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In artist Camille Utterback's Liquid Time Series, she explores how the concept of 'point of view' is predicated on embodied existence. To fully grasp the symbolism in the lyrics of the Phish song "Liquid Time," the point of view of a sailor becalmed in the mid-Pacific high is the existence that would have to be embodied. In the doldrums of the horse latitudes in the north Pacific ocean, time dissolves into a pool of liquid mercury. The sky and the ocean become one at a horizon that is simultaneously within grasp and a million miles away. The fiery glow of the rising sun paints the mercuric ocean in a dizzying array of volcanic neon strands of light. This glorious view of infinity passes through the dreams of the rest of the crew sleeping in the cabin below as the weary helmsman paddles in lazy circles with the boat's tiller and longs for wind to fill the vessel's sails. This is the part of the ocean where madness sets in. Lush tropical islands spring from the darkness made less so by the light of myriad stars and sink into the abyssal deep. Voices of the dead seep through the hull. Here there be monsters, sea-bats, fluorescent dolphins, whale songs, and eternity. How did I get here and when can I leave?

"Liquid Time" was recorded in Trey's Rubber Jungle studio in Saratoga Springs, New York in November 2007. Trey was in the midst of his own personal doldrums at the time, stuck in the high pressure environment of the Washington County drug court. This embodied existence may be responsible for the point of view that comes through in the song. Like the sailor he is aware of what brought him to this place where "Time Turns Elastic," perception is wrong, and the night seems to go on incredibly long. Although there are demons to confront, passing through the "Liquid Time" of confinement within the horse latitudes rewards the voyager with a perspective toward life that few others may grasp.

Watch Liquid Time on YouTube

Phish released Trey's sparse acoustic flamenco version of "Liquid Time" on the Party Time bonus disk included in the Joy boxed set. Although they played the song with Trey on electric guitar during their soundchecks at Toyota Park (8/11/09) and Festival 8 (10/29/09), the song has yet to be performed by Phish for a live audience. The debut live performance (2/8/10 Charlottesville, VA) was during Trey's February 2010 tour with TAB, with Trey on electric guitar, and the TAB horns giving the song a much fuller big band sound. "Liquid Time" was in regular rotation throughout the TAB winter tour and was often replete with the song of the whale. 

Watch Liquid Time on YouTube

Like the sailor waiting for the wind, the duration spent waiting for "Liquid Time" to appear in a Phish setlist seems infinite. 

(Anastasio)
© Who Is She? Music, BMI

The sea is so wide
And the boat is so small
And the sun burns my skin
In this liquid time

But time is a treasure here
Cuz it flows in every direction
I know you understand
But might not recognize
That it's easier to look at things this way

And though I know it was a lie that got me here
The stars at night are moving
In a heavenly dance
I can smell the rain
Taste the wind
See the sand
It's not so far away

Oh, sad, sad one
I feel you growing dim
And the clouds disperse around me
And I know these dreams are real

Tryin' to recognize
Liquid time
Trying to recognize
Liquid time

Rolling, rolling
(I know you're watching me)
The sea, the sea