The circus is the place for me with bears and clowns and noise
I love the shiny music that descends from overhead
Gordon knew the moment when the stars all turned around
But from that vantage point I frowned
If life were easy and not so fast
I wouldn't think about the past
I can't forget to turn the earth so both sides get their share
Of darkness and of light
So now I wander over grounds of light and heat and sound and mist
Provoking dreams that don't exist
A circus of light where dreams can take flight
In the peacefulness dreaming dreams brings
I love the shiny music that descends from overhead
Gordon knew the moment when the stars all turned around
But from that vantage point I frowned
I wouldn't think about the past
I can't forget to turn the earth so both sides get their share
Of darkness and of light
Provoking dreams that don't exist
A circus of light where dreams can take flight
In the peacefulness dreaming dreams brings
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
My sense is that this is more than a song about "dude it's awesome to be in Phish"
I think there is an ambivalence here about the experience of being in the band. There's some negative feelings-- frowning, feeling that life is moving too fast, but the singer is resigned, happily enough, to wandering musically though the CK5 light show and the smoke (mist) where (likely drug induced) dreams are "provoked" by the music.
The words "provoked, darkness, and frowned" seem to add to this slightly negative ambivalence of the experience of this aspect of being a member of this particular band. See also "Wolfman's Brother," "Birds of a Feather" and some of the themes that run through the album "Billy Breathes" for more lyrics that might convey similar feelings.
I personally find the singer's acceptance of the situation for what it is and the wonder at the beauty, peacefulness, and transformational experience of a Phish show. The introspective jam that follows seems to me to be exploring these feelings.
Joe
are you kidding me? no comments? this is one of my favorite Phish tunes :D it's a self reference about the band:
Fish is like a little kid, likes the aspect of the concerts that let him feel like a kid.
Trey's all about the music
Mike had a big epiphany at a gig back at Goddard that made him want to make music his life.
and the whole band is aware of how much they mean to all the fans, hence the reference to turning the earth.
the rest is about the whole amazing Phish concert experience :D
I agree with this being one of my favs. I guess most people only know the most popular songs by Phish Instead of listening to them all, concidering how amazing each one is :)
If life were easy and not so fast I wouldn't think about the past I can't forget to turn the earth so both sides get their share Of darkness and of light
I love it.
does anyone know for sure how it's pronounced? is it rah'-gay? is it rah-zhay?
anyone know what the significance of the title 'roggae' is? i wonder if 'roggae' is perhaps the full name of the gamehenge character, 'rog', mentioned in the song 'wilson'...
any ideas?
It is pronounced like "rogue-gay" or "row-gay". The band played this for the last song of sound check for the 04/03/1998 (part of the epic 4-day Island Tour) show. If you can find a copy of it you can hear Trey and Fishman having fun saying/shouting "roggae" with various effects. What a great song!!
It is pronounced like "rogue-gay" or "row-gay". The band played this for the last song of sound check for the 04/03/1998 (part of the epic 4-day Island Tour) show. If you can find a copy of it you can hear Trey and Fishman having fun saying/shouting "roggae" with various effects. What a great song!!