Comments on: Making the Case: The “Best” Phish Song

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:59:40 +0000

Are you guys serious? Time Turns Elastic is clearly the greatest Phish song ever composed. What are you all taking acid and huffing nitrous or something? Joy is definitely a close 2nd

By: travis

travis — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:32:20 +0000

reba. hands down.

By: jpf1138

jpf1138 — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 14:41:10 +0000

Agreed!

By: Jim Rizzo

Jim Rizzo — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 22:07:47 +0000

Considering when this was written, some of those songs (Chalkdust, especially) have become bigger jam vehicles. Even YEM has more jamming now.

Honestly, though, I don't think there's such a thing as the “best” Phish song because their music covers so much different territory from straight up rock, to intricate composed pieces, to bluegrass, barbershop, ballads, etc. It's difficult. YEM is the quintessential Phish song, hands down. It's composed, it's got a little jam, it's got the vocal jam, it's got stage antics, it's as “Phish-y” as it gets. But when it comes down to the best, that just doesn't exist with Phish.

By: Jim Rizzo

Jim Rizzo — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:07:47 +0000

Considering when this was written, some of those songs (Chalkdust, especially) have become bigger jam vehicles. Even YEM has more jamming now.

By: john

john — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:34:46 +0000

wtf??? no one has even mentioned down with disease.

By: Adam S

Adam S — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:10:47 +0000

Heavy Things is a relatively new song, it's rarely explored as a jamming vehicle, and it was a single. Also, it debuted not as a Phish song, but as a Trey solo song in 1999. I think you would be hard-pressed to find any Phish fans who would call that one of their favorites.

By: amberluvsphish

amberluvsphish — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:32:06 +0000

does any one love the song heavy things by Phish i cant believe its not listed as a favorite yet

By: Festival 8 | firsttube.com

Festival 8 | firsttube.com — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:46:57 +0000

[...] It didn’t get colkd for set 3, which was welcome. By this point, everyone was realizing that the weekend was winding down. So we settled in, knowing, as well as one can, that we were in for a Tweezer. And we were, Set 3 opened with Tweezer -> Maze. Then came some very good songs: Free, my first Sugar Shack, a high-energy Limb By Limb, and a heavy Theme From the Bottom. The closing series was Mike’s Song > 2001 > Light > Slave to the Traffic Light, which is very hard to beat. I love Light, this one is being debated on many discussion groups as great vs standard, but I love Light, and given the atmosphere, I call it great. And, as you may know, I’ve already made the case for Slave. [...]

By: Sonny

Sonny — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:00:00 +0000

John, I'll subscribe to your blog when you start one. I agree with Reba.

By: John

John — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 22:24:27 +0000

Not one mention of the fine old lady…. Reba is by far the best Phish song EVER. Not my opinion, FACT…

By: John

John — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 20:34:18 +0000

I have to agree with Fluffhead… it’s got everything that I love about Phish: tightly arranged parts, loose free-form jam, lyrics that don’t take themselves too seriously, a bit of humor, tempo changes, and that big explosive “Fluffy Fluffy Fluffy Fluffy Fluffy Fluffy Head” at the end. Rocks.

By: Steve

Steve — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 15:56:54 +0000

Does it get any better than when Trey hits the first hard chord on Run Like an Antelope?

By: mike

mike — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:41:06 +0000

I have been going through this process over the past few years, coming up with criteria, rating factors, and a formula to score the whole thing. Finalists included: Slave, YEM, Divided Sky, Punch You in the Eye, Colonel Forbin/Famous Mockingbird (disqualified because it is two songs really).

And the winner is: Run Like an Antelope

By: garrison beau scott

garrison beau scott — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 00:12:22 +0000

I’d like to suggest one more criteria for this campaign and that would be what I call “significant irreverence.” That element of a song that contained so much nonsense that it made sense.

Epitomized by David Bowie, Dinner and a Movie and of course, Fluffhead.

But done no where better than in Carini.