Phish.net > Charts > Narration Chart: "Mockingbird", 1995-12-31

TREY: I was thinking about it today because it’s sort of like breathing. It’s one of these things, the way that time passes by, you know you’re breathing all day long but you rarely think about it, it just kind of happens. It would be pretty weird if we did have to think about breathing all the time. Time, the passage of time, is really pretty similar to that; it just kind of keeps passing by.

You know, that’s probably what you think, but i might as well tell you the reality of the situation here. It’s something that we’ve known for a long time. I never really wanted to take credit for it before. Some of you probably wonder what we’re doing when we’re not out on tour. When time’s off, what we do with our other hours of the day. Really, what it is is our job is that we work in the Gamehendge Time Laboratory creating time [Mike plays a tease from Wizard of Oz].

It’s hard work, hard work y’know. Gotta get the Helping Friendly Book, you open it up, find the recipe for time, and then turn the knobs, turn the levers all day. You know, it’s hard, hard work., something that really we take for granted, but it is what we do when we’re off. It’s an important thing because the years they keep going by. You’ve got to wonder what would happen if time stopped passing, if you got stuck in time. Imagine if we didn’t show up for work one daym, creating time.

Suddenly imagine, like, let’s say, 1994 came and time just stopped. We didn’t go to work, no more years passed. Everywhere you go it’s still 1994. Y’know, you turn on the radio and the same song is playing over and over again for 1994. [Band performs “Shine” featuring Tom Marshall] That would be horrible wouldn’t it, if time stopped? Really...

OFF MIC: Whaaat a nightmare!

TREY: The scary thing is… In this world, time is still going on, we’re going to have another year. Unfortunately, right now, there’s sort of a dilemma in Gamehendge. That’s it. Wilson stealing the Helping Friendly Book and sticking up in the tower, the Gamehendge portion of the Time/Phish/Time Laboratory is no longer able to function because they don’t have the right recipe for time so everybody there right now -- we have to be here playing the gig -- right now, they’re kind of running around with their heads cut off looking for the recipe for time so they can have another year, y’know.

What happens here, if you’ll come with me, is Colonel Forbin right now, that’s why he’s climbing up the mountain trying to find Icculus because he really wants the year to progress to the next year. So he’s climbing up the mountain trying to find the Great and Knowledgeable Icculus who will send the Famous Mockingbird to get the Helping Friendly Book, bring it back to the Phish/Gamehendge Time Manufacturing Laboratory, Incorporated. They’ll be able to have another year.

So here he comes now, the Famous Mockingbird, to allow Gamehendge to have another year...