkington
I’ve always loved this song ever since 16 year old me first heard its very mellow and light sort of de facto uplifting sound that to me, arrives by a cavalier attitude within the shared experience of the music playing and the listener gathering. It was and still is a fun song that takes me right back to the time and space of cavalier, gathering and de facto for the sake of 16 and being. Pure love and the contrast of the transition from gentle to pure power in those harder, deeper sounds that cap things neatly as it does. I’ve always kind of heard this one in a way that sums up the overall experience of these shows. Whereas the overly enthused, overly dramatic, overly eager, overly excited, or perhaps more simply, those who didn’t quite stick the landing coming back into reality from psychedelia would and always find some convoluted way to describe a concert as if it were a religious happening. Some describing it as a moment of conversion, some as their awakening, and the seasoned among these fly hards talk as if it’s a pilgrimage. It’s definitely in some way a cultish identity in this reasoning.
I’ve come to just appreciate that aspect but, it did kind of bother me that what I personally loved for the very free and casual atmosphere of anti authoritarian thrill seeking for the social voyeur within us all could be so misunderstood not just by those who would be curious to hear first hand what it’s like but, especially by those who spend their currency of gained experience at the confirmation of collective expectation store. More simply, they tend to tell you as they reassure themselves first and foremost but, ALWAYS in need of your validation, that hippies have to... (fill in your own blank here but, my take is Hippies have to placate the patronizing amongst each other and to anyone having to ask.
“It’s not an experience if they can’t bring someone along.”
“Was it for this, my life I sought?”
Observation and self interrogation from a 16 year old in 1997 but, I was right then and now.
I don’t dislike hippies. Mostly. There are a few bad apples (mostly the ones with the dogs... man I don’t know what to say when I see a hungry hippie and his desperate looking pit bull...)
Anyways. I’ve always loved the band and the shows for their Americana aspect and appreciation for me is like that I feel for baseball or the Red Sox or Babe Ruth. I’ll have a passionate attachment but, not anything to dedicate the essence of your soul to I guess.
“The circus is the place for me.” That’s just it and has always set the scene to me so perfectly.
The balancing of humility and light hearted joy against the passion of inspiration, excitement and the individual who can seemingly have the simultaneous energies so mesmerizing that you might think you need to “turn the earth so both sides get their share of darkness and of light.
... light, heat, & sounds, & mist. Provoking dreams that don’t exist. Amazing stuff. I think that’s something overlooked in each and all is that we don’t even know what we are capable of imagining yet. The potential in the impossibly vast scope of this thought gives me the most satisfying sense of existence and gratitude to be allowed to have even one single second of it. God is good and I humbly thank him for gifts like these and music that inspires.
djhatcher
I can not communicate verbally the love I have for these guys
Scott Wolf
You just did.
Daniel McGlauflin
Every so often while listening , I get this feeling of God, I hope someone else is getting as much out of this as I am" I see fellow phans dancing at shows and every once in a while I get feelings that someone else gets it... your comment makes me feel that way ,
daveritz18
This version of Roggae is mindblowing. The way Trey brings the tension/release to a peak is a moment that I will never forget. Every time I hear this Bakers Dozen version my hair stands on end...thank you...
Cameron Mayfield
im just balling my eyes out because of those multiple peaks and just how beautiful this is and how much we all miss it .. wow best roggae
rm1133
I love the way they land it. They come out of that mammoth jam so in sync and then land it like a butterfly with sore feet.
Joseph Johnson
mike is absolutely unbelievable in this, driving this jam
adammclaren
Joseph Johnson mike is always the unsung hero
Sundance Morgan
@adammclaren Nah, he gets plenty of recognition. Hero? Unsung? Nah.
Juliano Soares Pagin
The amount of peaks ...
Just unreal.
Love to all you phan out there directly from Brazil