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At base, "The Squirming Coil” is a fabulously energetic and cerebral pièce de résistance – not an epic of “Fluffhead” or “You Enjoy Myself” proportions – but a stolid landmark of an earlier era in Anastasio compositions. It is frequently followed by something energetic (“Tweezer,” “Golgi,” “Llama,” or “Antelope”), and has rarely opened a show (though see 6/5/90 or 6/16/97). But the compositional mastery is not the song’s forte, despite predictable placement (late in the show) and consistency (as versions rarely if ever vary).

Watch The Squirming Coil on YouTube "The Squirming Cool" – 10/31/94, Glens Falls, NY

The strong point of “Squirming Coil” is beyond the composition. In early versions it simply ends with a short outro by Page. But that ending evolved slowly, and in the closing minutes are sometimes two, sometimes five or more of pure Page-y goodness, as Trey, then Fish, then Mike slow and fade from the music, leaving Page to glide gently around scales, keys, signatures, riffs, and more on his own. The first signs were on 4/12/91, ending a crazy three-part encore, but it would be in several more encores (e.g. 10/10/91, 10/18/91) before the Icarusian meltdowns began to take form (7/16/92, 8/17/92), becoming full-blown show-enders in the following years (e.g. 4/17/93, 5/10/94, and 11/19/94). By the next summer, “Split Open and Melt” was also coming into a new area and Red Rocks (6/9/95), for example, saw both tunes in an invigorated state. The effect is sometimes magical (witness 7/16/92 or 3/18/93), sometimes perfunctory. But the meandering, variable ending has been so expansive that Page’s noodling during soundchecks are sometimes labeled as “Coil” teases.

Although this ending section wanders widely and sometimes wildly, it does so almost always with Page on his own, sometimes with other band members leaving the stage one at a time as they drop out of the song. As such, the song usually stands alone even though it contains some of the most expansive soloing in the Phish repertoire. Nonetheless, some versions have developed into something else rather than petering out, including 9/28/90 into “Lizards,” 12/28/90 into “Tweezer,” 4/27/91 into “Wipe Out,” 10/3/91 into “Tweezer,” 8/20/92 into “Bowie,” 5/8/93 into an extended bluesy jam and ultimately “Big Ball Jam,” 2/17/97 into “Disease,” and 12/30/98 into “Slave,” the most unusual of these transitions being 10/3/91 (with a Dixieland transition) and 12/30/98 (“Piper” tease and an atypical jam).

Other notable versions include 10/4/91 with a “Linus and Lucy” tease; 5/17/92 with a birthday dedication to Page; 5/17/94 interrupted by Trey with a cake for Page; 10/31/94 at nearly 3 a.m. after that marathon show; 10/8/99 with a “Bug” tease from Mike; 12/29/03 finishing a double-encore comparatively rare for the era, and during the insta-classic 10/30/10 gig in Atlantic City.

Watch The Squirming Coil on YouTube "The Squirming Cool" – 10/30/10, Atlantic City, NJ

(Anastasio, Marshall)
© Who Is She? Music, BMI

The Squirming Coil of sunset
I keep within my reach
Tried yesterday to get away
and hitchhiked to the beach

I saw Satan on the beach
trying to catch a ray
He wasn't quite the speed of light
and the squirming coil
it got away....

The muscles flex the mother's ring
She fastens children to her king
and sends him down the crooked street
When he returns, the birth's complete

Jimmy holds the Tannis root
The forest's tasty nectar shoot
The sun tips off the monarch's suit
from sequined sash to shiny boot

"I'd like to lick the coil some day
Like Icarus, who had to pay
with melting wax and feathers brown
He tasted it on his way down"

Stun the puppy!
Burn the whale!
Bark a scruff and go to jail!
Forge the coin and lick the stamp!
Little Jimmy's off to camp