"Harpua" is a

Phish 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 ...

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 ''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 ...

'', a 2001 release featuring a concert from 1994. Though it follows the same basic structure in every performance (see The Divided Sky and

You Enjoy Myself "You Enjoy Myself", commonly abbreviated to "YEM", is a Phish song written by Trey Anastasio, first played live on February 3, 1986. It is the band's most frequently performed song, having been played at about 33% of their first 1,800 shows. Hi ...

for other examples of songs in which variation occurs within a fixed structure),

Trey Anastasio Ernest Joseph "Trey" Anastasio III (born September 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter, best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983. He is credited by name as composer of 152 Phish o ...

narrates a different story at every concert. The song's introduction is an

a cappella ''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...

"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 ''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''. It marks the ...

'' (2002, recorded 1994), ''

Live Phish Volume 14 ''Live Phish Vol. 14'' was recorded live at the Rosemont Horizon (now the Allstate Arena) in Rosemont, Illinois, near Chicago, on Halloween night, 1995. It marks the second of five Halloween shows in which Phish dressed up in a " musical costum ...

'' (2002, recorded 1995), ''

Colorado '88 ''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 w ...

'' (2006, recorded 1988), ''

Vegas 96 ''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 f ...

'' (2007, recorded 1996 and featuring

Les Claypool Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, filmmaker, and author. He is best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, primary songwriter, and only continuous member of the ro ...

and

Larry LaLonde Reid Laurence "Larry" LaLonde (born September 12, 1968), also known as Ler LaLonde, is an American musician best known as the guitarist for Primus, a position that he has served since 1989, where he is known for his experimental accompaniment t ...

), '' The Clifford Ball'' (2009, recorded 1996) and ''

Chicago '94 ''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. C ...

'' (2012, recorded 1994).

"Harpua" section

A section 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'' (or TMWSIY), the senior project of guitarist and primary vocalist Trey Anastasio, writte ...

-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

tells at every performance of the song. Rarely,

Jon Fishman Jon Fishman (born February 19, 1965) is an American drummer known for his work with the band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983, and which was, in part, named after him. He is credited with co-writing nineteen Phish songs, eight with a solo cr ...

interjects with humorous asides during the narration. It is often (more clearly) revealed in this section that Harpua is a

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

. 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: *A village (usually in Gamehenge or a

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', describing a fictional ...

n state, surrounded by forest and mountains) *Characters from Gamehenge (such as Wilson) *Making a reference to the venue and date of the concert *A very brief

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

of another song to complement the plot of the story **"

Voodoo Chile "Voodoo Chile" ( ) is a song written by Jimi Hendrix and recorded in 1968 for the third Jimi Hendrix Experience album ''Electric Ladyland''. It is based on the Muddy Waters blues song " Rollin' Stone", but with original lyrics and music. At 15 min ...

" by Jimi Hendrix on 6/17/94 **" Also Sprach Zarathrustra" etter known as the theme from 2001: A Space Odysseyby Richard Strauss on 7/16/94 **"

War Pigs "War Pigs" is an anti-war protest song by English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, released in 1970, it is the opening track from the band's second studio album '' Paranoid'' (1970). Overview The original title of "War Pigs" was "Walpurgis", ...

" by Black Sabbath on 10/31/94 **" Beat It" by Michael Jackson on 10/31/95 **"

I Want to Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart "I Wanna Be a Cowboy's Sweetheart" is a country and Western song written and first recorded in 1935 by Ruby Blevins, who performed as Patsy Montana. It was the first country song by a female artist to sell more than one million copies. Backgrou ...

" and "

Suspicious Minds "Suspicious Minds" is a 1968 song written and first recorded by American songwriter Mark James. After this recording failed commercially, it was cut by Elvis Presley with producer Chips Moman, becoming a No. 1 song in 1969, and one of the most ...

" by Elvis on 12/06/96 **"

Champagne Supernova "Champagne Supernova" is a song by English rock band Oasis, written by Noel Gallagher. It is the closing track on the band's second studio album, ''(What's the Story) Morning Glory?'' (1995), and was released as the sixth and final single from ...

" by

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

on 12/29/96 **"

I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" is a song written and performed by Scottish duo the Proclaimers, and first released as the lead single from their 1988 album '' Sunshine on Leith''. The song reached number 11 in the UK Singles Chart on its initial re ...

" by

The Proclaimers ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

on 12/30/97 **The band also performed the entire ''

Dark Side of the Moon ''The Dark Side of the Moon'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 1 March 1973 by Harvest Records. The album was primarily developed during live performances, and the band premiered an early version of t ...

'' (

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

) album on 11/02/98 **"

Fooled Around and Fell in Love "Fooled Around and Fell in Love" is a song written and performed by blues guitarist Elvin Bishop with Mickey Thomas on lead vocals. It appeared on his 1975 album, ''Struttin' My Stuff'', and was released as a single the following year. Backgro ...

" by Elvin Bishop on 7/29/03 **"

I Kissed A Girl "I Kissed a Girl" is the debut single of American singer Katy Perry from her second studio album, ''One of the Boys'' (2008). It was released on April 28, 2008, by Capitol Records as the lead single from the record. Perry co-wrote the song with ...

" by Katy Perry on 8/16/09 **"

Killing in the Name "Killing in the Name" is a protest song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine, and appears on their 1992 self-titled debut album. It was released as the lead single from the album in November 1992. It features heavy drop-D guitar riff ...

" by

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerfor ...

on 7/4/10 (this song was covered in its entirety) **"" After Midnight" by

JJ Cale John Weldon "J. J." Cale (December 5, 1938 – July 26, 2013) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and sound engineer. Though he avoided the limelight, his influence as a musical artist has been acknowledged by figures such as Mark Knop ...

on 9/6/15 (this song was covered in its entirety) **" Once in a Lifetime" by

Talking Heads Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.Talkin ...

on 9/6/15 (this song was covered in its entirety) **"

United We Stand United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

" by

Tony Hiller Anthony Toby Hiller (30 July 1927 – 26 August 2018) was an English songwriter and record producer. He was best known for writing and/or producing hits for Brotherhood of Man, including " United We Stand" (1970) and "Save Your Kisses for Me" (19 ...

and Peter Simmons on 9/6/15 (this song was covered in its entirety)

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 Page Samuel McConnell (born May 17, 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American multi-instrumentalist most noted for his work as the keyboardist and a songwriter for the band Phish. In addition to having been a member of Phish since 1985, ...

) and his father (narrated by

Mike Gordon Michael Eliot Gordon (born June 3, 1965) is an American bass guitarist and vocalist most recognized as a founding member of the band Phish. In addition to bass, Gordon is an accomplished banjo player, and is proficient at piano and guitar. He ...

) 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 Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

jam on the piano by

. 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.

References

External links

Transcriptions of Harpua performances on Phish.Net
{{Phish Phish songs 2006 songs Songs written by Trey Anastasio