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This delicate J.J. Cale tune was a pleasant surprise for fans at the 6/20/97 Prague show. For its debut performance during the first set, it rose from a sweetly textured post-“Horn” jam and segued into an equally sublime “Limb By Limb.” The rich, melodic harmonies are almost painfully sweet, and Phish wisely remained faithful to the original, leaving the instrumentation sparse and simple. Although the song’s delicate fragility and subtlety make it an atypical choice for a cover, the band pulled it off nicely on the three occasions it was played (twice in Europe, once in the U.S.). After another first-set appearance in Amsterdam on 7/1/97, the song made its final appearance at Alpine Valley over a month later on 8/9/97 in the middle of the cosmic journey that was that evening’s “Mike’s Groove.” 

Mike has also covered the song in several non-Phish contexts. He performed the tune with Doug Perkins and Jamie Masefield both before (2/4/99 and 1/14/00) and after (5/30, 5/31, and 6/1/03) that trio’s incarnation as Grappa Boom. “Ain’t Love Funny” has also appeared in the touring repertoire of Mike and Leo Kottke (11/9/02 and 11/12/02, among others) as well as the Mike Gordon Band (6/30/08, 9/17/09 etc).

(Cale)
© Audigram Songs, BMI

She brings me flowers from the waterwell
She keeps me laughing all day
We ride on a horse to the river and back
Ain't love funny, funny it's funny
Aint' love funny that way

She calls in the evening to tell me she's back
She likes to talk on the phone
Would I come over and just rub her back
Ain't love funny, funny it's funny
Ain't love funny you know

This woman's touch, it is too much
Tingles right to the bone
Her hand's so slight with a wink in her eyes
Keeps me comin' back home

She gives everything expects no return
She's always there when I'm down
Love her a day, don't go away
Ain't love funny, funny it's funny
Funny when it comes around

We go on for hours about nothin' at all
We never know what it means
Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's not
Ain't love funny, funny it's funny
Funny it's just what it seems