Phish – “Waiting All Night” (Song Review)

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Conventional wisdom has it that any Phish song with vocals is a loathsome thing. Certainly, most of the signature compositions in the Phish repertoire have vocal parts that are dwarfed by magnificent prog-jams. But this doesn’t tell the full story. Trey Anastasio and company have always been good vocal harmonizers, and they can also be whimsical storytellers when they want to be. (When they don’t, you get lyrics like “Bin you to have any Spike, man?” from “Run like an Antelope.”) Furthermore, Anastasio’s gentle crooning can convey a certain Vermonty coziness — kind of like a dozen organic pumpkin scones. When combined with empathy for weirdo loneliness — as in “Brian and Robert” from The Story of the Ghost — such vocals can be quite compelling.

All this brings us to “Waiting All Night” from Phish’s forthcoming album, Fuego. The vocals from all four band members on this tune are in the foreground, and they convey the lonely sadness of a guy who has been left behind by his former lover. Producer Bob Ezrin has most likely sweetened these vocals — drummer Jon Fishman hasn’t sounded so good singing lead since he belted out “Cracklin’ Rosie” in Worchester on New Years’ Eve 1993. Still, they are powerfully emotive. Anastasio delivers the lines “And I said I’m sorry/but you went so far away./ Don’t know why you left me this way/ But you sailed on, sailed on,” with ringing pathos that stretches his voice to the limit without breaking it.

The instrumental support is in a minimalist vein. It rolls along like a jazzy stroll through space, one part Pink Floyd, one part bossa nova. At first, this backing sounds like a repetitive pulse. Repeated listening reveals gradual, subtle changes that mirror the growth of the pink goo in the video that accompanies the song. Toward the middle, Anastasio’s guitar tone takes on a 90s feel, faintly resembling Soundgarden’s “Black-Hole Sun.” The gradual progression of riffs and patterns injects a sense of hope into a story about loss.

What Phish fans want to know, of course, is whether this tune will engender great jams in a live setting. They got a taste of this when the band played this song and the rest of their then-not-yet-recorded album at their Halloween show, but such debuts are always tentative. Personally, I hear a lot of potential for interstellar exploration in the way Anastasio’s guitar and Page McConnel’s keyboards lock-in toward the end of the song. We shall see…

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