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The Mango Song Lyrics
[A day in the life of a waiter/addict with delusions of grandeur.]
Spasm waiter dropping to his knees, sees
Slander on wrap paper ties
Lifting up his head he feels the sunlight in his eyes
Grasp a kettle top and shoot the breeze, please
Ramble while slop scraper sighs
Tossing in his bed at night he'll dream until he dies
Operations at the sink
The dribble liquid visible beneath his troubled eyes
Feels it tilt and start to slide
Mask a pretty hopper's foot with squeeze cheese
Dangle some grape apple pies
Tranquil and serene until he runs out of supplies
Your hands and feet are mangos
You're gonna be a genius anyway
Your hands and feet are mangos
You're gonna be a genius anyway
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From the liner notes and/or the Phish Book (I can't remember exactly): Mango Song was about a Vietnam veteran whose limbs were blown off in the war. The line was supposed to be "Your hands and feet are mangled," but Trey or Tom kept screwing it up. Turned into the version that's out there today.
I heard it was a out heroine and I think that it makes a lot of sense. "Wrap paper ties" "Lifts up his head and feels the sunlight in his eyes" "Tossing in his bed at night he'll dream until he dies" "Operations at the sink The dribble liquid visible beneath his troubled eyes Feels it tilt and start to slide" and my personal favorite "Tranquil and serene until he runs out of supplies" just a thought...
I heard it was a out heroine and I think that it makes a lot of sense. "Wrap paper ties" "Lifts up his head and feels the sunlight in his eyes" "Tossing in his bed at night he'll dream until he dies" "Operations at the sink The dribble liquid visible beneath his troubled eyes Feels it tilt and start to slide" and my personal favorite "Tranquil and serene until he runs out of supplies" just a thought...
as good as phish are as musicians, sometimes their lyrics really bug me. thanks to subskin for the little tidbit, at least it doesn't seem completely redic.
I just could not get over "Your hands and feet are mangos, you're gonna be a genius anyway". It always screamed to me "pretentious/senseless for the sake of being pretentious/seneseless"
love trey's guitar work here =]
I think this song has a character who works in a restaurant and who happens to have a monkey on his back. Painkillers or Heroin. Tilting and sliding seems to be a reference to the high of those drugs, and users are indeed tranquil and serene until they run out of supplies.
Someone else commented that this was a reference to a Vietnam vet, which makes less sense to me, but many did wind up with addictions to medications from treatments for injuries and from the psychological trauma of the war.