Many tours have brought us strong selections of new original material, but the songs introduced in the summer of 1995 are certainly among the most consistently pleasing group to date. Try picking a favorite from that group and you’re likely to be stuck with a tough decision, weighing the relative merits of “Free,” “Billy Breathes,” “Taste,” the rare “Spock’s Brain” and “Theme from the Bottom.” Each has their supporters, but “Theme” may contain the best balance of intriguing music, classic Tom Marshall lyrics and inherent jamming potential. The song went through minor changes in structure early on (removing and then re-adding a piece of the middle bridge) but remains more or less the same song in the modern era as it was early in its history.

"Theme From the Bottom" – 2/16/97, Cologne, Germany

The lyrical theme of this piece is treading water somewhere between "Bouncing" and "Wading" with early flashes of "Moma Dance" and "A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing" thrown in for good measure. It carries on a tradition that is common to many a Phish song, that tradition being a celebration of the Life Aquatic. In this instance however, the imagery starts out dark and down, requiring a strong kick of the flipper and removing the weight belt to reach the sunlit shallows. The scene that is evoked may take you to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico or the fish tank at your local sushi bar with equal ease. Perhaps just as easily, "Theme" captures the feeling of being too deeply immersed in the cerebral candy store that is the Phish tank at any given show. In the broader sense the lyrics of "Theme From the Bottom" could be extended to life in general. Whether you are a remotely operated vehicle coping with disaster at the tragic scene that was once the Deepwater Horizon, a hungry catfish sucking algae off the bottom of a poorly lit aquarium, a fan caught up in the swirling eddies and currents of the group "Undermind," or anyone having a down day and searching for a rescue unit to latch onto; it can at times seem way too dark and cold to go on swimming. But swim you must, for as the "Light" returns to your life so too do the colors of which it is composed.

Musically "Theme" starts out in the stark, cold, abyss of atonality. Building tension on the way up the tune gradually bubbles up closer and closer to the source of life at the water's surface before exploding skyward in a rapidly degassing cloud of methane hydrate. On the rare occasion that it is freed from its atonal bondage, the song performs the musical equivalent of a reverse 720 degree barrel roll flip over the breakwater that would make Free Willy proud. The basic tune usually breaches the surface once more before swimming out toward the "Paradise City" that is the open ocean of jam.

"Theme From the Bottom" – 3/6/09, Hampton, VA

While "Theme" often travels familiar ground, several have swam up to demand your attention. “Theme” kicked off the infamous “FLeezer” set by roaring out of the second set gates and leading into a free-form jam on 6/22/95. The version offered on 11/27/96, out of “Free,” remains among the longest and most powerful. Other honorable mentions include 6/16/00 Osaka, Japan, with a "Runaway Jim -> "Theme"-> Dog Faced Boy" second-set opening sequence; 7/21/97 with the late LeRoi Moore on saxophone; and the the 7/9/98 “Drowned” -> “Theme” from Barcelona. Finally, don't miss the "Theme" that many fans consider the undisputed champion: the unfinished, exploratory version from 2/25/03 (with a bump-segue into “Runaway Jim”). 

"Theme" has been a staple of the Phish repertoire, without a notable gap in appearances since its debut. The song has yet to make a meaningful improvisational splash in "Phish 3.0," though respectable versions were performed in high profile slots at Festival 8 on 11/1/09, New Year's Eve '09-'10 in Miami, 8/7/10 at Berkeley's Greek Theatre, and 10/29/10 in Atlantic City. For as often as it is played, a live version of “Theme” has surprisingly never appeared on any mass-market official release, though versions abound on Live Phish downloads.

"Theme From the Bottom" – 10/29/10, Atlantic City, NJ

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