Harpua

Last updated
"Harpua"
Song by Phish
from the album Colorado '88
Released2006
Genre Rock
Length12:27 (on Colorado '88)
Label JEMP Records
Songwriter(s) Trey Anastasio, Jon Fishman
Producer(s) Phish

"Harpua" is a Phish song that was a staple of their live concerts, but has now become a rarity and has only been performed live. Its first appearance on an album was on Live Phish Volume 2 , a 2001 release featuring a concert from 1994. [1] Though it follows the same basic structure in every performance (see The Divided Sky and You Enjoy Myself for other examples of songs in which variation occurs within a fixed structure), Trey Anastasio narrates a different story at every concert.

Contents

The song's introduction is an a cappella "oom pah pah" melody sung by all members of the band.

After its first appearance on record, the song later appeared on Live Phish Volume 13 (2002, recorded 1994), Live Phish Volume 14 (2002, recorded 1995), Colorado '88 (2006, recorded 1988), Vegas 96 (2007, recorded 1996 and featuring Les Claypool and Larry LaLonde), The Clifford Ball (2009, recorded 1996) and Chicago '94 (2012, recorded 1994).

"Harpua" section

A section of Gamehendge-related lyrics, concerning "me and Harpua", follows the a cappella introduction. They are occasionally improvised upon, but the melody remains the same. The Harpua section is composed in 7/8 time.

The story

A new guitar lick follows the end of the "Harpua" section, introducing a unique story that Trey Anastasio tells at every performance of the song. Rarely, Jon Fishman interjects with humorous asides during the narration.

It is often (more clearly) revealed in this section that Harpua is a dog. Also, a character named Jimmy (through several performances it revealed that Jimmy is really Fishman i.e. 12/06/1996, 07/29/2003), who owns a cat called Poster Nutbag is always featured. Poster Nutbag will always be dead by the end of the story, often as a result of a disastrous occurrence (see below.) Other recurring themes included:

The death of Poster Nutbag

One way or another, Trey will kill off Poster Nutbag at or near the very end of the story using a natural disaster or some other form of death. This results in a conversation between Jimmy (narrated by Page McConnell) and his father (narrated by Mike Gordon) that is generally the same every time it is performed.

Father: Jimmy? Jimmy: Yes, dad? Father: Jimmy, I have bad news. Jimmy: What is it, dad? Father: It's about your cat... Poster. Jimmy: Poster Nutbag? Father: Your cat died!  Poster is dead (2x) Poster's so dead   Father: How about a goldfish? Jimmy: I don't want a goldfish (3x), I want a dog... A dog...

A Dog in the Station

This request on Jimmy's part provokes the beginning of the next section, which is a new song in a poppish format.:

There's a dog in the station With an ugly mutation And it needs lubrication each day There's a dog in the station Contemplating rotation As a form of recreation and play  A dog...

At this point there is a blues jam on the piano by Page McConnell. Then:

There's a dog in the station With a bad reputation It's a sign of the nation's decay But the dog in the station Doesn't need a vacation As the people rush by dressed in gray...  A dog...

A final jam through the melody of "Dog in the Station" and a recapitulation of the lick that introduced the "story" section on top of a final "A dog...." ends the song.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phish</span> American rock band

Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the primary lead vocalist.

<i>Hampton Comes Alive</i> 1999 live album by Phish

Hampton Comes Alive is a six-disc live album by the American rock band Phish, released on November 23, 1999, by Elektra Records. It is the band's third live album and the first time complete live Phish concerts were released in their entirety. Hampton Comes Alive consists of two full concerts recorded on November 20 and 21, 1998, at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia. The album title is a play on Peter Frampton's classic live album Frampton Comes Alive!.

The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday is a 1987 concept album written by Trey Anastasio, the guitarist and lead vocalist of the American rock band Phish, as his senior thesis while attending Goddard College. Composed in 1987, the thesis included an essay piece and collection of songs relating an epic tale from the band's fictional land of Gamehendge.

Gamehendge is the fictional setting for a number of songs by the rock band Phish. Most of the songs can be traced back to The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday, the senior project of guitarist and primary vocalist Trey Anastasio, written while he attended Goddard College in 1987. The recording of TMWSIY has been heavily circulated among fans and is considered by some to be an unreleased Phish album. Outside of the songs from TMWSIY, there are numerous other songs set in the fictional universe of Gamehendge.

<i>Live Phish Volume 16</i> 2002 live album by Phish

Live Phish Vol. 16 is a live album by Vermont-based jam band Phish released on October 29, 2002. It was recorded live at Thomas and Mack Center located on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in Paradise, Nevada on Halloween night, 1998.

<i>Phish: New Years Eve 1995 – Live at Madison Square Garden</i> 2005 live album by Phish

New Year's Eve 1995 - Live at Madison Square Garden is a live concert album by American rock band Phish that was released in 2005. The album comprises the band's December 31, 1995 show at Madison Square Garden, named by Rolling Stone as one of the "Greatest Concerts of the '90s".

