November 18, Cobo Arena – Detroit, MI
November 20,21, U.S. Bank Arena – Cincinnati, OH
November 22, Oncenter – Syracuse, NY
November 24,25, Wachovia Center – Philadelphia, PA
November 27,28, Times Union Center – Albany, NY
November 29, Cumberland County Civic Center – Portland, ME

December 2,3,4, Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
December 5, John Paul Jones Arena – Charlottesville, VA

[wpaudio url="http://www.avivhadar.com/audio/Joy.mp3"]

Hit the “read more” link for the full lyrics.

Joy is over there in her incredible clothes
She has silver silk shimmering down to her toes
I was doing the best that I can I suppose
But that little girl dancer
Eventually grows
She grows
You can’t imagine all the times that I tried
To uncover the source of the tears that you cried
“Lets throw it away and just go for a ride”
And you’d say “ok” but you’d keep it inside
And I tried

We want you to be happy
Don’t live inside the gloom
We want you to be happy
Come step outside your room
We want you to be happy
Cause this is your song too

I never thought I could have it so good
You were the song that my soul understood
That time is a river that flows through the woods
And it lead us to places we both understood
Would be gone
Before to long
Would be gone
Before to long
When we were young we thought life was a game
But then somebody leaves you and your never the same
All of the places and people belong to the puzzle
But one of the pieces is gone
And it’s you
It’s you
It’s you
Joy, its you
We want you to be happy
Don’t live inside the gloom
We want you to be happy
Come step outside your room
We want you to be happy
Cause this is your song too
Anytime we’ll weather this storm
Inside together you’ll see the change
When the sun shines through
We want you to be happy
Don’t live inside the gloom
We want you to be happy
Come step outside your room
We want you to ge happy
Cause this is your song too
This is your song too

The grounds were muddy, the band was sad, people were broke, and it rained so much in the days before the festival, that what seemed like Army forces had to be brought in to help the masses get through those 3 days.

But now, five long years after leaving us in a cold, wet and dirty swamp in North Coventry Vermont, when the economy is in the dumps and our unemployment numbers have skyrocketed past 4.2 million people without jobs, Phish decides it’d be a good time to hit the road again. And best of all, to kick things off at Hampton Coliseum on Friday, March 6th 2009 – they opened with a juggernaut… Fluffhead.

Phish at Hampton Coliseum: Friday March 6th 2009

If you aren’t aware of the significance this song holds on the Phish community, here’s a little description: The song is 12+ minute composition that was not played once after Phish returned from Hiatus in 2002. It’s a Trey (lead guitarist) written classic that spans Phish’s entire generational gap in fans. They pretty much never play this song, and when they do, it’s a big deal.

Traffic heading into Coventry 2004, nothing new.. But still awful

Perhaps my good friend VJ said it best… “By opening with Fluffhead, Phish doesn’t need to address any awkward reunion small talk. They know they left us in a dirty, muddy swamp five years ago, and this is how they’re going to make it up to us.” No small talk, no bullshit… Just the best music they can play.

But why song one, opening night… after five years! What an oddly placed decision. Perhaps they’re opening the doors for a tour with no expectations from their fans. By playing Fluffhead right away, they get it out of the way. What was rumored to be “too complex of a composition” for Trey to play anymore, is now “just another song.” And this, for the sake of the music… is as good as we can hope it gets.

For more photos of Phish’s ongoing tour, check out the band’s flickr stream, and for updated set-lists, you can click here.

WOW. I just can’t wait.