Hello Phish Phans!
In the continuing saga of Colonel Forbin’s journey in Gamehendge, we last left off with our hero ascending up the mountain to ask the Great and Knowledgeable Icculus for help in retrieving the Helping Friendly Book from the Evil King Wilson. Icculus then sent the Famous Mockingbird to go retrieve the Book from Wilson’s castle.
The narration continues:
“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.
With Rutherford’s aid he fastened the famous mockingbird to a pole, with glue and rubber bands, to insure the secrecy of his mission, and then set out to find the only man in Gamehendge who could handle the job of eliminating a King.”
This leads into the next song, “The Sloth.” The Sloth is an assassin who is hired by Errand Wolfe to kill Wilson.
Lyrics:
They call me the sloth
Way down in the ghetto
Italian Spaghetti
Singing falsetto
Sleeping all day
Rip Van Winklin’
Spend my nights in bars
Glasses tinklin’
I’m so bad
He’s so nasty
Ain’t got no friends
Real outcasty
Stay out of my way
Or you’ll end up a cripple
I’ll take this piece of paper
And slice your nipple
They call me the sloth
Way down in the ghetto
Italian Spaghetti
Singing falsetto
Sleeping all day
Rip Van Winklin’
Spend my nights in bars
Glasses tinklin’
Narration: “Colonel Forbin stared at the fourteen bars that stood at the end of the cell. He ran his hand across the cold, damp dungeon wall and thought again about the door. He had traveled through the door out of necessity. Once he knew it existed, he simply couldn’t leave it alone. Just like Wilson. Just like Tela. Just like Errand Wolfe. And he sat in the dungeon, and he realized that he was back again through the door. And through the tiny window in the corner of his cell, he heard the distant strains.
Errand
Errand
Errand
Errand
And from atop the mountain Icculus looked down on all that went on below him. And he smiled.”
And so with the death of Wilson, Errand Wolfe, who was once the leader of the revolutionaries, claimed the throne and title as King of the Lizards.
This is basically the end of the Gamehendge story. In the original thesis, the song “Possum” follows “The Sloth,” but it doesn’t contribute any further plot development (that will still be the subject of next week’s newsletter).
The original recording exists in full on YouTube and you can listen to it here (~60 min): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_zvgj3c074
Fun fact: Phish has performed the full Gamehendge story, complete with narration, during 4 live shows (1988-03-12, 1993-03-22, 1994-06-26, and 1994-07-08).
Dan's Phish Blog 