I wanted to paste my comment on "Guelah Papyrus" here as I think it relates. I especially love how a "picture of Nectar" (proprietor of a music venue- "Nectar's") is enough to act as a prophylactic!
Cavern is indeed a vagina image, and there is unsettling sexual imagery in the song as others have commented, both of rape and of disease.
Quote from my GP entry:
I think this song [Guelah Papyrus} is about expecting to catch a cheating girlfriend in the act, with undertones of fears of venereal disease as a running theme? Why? Well, when you listen to the other lyrics on the album, STD's are something of a running theme-- it's a public health announcement to jam band types everywhere. "Whatever you do, take care of your shoe" (Cavern) lest you get a "Crab" in your "Shoemouth" (Manteca)
"In summing up, the moral seems
A little bit obscure...
Give the director a serpent deflector
A mudrat detector, a ribbon reflector
A cushion convector, a pitcher of nectar *
A viral dissector,a hormone collector"
(Cavern) - this entire list is a collection of synonyms for condoms. With the exception of a "picture of Nectar." Nectar's was a club that Phish played in and while I haven't seen the proprietor myself, it would presumably be enough of a turn off to prevent any activity that might result in catching anything!!! And I think bacteria can come in the shape of little serpents, ribbons, rods, or tiny spheres. Yuck.
This album came out during the AIDS epidemic when I was a teenager-- I think the message was pretty clear at the time. The remainder of "Cavern's" lyrics contain a lot of disease imagery, and other earlier tunes like Golgi Apparatus suggest that microbiology tends to come up in Phish lyrics.
So the singer imagines himself paralyzed by a spider, a "fly on the wall" to witness the tryst of his lover, and then imagines walking in, causing frowns all around-- and noticing that his photo frame on the nightstand has been turned flat on the table.
I wanted to paste my comment on "Guelah Papyrus" here as I think it relates. I especially love how a "picture of Nectar" (proprietor of a music venue- "Nectar's") is enough to act as a prophylactic!
Cavern is indeed a vagina image, and there is unsettling sexual imagery in the song as others have commented, both of rape and of disease.
Quote from my GP entry:
I think this song [Guelah Papyrus} is about expecting to catch a cheating girlfriend in the act, with undertones of fears of venereal disease as a running theme? Why? Well, when you listen to the other lyrics on the album, STD's are something of a running theme-- it's a public health announcement to jam band types everywhere. "Whatever you do, take care of your shoe" (Cavern) lest you get a "Crab" in your "Shoemouth" (Manteca)
"In summing up, the moral seems A little bit obscure...
Give the director a serpent deflector A mudrat detector, a ribbon reflector A cushion convector, a pitcher of nectar * A viral dissector,a hormone collector"
(Cavern) - this entire list is a collection of synonyms for condoms. With the exception of a "picture of Nectar." Nectar's was a club that Phish played in and while I haven't seen the proprietor myself, it would presumably be enough of a turn off to prevent any activity that might result in catching anything!!! And I think bacteria can come in the shape of little serpents, ribbons, rods, or tiny spheres. Yuck.
This album came out during the AIDS epidemic when I was a teenager-- I think the message was pretty clear at the time. The remainder of "Cavern's" lyrics contain a lot of disease imagery, and other earlier tunes like Golgi Apparatus suggest that microbiology tends to come up in Phish lyrics.
So the singer imagines himself paralyzed by a spider, a "fly on the wall" to witness the tryst of his lover, and then imagines walking in, causing frowns all around-- and noticing that his photo frame on the nightstand has been turned flat on the table.
@joejefferyCT damn that’s a hell of a take! You have me convinced. I always thought they were saying “grabbin’ my shoe mouth” in ‘Manteca’
@joejefferyCT damn that’s a hell of a take! You have me convinced. I always thought they were saying “grabbin’ my shoe mouth” in ‘Manteca’