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The album version of “Fikus” is a mellow, bass-driven percussive experiment. The lyrics are delivered in an enchanting Mike Gordon spoken word monologue. Beginning about halfway through this idyllic South Pacific Island vacation, each phrase of the monologue is subsequently echoed by Trey. The lyrics paint the picture of the artist escaping the bloody fray of the road, to spend some time on the beach, picking flowers, watching the ocean boil, and all for free.

“Fikus” is one of the least played songs from Story of the Ghost, having been performed only four additional times since being debuted in Copenhagen on 7/2/98. The live version of “Fikus” is perhaps more sparse than the album version as it lacks the layered poly-rhythmic effects of the tin cans, mason jars, and the ocean found on the studio cut. “Fikus’” present role in the live Phish experience mimics the vacation it describes: a brief chance to take a breath and look around. 

Watch Fikus on YouTube "Fikus" 7/2/98 Copenhagen, Denmark

(Anastasio/Fishman/Gordon/McConnell/Marshall)
© Who Is She? Music, BMI

Fikus dreamed a dream for me
it cost me nothing it was free
he dreamed of walking in the sand
of blossoms forming in his hand

of kitchen cake and cedar shakes
of waterfalls and yellow snakes
of earthen dams and hydrofoils
of watching water 'til it boils

of holding forth from singing words
of flying south with flocks of birds
none of this was charged to me
for as I said it was for free