Hello Phish Phans!
We last left off with the execution of Mr. Palmer in the town square by the ACDC Bag, a robotic hangman. Mr. Palmer was the evil King Wilson’s accountant but also a revolutionary, and had been extorting Wilson’s money to fund the revolution. But as sad as it was to learn the death of a character we had just been introduced to, that 12/30/97 ACDC Bag had a pretty wicked jam on it.
Here we continue the narration:
By that night, news of Palmer’s death had traveled back to the camp. Spirits were low and Colonel Forbin felt devastated. Even though he had only been in Gamehendge for one day, he had already developed a deep hatred for Wilson. He wanted desperately to help the revolutionaries, but without Palmer, it seemed hopeless. He wandered slowly through the camp and passed Errand Wolfe, sitting by the fire with Rutherford, who had returned that afternoon. He walked on and soon found himself outside of Tela’s hut. Forbin knocked and walked in. Tela sat behind a makeshift desk in the center of a room that was littered with small cages containing spotted stripers, a tiny three-legged breed of animal. The unit monster sat in the corner. The colonel took a step toward Tela and spoke. “I needed to come here tonight” he said, “to tell you that I’ve fallen in love with you.” He looked to her eyes for approval but her face remained frozen in an expressionless stare. An awkward blanket of silence fell over the room and hung for a long moment before being shattered by the sound of the door swinging violently open. It was Rutherford the Brave. The ironclad knight rushed across the room and gripped the throats of Tela and the unit monster in each of his mighty hands. They struggled to break free but even the unit monster was no match for Rutherford’s power and soon it was over. The bodies fell to the floor in a lifeless heap. Colonel Forbin stepped forward from where he stood in the corner unable to contain his confusion and rage and screamed “WHY?” His question was answered by Errand Wolfe who had quietly slipped through the doorway during the confusion. “She was a spy,” he said, and explained to Forbin that she had been sending information to Wilson using the spotted stripers as carriers. Roger’s death had aroused his suspicion, and Palmer’s had confirmed it. The colonel stood in silence in a world that had turned up-side-down so many times that he no longer knew which way was up. It had all seemed so simple when he first arrived. Good versus evil, and of course he had sided with good as he had done all his life. And now, he stood and stared into the eyes of Errand Wolfe and he saw evil. The entire picture began to seem like an enormous puzzle with one piece missing, and the colonel knew what that piece was. “Within twenty-four hours,” he said to Errand Wolfe, “You will have the Helping Friendly Book.” And even as the words were leaving his lips, he found himself running out the door and into the forest, not towards Prussia, but toward the great mountain looming in the distance.
This brings us to the next songs, “Colonel Forbin’s Ascent” and “Fly Famous Mockingbird”
This youtube video from a show in ’92 has both (since they are usually played together) with a little bit of “Icculus” in the middle. If you liked “Icculus,” check out this version from ’88: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywt90N29Koc
COLONEL FORBIN’S ASCENT
Colonel Forbin stared up at the mountain
And wiped away the beads of sweat
That glistened on his brow
His tired feet were buried in the quagmire
And his bloodshot eyes saw all that lay between him
And fulfillment of his vow
And he felt his fingers wrap around a knotted root
And pulled his body upwards
To a sea green mossy boulder
And he dragged his weary carcass [or “shit-ass”] up the mountain
And he climbed so slowly
He climbed so slowly
Ahead
Ahead
Suddenly he heard the crack of thunder
And the rocks began to crumble overhead
And tumble down the mountain to the
Dismal swamp that lay beneath the jagged cliffs
through which his path had led
And the earth began to quake beneath his feet
And the mighty mountain changed before his eyes
And he stood amidst a sea of dust and rocks and stones
Cascading down the mountain
And a thousand birds were headed for the sky. Oh…
The sacred creed will be yours
And if you wait until tomorrow
The sacred creed will be yours
To devour
Yours
To seize
And to obey
Obey
When the dust had cleared, the colonel lifted up his head
And was driven to his knees by a blazing beam of light
And he saw the silhouette that stood before him
And he bowed in reverence
Trembling in the shadow of the mighty legend’s form
Icculus the prophet stood before his eyes
Looking down on Colonel Forbin
Where he shuddered in the puddles and the muck
And he quietly addressed him
And he spoke so slowly
He spoke so slowly
Ahead
He said
Colonel Forbin I know why you’ve come here
And I’ll help you with your quest to gain the knowledge that you lack
I call upon my faithful friend the mockingbird
To fly and seize the helping book and bring it to your shack
And a tree of knowledge in your soul will grow
And the Helping Friendly Book will plant the seed
But I warn you that all knowledge seeming innocent and pure
Becomes a deadly weapon in the hands of avarice
And greed
The sacred greed will be yours
And if you wait until tomorrow
The sacred creed will be yours
To devour
Yours
To seize
And to obey
And to obey
Narration: And the famous mockingbird swooped down out of the sky and landed on Icculus’s shoulder, and Icculus whispered into the bird’s ear, and it flew off toward Wilson’s castle in the valley below.
FAMOUS MOCKINGBIRD
Fly famous mockingbird
Fly…
Fly famous mockingbird
Fly…
Fly famous mockingbird
Fly…
Fly famous mockingbird
Fly…
Fly…
Fly…
Fly famous mockingbird
Fly…
Narration: The next morning at the camp Errand Wolfe and Rutherford stood frozen in awe as the famous mockingbird flew out of the sky and laid the Helping Friendly Book at their feet. The quest for the book had dragged on for so many years that it’s sudden appearance left the men staring in disbelief, unsure of what their next move should be. The shock wore off quickly though, and Errand Wolfe shot into high gear. He snatched up the book with one hand and the famous mockingbird with the other, and began to inform Rutherford of his plan. He would first kill Wilson, and then put the Helping Friendly Book to work for him.
We’ll pick up from here next week!
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