''The Man Who Stepped into Yesterday'' (often abbreviated as TMWSIY) is a 1988

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

written by

Trey Anastasio Ernest Joseph "Trey" Anastasio III (born September 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, composer, and singer-songwriter best known as the lead guitarist of the rock band Phish, which he co-founded in 1983. He is credited by name as composer of 152 ...

, the guitarist and lead vocalist of the American rock band

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the ...

, as his senior thesis while attending

Goddard College Goddard College was a Private college, private college with three locations in the United States: Plainfield, Vermont; Port Townsend, Washington; and Seattle. The college offered undergraduate and graduate degree programs. With predecessor ins ...

. Completed in July 1988, the thesis included an essay piece and collection of songs (recorded by Phish) relating an epic tale from the band's fictional land of Gamehendge.

Background and concept

On the album, the story of Gamehendge is told in nine parts, with short spoken narration in between. The saga can be compared to rock concept album projects like

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

' '' Celebration of the Lizard'' or Rush's '' 2112'' suite. The story's primary protagonist is Colonel Forbin. Other major characters include Tela, the "jewel of Wilson's foul domain" and the "evil" Wilson himself. Several of the album's spoken narrative sections are accompanied by background music borrowed from sections of the Phish songs "Esther" and "McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters". The final track, "Possum", is the only song on the album not written by Anastasio, having been written by former Phish member Jeff Holdsworth and later added to the Gamehendge cycle. Many of the album's tracks have long been included in Phish's regular song rotation and played during the band's live performances. In addition, various versions of the entire Gamehendge saga have been performed, complete with narration, on five occasions in the band's history, usually as the entire first set of a live show. Many other Phish songs also relate in some way to the Gamehendge saga, and appear on later albums and in live performances, including "Llama", "Punch You in the Eye" and "The Divided Sky". The Mockingbird Foundation, a charity founded by Phish fans to fund music education, is named for the "famous mockingbird" in the saga.

Official releases

Though the album was recorded, it has never been released officially. Phish circulated the studio recording of the suite in 1987 and 1988 and it quickly became a collector's item. At one time Anastasio announced plans in ''Doniac Schvice'', Phish's newsletter, to release the material as an interactive CD-ROM. However, this never happened and the album can only be found in bootleg or in fan-traded form. The only officially released version of the Gamehendge suite is as part of the band's July 8, 1994 concert, which was released in August 2020. This version of the suite does not include "Possum", but features "Llama", "McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters" and "Divided Sky", all of which are connected to the Gamehendge mythology or the story of Colonel Forbin, as well as "NO2", an experimental instrumental that was the B-side to the " Down with Disease" single and is used during the performance to soundtrack Anastasio's introductory narrative. On December 31, 2023, Phish performed their annual New Year's Eve show at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...

, playing music from ''The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday'' with live actors, including Annie Golden, who played the part of the grandmother of Jimmy from " Harpua".

Track listing

All songs written by Trey Anastasio, except as noted. # "Narration" – 3:56 # "The Man Who Stepped Into Yesterday" – 1:45 # "The Lizards" – 5:50 # "Narration" – 3:06 # "Tela" – 6:16 # "Narration (Ride On A Multibeast)" – 3:26 # "Wilson" (Anastasio, Tom Marshall, Todd Woolf) – 3:13 # "Narration" – 0:31 # "AC/DC Bag" – 3:09 # "Narration" – 3:18 # "Colonel Forbin's Ascent" – 4:36 # "Fly Famous Mockingbird" – 7:37 # "Narration" – 1:31 # "The Sloth" – 2:16 # "Narration" – 1:13 # "Possum" ( Jeff Holdsworth) – 4:29 Timings and track splits are approximate as there are many different circulating sources running at various speeds and with various anomalies.

Personnel

– guitars, lead vocals, narration, composer :

Page McConnell Page Samuel McConnell (born May 17, 1963) is an American multi-instrumentalist, most noted for his work as the keyboardist and a songwriter for the band Phish. McConnell joined Phish in 1985, and is the only member of its long-standing quartet li ...

– keyboards, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Tela" :

Mike Gordon Michael Eliot Gordon (born June 3, 1965) is an American bass guitarist and vocalist most recognized as a founding member of the band Phish. In addition to bass, Gordon plays banjo, piano, and guitar. He is a filmmaker ('' Rising Low'', '' Outs ...

– bass guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Possum" : Jon Fishman – drums, backing vocals

References

External links