Phish.net

“And So To Bed” is one of many notable quotes ascribed to Samuel Pepys, 17th Century English naval administrator, member of parliament, noted historian, and diarist. How it became the title of the opening track of the Green Dolphin Street Demo recorded by Phish in 1985 and later released on The White Tape in 1986 perhaps lies within the pages of the diaries. Pepys’ diary entries provide us with a graphic account of every detail of his life in London and the news of the plagues and wars with the Dutch that were a blight on his world during those days. No matter what happened during a given day, they all ultimately ended the same way, and so to bed. 

Despite being an instrumental guitar piece that would be at home nestled in the golden breast of the land of Bron-Yr-Aur, “And So To Bed” tells a story. The track opens with the sound of crickets and a crash-shortened automobile trip, portions of which reappeared in 1994 to drive off the bridge between the Hoist version of “Demand,” the spectacular “Split Open and Melt” jam, and the first verse of "Yerushalayim Shel Zahav” that follows. “And So To Bed” closes with the sounds of a mother and children finishing breakfast and heading out to play. Whereas the motorist in “Demand” appears to have met an untimely end, the driver in “And So To Bed” may have survived to see another day. A condition that is glorified by the sweet sounds of the guitar and best described by another Pepys quote:

“Music [is] a science peculiarly productive of a pleasure that no state of life, publick or private, secular or sacred; no difference of age or season; no temper of mind or condition of health exempt from present anguish; nor, lastly, distinction of quality, renders either improper, untimely, or unentertaining.”

Or in other words, “It’s all Hood!” And so... to bed!