<i>Live Phish Volume 2</i> 2001 live album by Phish

Live Phish Vol. 2 was recorded live on July 16, 1994 and was released on September 18, 2001 as part of the Live Phish Series. The show was performed on the side of a ski slope at the Sugarbush Resort in the town of North Fayston, located in Phish's home state of Vermont. It was the final concert of the band's highly successful 1994 summer tour. Earlier in the year, the band had released its highest selling album to date (Hoist) and the size of the Phish audience had expanded greatly by the summer. The Sugarbush concert, which included overnight camping on the ski slope under the stars, was slated as the grand finale of the tour.

<i>Phish: Live in Vegas</i> 2002 film

Phish: Live in Vegas (2000) is a video of a complete live performance by the rock band Phish recorded at the Thomas & Mack Center on September 30, 2000, bandleader Trey Anastasio's 36th birthday. It includes many rarities and songs that were brought out of "retirement" after long periods of inactivity.

<i>Live Phish Volume 8</i> 2002 live album by Phish

Live Phish Vol. 8 was recorded live at the E Centre in Camden, New Jersey, a suburb of Philadelphia, on July 10, 1999.

<i>Live Phish Volume 10</i> 2002 live album by Phish

Live Phish Vol. 10 was recorded live at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Columbus, Ohio on June 22, 1994. Some Phish hobbyists advance that the concert ranks among the five best the band has ever played, although the weight of reliable authority holds otherwise.

<i>Live Phish Volume 13</i> 2002 live album by Phish

Live Phish Vol. 13 was an album recorded live at the Glens Falls Civic Center in Glens Falls, New York on Halloween night, 1994. It was released on October 29, 2002, along with Volume 14, Volume 15, and Volume 16.

<i>Live Phish Volume 14</i> 2002 live album by Phish

Live Phish Vol. 14 was recorded live at the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, Illinois, near Chicago, on Halloween night, 1995.

<i>Live Phish Volume 19</i> 2003 live album by Phish

Live Phish Vol. 19 was recorded live at the Colonial Theater in Keene, New Hampshire, on July 12, 1991.

<i>Live Phish 07.29.03</i> 2003 live album by Phish (Live Series)

Live Phish 07.29.03 was recorded live at the Post-Gazette Pavilion at Star Lake in Burgettstown, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh, on July 29, 2003.

<i>Colorado 88</i> 2006 live album by Phish

Colorado '88 is a 3-CD live album from the rock band Phish, recorded over several nights in summer 1988. Despite having only traveled outside Vermont occasionally, in the New England college and club circuit, Phish embarked on a tour in the west. The band played seven shows in ten days to tiny crowds in small bars and restaurants in the ski towns of Telluride and Aspen. Colorado '88 collects, in chronological order, the best of those shows, providing a vivid glimpse into the days before the three and four-night stands at amphitheaters and arenas that would distinguish Phish in the years to come.

<i>Vegas 96</i> 2007 live album by Phish

Vegas 96 is a triple live album from the American jam band Phish, recorded live at the Aladdin Theatre in Las Vegas, Nevada, on December 6, 1996. In addition to the 3-CD set, a limited edition box version also includes a DVD with archival footage from the show and an extensive 40-page bound-book featuring photos and notes.

<i>The Clifford Ball</i> (video) 2009 film

The Clifford Ball is a seven-DVD box set released on March 3, 2009 by the rock band Phish. It was performed on August 16 and August 17, 1996 at Plattsburgh Air Force Base in Plattsburgh, NY, chronicling the first of ten Phish festivals. The collection received a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package in 2009.

<i>Chicago 94</i> 2012 live album by Phish

Chicago '94 is a live album by the rock band Phish. It contains two complete concerts on six CDs, and was recorded at the UIC Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois on June 18 and November 25, 1994. It was released by JEMP Records on July 31, 2012.

<i>St. Louis 93</i> 2017 live album by Phish

St. Louis '93 is a six-disc live album by the rock band Phish. It includes two complete concerts, recorded on April 14, 1993 and August 16, 1993.

The Baker's Dozen was a series of thirteen concerts performed by Vermont-based jam band Phish between July 21 and August 6, 2017 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York. Each night featured a completely unique setlist with no songs repeated throughout the event, with the band playing 237 songs in total. The full set of shows was released as a box set entitled The Complete Baker's Dozen, alongside a three-disc live album of highlights, The Baker's Dozen: Live at Madison Square Garden.

References

  1. "Live Phish, Vol. 2: 7/16/94, Sugarbush Summerstage, North Fayston, VT - Phish | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic .
  2. 1 2 3 "Phish Surprises With Rare 'Harpua' Encore And Bust Outs Galore In Spectacular Dick's Tour Closer". Live for Live Music. 7 September 2015.