Mike's Song
"Mike's Song" is a song by the rock band Phish. Originally written in 1985, and debuting that year on October 17, bass player Mike Gordon's song has been played a total of 488 times (appearing in 28.34% of all of Phish live shows), the third most played song in Phish history (after "You Enjoy Myself" and "Possum"). The debut performance features guitarist Trey Anastasio announcing the title of the song as "Microdot", though that name quickly fell out of favor. It was, for many years, the only song written by the Phish bassist which led to the eventual title of the song. Throughout the 1990s and in particular 1993 onward, it was one of the most improvisation songs in the band's rotation with versions routinely exceeding 15 minutes.[1] Since the band's initial return to the stage in 2002, the song has been more or less restrained to a simple structure with some notable exceptions(see linked chart). Despite being one of the band's most popular songs it wasn't until 1997–12 years after its debut, that it finally was officially released on a Phish album when the live version from Hamburg, Germany was released on Slip Stitch and Pass. It has since appeared on numerous live Phish released including Hampton Comes Alive, Hampton/Winston-Salem '97, and Chicago '94. No studio recording of the song has ever been commercially released.
"Mike's Groove"
"Mike's Song" is the first song in a series of three songs known to Phish fans as "Mike's Groove", which traditionally consists of "Mike's Song" > "I Am Hydrogen" > Weekapaug Groove. The songs work well together as the music of "Weekapaug Groove" is the chorus of Mike's song played twice as fast, though in a different key.
This musical trinity of segues resembles the Grateful Dead's "Help on the Way" > "Slipknot!" > "Franklin's Tower" jam. Mike's Groove is either altered or extended - "I Am Hydrogen" may be replaced by or sandwiched between other songs, usually the song "Simple" (Which is also sometimes included in the standard "Mike's Song" > "I Am Hydrogen" > "Weekapaug Groove" and placed somewhere before "I Am Hydrogen.") However, other songs are also often used, including but not limited to "Contact", "Free", "Harry Hood", "Frankie Says", or "Tela", the latter adding considerable playing time to that particular Groove.
The entire "Mike's Groove" may sometimes take up an entire set, or sometimes only 10 minutes. This is because of the many ever-changing jams; 2 in "Mike's Song" (sometimes the second, more experimental one is cut off), jams in whatever song(s) they segue into from Mike's, and usually one at the end of "Weekapaug Groove". Sometimes (i.e., Raleigh 22/07/97), they segue into Mike's from somewhere else, extending the groove ever further.
There are also several notable versions of Mike's Song that segue directly into "Weekapaug Groove", with those two songs lasting nearly (or more than) 30 minutes (12/1/95 Hershey and 12/7/95 Niagara).[2]
References
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