It's kind of entertaining to follow this thread. I too finally got around to seeing Phish after listening for a number of years first (mostly live performances). While not being a total Phish devotee or follower, I did develop an actual liking for about half their material and an appreciation of some of the rest and downright not liking certain things. Most of which don't really have to do with lyric content.
Are their lyrics silly? nonsensical? weird? Yup. But that is part of their thing. Concentrating on the music, much of which is fully and formally scored, the lyrics are secondary at best. Other bands have taken this approach also, such as Moe. They are very, very good as a band and as musicians. Trey Anastasio is a phenomenal guitar player as well as an accomplished composer. And not all of Phish's lyrics are silly, weird or nonsensical. Plenty are pretty regular lyrics to regular everydays songs. Nothing more.
What gets me about the various love/hate discussions w/ respect to lyrics is ... have any of you that don't like Phish ever taken a look in your own backyard so to speak? How about our beloved group, The Grateful Dead. lets see... silly, weird or nonsensical lyrics...
China Cat Sunflower
Dark Star
The Other One
The Eleven
Cosmic Charlie
New Potato Caboose
to name some. A number of folks on the board have a "special" appreciation of these lyrics in that in certain altered states of mind, the words appear to makes sense, though to the vast majority of people who listen to music in the world, they are silly, weird and/or nonsensical.
So before folks throw stones around, it is always best to look at your own environment before criticizing others. Living in glass houses is a bitch.
Peace and music are what this is all about. Enlightenment, musically, spiritually and mentally. Every bit of music out there has some quality to be appreciated if you are a true musician and lover of the art form. You don't have to like it all, but it sure isn't productive or positive to publicly make controversial, derogatory or inflammatory remarks about other individuals artistic pursuits and offerings.
My $0.002 (mills)... cause that is all it is worth.
Dave
The river keeps a talkin'