Very Interesting, from Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricky_Nelson

"Garden Party"

In 1972, Nelson reached the Top 40 one last time with "Garden Party", a song he wrote in disgust after a Madison Square Garden audience booed him, because, in his mind, he was playing new songs instead of just his old hits. When he performed the Stones' "Honky Tonk Woman" he was booed off the stage. He watched the rest of the performance on a TV monitor backstage and quietly left the venue without taking a final bow for the finale. He wanted to record an album featuring original material, but the single was released before the album because Nelson had not completed the entire Garden Party album yet. "Garden Party" reached number 6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart and was certified as a gold single. The second single release from the album was "Palace Guard", which reached number 65 in the charts.

I went to a garden party to reminisce with my old friends
A chance to share old memories and play our songs again
When I got to the garden party, they all knew my name
No one recognized me, I didn't look the same

CHORUS
But it's all right now, I learned my lesson well.
You see, ya can't please everyone, so ya got to please yourself

People came from miles around, everyone was there
Yoko brought her walrus, there was magic in the air
'n' over in the corner, much to my surprise
Mr. Hughes hid in Dylan's shoes wearing his disguise

CHORUS

lott-in-dah-dah-dah, lot-in-dah-dah-dah

Played them all the old songs, thought that's why they came
No one heard the music, we didn't look the same
I said hello to "Mary Lou", she belongs to me
When I sang a song about a honky-tonk, it was time to leave

CHORUS

lot-dah-dah-dah (lot-dah-dah-dah)
lot-in-dah-dah-dah

Someone opened up a closet door and out stepped Johnny B. Goode
Playing guitar like a-ringin' a bell and lookin' like he should
If you gotta play at garden parties, I wish you a lotta luck
But if memories were all I sang, I rather drive a truck

CHORUS

lot-dah-dah-dah (lot-dah-dah-dah)
lot-in-dah-dah-dah

'n' it's all right now, learned my lesson well
You see, ya can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself

Its a very interesting selection depending on how deep you look into it. I want to be a glass half full kind of guy.

@JTodd said:

As with so many Phish covers, I was not familiar with the song before yesterday

Really? Do you live under a rock?

Had no idea it was MSG inspiried! So awesome!

@JTodd said:

@easywind111 said:

@JTodd said:

As with so many Phish covers, I was not familiar with the song before yesterday

Really? Do you live under a rock?

I would say my musical curiosity while growing up was far less than many other people on this board. Thanks for your interest!

I did not know what it was either. I Never cared about Ricky Nelson....

Placing this song in front of a set list with 4 premiers moving into the 30th year is pretty awesome, I do not think it is random.

Someone a while ago asked in the form of a thread, a question to the effect of "what music helped you find Phish?"

My answer was, "Phish found me."

This reply of mine wasn't felt in full until just now.

Sure, I listened to other bands and styles of music before I got to Phish, and my taste in those musics made it all the more likely I would some day become a phan. But, a more important catalyst was people. This person or that person with a cassette in their car, a ticket stub on their dresser, these things and things like them, are what really made me curious. So I still look back and think, "it wasn't love of other music that brought me to Phish, it was the family found in the love for Phish's music."

Barring that happy horseshit, at the core of this is the visceral experience, the actual feeling of music. Once I started listening to Phish I began to feel the music in a way that no other music had ever made me feel before. Even my favorite albums sounded different once I started enjoying the band. So much music that I grew up listening to now took on new meaning and feeling.

So, then if Phish found me, then where have they taken me?

Bands and artists, that for over the last 18 years of listening to Phish covering, referencing, or being influenced by, that I have become a fan of, and found new meaning in...

The Beatles
The Grateful Dead
The Rolling Stones
The Who
Little Feat
Frank Zappa
Neil Young
Pink Floyd
Ween
Janes Addiction
Bela Fleck
Allison Krauss
Van Morrison
Queen
Talking Heads
ZZ Top
The Velvet Underground
Eric Clapton
Joe Walsh
Dire Straits
Medeski, Martin and Wood
Duke Ellington
John Coltrane
Thelonious Monk
Miles Davis
Dizzy Gillespie
Steve Miller Band
Ricky Nelson

Had I at the very least already heard, or at the very most already been familiar with, many of these musicians? Yes. But it was and is my love of Phish's music that continues to inspire my tastes and allow me to hear old music in a new way.

So, thank you Fish, Mike, Page and Trey, for turning me on.

"You can't please everyone, so you got to please yourself."

::still doesn't like the song Architect::

::hopes Trey understands::

Phish has always struggled to maintain expectations from an almost delirious fan base. Read any of these threads and they almost all desolve into some excersize of applying a hierarchy to the songs and shows. This is masterbastion because music is the most subjective thing on the planet- especially Phish. But if every tour/run/song has to be epic than the fans will naturally become the jaded pack that left the Garden last year bitching about flubs and lack of exploration in the same breathe. Shit - phish was founded on flubs. Back in the 90's Trey would try to clear the building w/ intolerable feedback jams . So yes dear jaded vets, Garden Party was for you - relax and enjoy the peaks and valleys that are the cyclical nature of everything.
PS- go Phish

the lyrics on Garden Party were beyond perfect, and almost eerie.

"I went to a garden party to reminisce with my old friends
A chance to share old memories and play our songs again
When I got to the garden party, they all knew my name"

"People came from miles around, everyone was there."

the entire show was the most elaborate, and well thought out concert i have ever attended, i will always remember that experience.

@boyfacedog said:

Phish has always struggled to maintain expectations from an almost delirious fan base. Read any of these threads and they almost all desolve into some excersize of applying a hierarchy to the songs and shows. This is masterbastion because music is the most subjective thing on the planet- especially Phish. But if every tour/run/song has to be epic than the fans will naturally become the jaded pack that left the Garden last year bitching about flubs and lack of exploration in the same breathe. Shit - phish was founded on flubs. Back in the 90's Trey would try to clear the building w/ intolerable feedback jams . So yes dear jaded vets, Garden Party was for you - relax and enjoy the peaks and valleys that are the cyclical nature of everything.
PS- go Phish

most excellently put.