Colonel Forbin's Ascent Narrative - Version1 Lyrics - Phish

Somewhere, far away from this building far away from all these people far away from this city far away from this whole state, this whole country, and the riots going on and everything. If you'll just imagine yourself lifting off the ground right now with us and the whole building just opening up, up above our heads and all the people just slowly floating slowly lifting up off the ground up into the air and up into the clouds until you can see the mountains and the city down below. Going up a little higher and higher and higher and higher and higher, your getting up higher, just floating, floating up above the earth. Then you start going forward now you're not just going up but you're going forward. The clouds are splitting slowly behind you and you've got gray clouds on either side of you and then 

they start to split open and now there's nothing but blackness in front of you and stars. And you're floating forward, your moving forward the whole group of people are moving forward and you're floating through space and through time. There moving through time and then you look down below you, you start to see shapes taking form below you brown green shapes, and you feel yourself dropping back down and you look below you and you see this one shape over here is a mountain a huge mountain and as you get closer it starts to look bigger and bigger and over on your left there's a green patch its a huge forest floating off in the distance and on the third side there's a green field that goes straight off into the distance the other way. 

And you start to come down, and you're comin down and you look and you see the mountain and now the mountain is looming before you, a huge mountain bigger than you've ever seen before. And as you look you see on the side of the mountain you look closely and you see a tiny speck and you realize this is not just a tiny speck... This tiny speck is this tiny speck is Col. Forbin! 

Col Forbin is climbing up the mountain and as we come down, on your left you see a revolutionary's camp. And you start to realize that this is the revolutionary camp. These people are trying to overthrow the evil King Wilson. This whole area used to be a beautiful beautiful lush natural area and the people used to live in peace and harmony with nature but the evil King Wilson came and enslaved the people, he stole their book the Helping Friendly Book and he hid it in the highest tower of his castle. And right now Colonel Forbin seeing the failure of the revolution is doing the last thing that he thinks is possible. He's climbing up this huge mountain, way bigger than K2 or Everest this is the biggest mountain there's ever been in the history of time and the entire universe. He's been climbing for days weeks jagged cliffs climbing up rocks falling below he's starving hungry but he needs to get to the top because he wants to find... the Great and Knowledgeable... the great and knowledgeable one... [Icculus music starts] 

He needs to find, hew needs to find this great man. He's climbing the mountain to find a great man because this great man changed his life and he changed our life (ooooh oooh ooooh) and this great man can change your life.(oooh ooooh ) Someday I hope that you too will discover this great man, because he wrote a great book (ooooh ooh ) This man wrote the Helping Friendly Book, and this is the book and this is the book that contained all the knowledge inherent in the universe. We read this book, and we learned...the way to a better life. And I hope, I hope deep down that someday, you all will read this great book, and learn the way to a greater life. 

WE SHOWED THIS BOOK TO OTHER PEOPLE AND THEIR LIVES HAVE CHANGED FOR THE BETTER WE SHOWED THIS BOOK TO COLONEL BRUCE HAMPTON AND THE AQUARIUM RESCUE UNIT. THEY USED TO BE A FEEBLE BLUEGRASS BAND UNTIL THEY READ THIS GREAT BOOK AND NOW LOOK AT THEM! THEY READ THE BOOK AND THAT'S WHY COLONEL FORBIN IS LOOKING FOR THIS GREAT SPIRIT ON TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN CAUSE HE IS THE GREAT AND KNOWLEDGEABLE, HE IS THE AUTHOR OF THE HELPING FRIENDLY BOOK 

YOU GOT TO READ THE HELPING FRIENDLY BOOK. 

YOU GOT TO READ THE BOOK 

YOUR LIVES WILL CHANGE 

YOUR LIVES ARE NOTHING BUT A HUDDLE OF NO GOOD 

YOU GOT TO READ THE BOOK!!!!!!!! 

YOU GOTTA READ THE HELPING FRIENDLY BOOK!!!!!!!!!! 

CAUSE IT'S WRITTEN BY THE GREAT, THE GREAT AND KNOWLEDGEABLE 

THE GREAT AND KNOWLEDGEABLE AUTHOR OF THE HELPING FRIENDLY BOOK 

THE GREAT 

THE SPIRITUAL 

THE INCREDIBLE 

THE FANTASTIC 

IT'S BY THE GREAT AND KNOWLEDGEABLE 

ICCULUS!!!!!!! 

WRITTEN BY THE GREAT AND KNOWLEDGEABLE ICCULUS 

YEAH! MY CHILDREN ARE OLD ENOUGH TO READ ICCULUS 

A cold and lonely night 

Running the pace of her fright 

Look at her face tonight! 

So Colonel Forbin is climbing up the mountain and he wants to get back the helping Friendly Book and the Helping Friendly book is right now being held by the evil king Wilson. If he can get the Helping Friendly Book back everyone can live in peace and harmony with nature forever. So Icculus comes out of the mountain and looks down at the great Colonel Forbin and he says, "Colonel Forbin I'm going to help you get the helping Friendly Book. I'm going to call on my friend the famous Mockingbird." He's gonna fly down out of the sky circle around and lands on Icculus's shoulder and Icculus says "Famous Mockingbird, fly to the castle of the evil King Wilson, steal the Helping Friendly Book and bring it back to the people of Gamehendge so that they can live in peace and harmony with nature forever." So here he comes now the Helping Frie...Er.. the Famous Mockingbird.