You Enjoy Myself
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"You Enjoy Myself", known in short as YEM by Phish Heads, is a Phish song written by Trey Anastasio. It was the most frequently played song by the band, having been played at 39% of their 1,183 shows[1]. It is also one of the oldest songs in Phish's catalog, having been first performed live on February 3, 1986.
The song was featured on Phish's third album Junta (although a shorter, a cappella version appeared on their 1986 self-titled debut known as The White Tape), and was a staple of the group's many live performances. Like The Divided Sky from the same era, the piece is classically structured and fanatics have dubbed each section of the song with names like "Pre-Nirvana," "Nirvana," "The Note," "The Second Note" and "The Charge." When the song was performed live, one section featured Anastasio and bassist Mike Gordon jumping on trampolines in tandem.
Some speculate that the title came from an Italian who said "You enjoy myself, yes?" to Anastasio and Jon Fishman when they toured Europe in 1985, playing in the streets. Supposedly, this was a too-literal translation from Italian into English for "best wishes." After falling down laughing, Anastasio wrote the song.
The song's roots were deeply influenced by an LSD experience with a German man named Jurgen while they were in Florence (explained in the Phish Companion, p. 307-308). The LSD was apparently very potent, & Trey & Fishman had a particularly memorable time. You Enjoy Myself was written partially during this experience.
Halfway through the song are the only clearly comprehensible lyrics in the song: "Boy! ... Man! ... God! ... Shit!," followed by a line whose meaning has perpetually been subject to discussion until it was settled by an issue of Guitar World. After many interpretations including, "Wash your feet then drive me into a frenzy", it was revealed to be "wash uffize drive me to firenze" in a Guitar World issue that included the tablature for the song.
One possible explanation for this line is that "Uffizi" is a pun on an Italian-accented pronunciation of the words "your feet." Uffizi is a museum the pair visited in Firenze, or Florence, Italy. At a spring near Uffizi, it is reported that they washed their feet. One theory is that the quoted Italian hailed from this area — in which case the meaning of the song as a whole becomes clearer.
Others believe that Fishman and Anastasio picked up a hitchhiker while in Italy, and the man kept saying "Wash uffitzi, drive me to Firenze." meaning "Would you please drive me to Florence?"
A rumor has it that the song was influenced by an experience Anastasio and Fishman had while swimming in the Mediterranean, and Fishman got a bit too far out to sea. Anastasio was a bit alarmed, and the main introduction to the song was composed as a consequence.
[edit] Appears on
- The White Tape
- Junta
- A Live One
- Live Phish Volume 7
- Live Phish Volume 9
- Live Phish Volume 11
- Live Phish Volume 14
- Live Phish Volume 15
- Live Phish 4-5-98
- New Year's Eve 1995 - Live at Madison Square Garden
