If I Could

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• History
• Lyrics
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  • Mike
  • Page
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Originally Performed By	Phish
Appears On
Music/Lyrics	Anastasio
Vocals	Trey (lead), Mike, Page (backing)
Historian	Phillip Zerbo
Last Update	2021-10-29

History

“If I Could” was penned by Trey while distressed by a blue funk being experienced by his good friend (and famous “First Fan”), Amy Skelton. Frustrated by her sadness over a recent breakup and feeling helpless, he wrote a song to cheer her up. In it he takes them both away from worldly concerns and indulges his own desire to escape the physical constraints of gravity by running over oceans, floating through the clouds, and moving effortlessly through time and space. While the lyrics were initially written from Trey's voice alone, the use of female vocals in the second verse on the Hoist version gives the song a more romantic call and response quality, perhaps reflecting a desire to escape together from the dull realities of workaday life and day-to-day pain. The result is a journey of childlike innocence, joy, and empathy. Ultimately it functions for the listener as a beautiful love song – platonic, or romantic.

The most popular versions of virtually every Phish song are to be found in live performances. In contrast, the Hoist version of “If I Could” – featuring the renowned bluegrass fiddler and singer Alison Krauss and strings by The Richard Greene Fourteen – is widely considered one of the band's most profoundly beautiful offerings of the song. 

In concert, “If I Could” provided opportunities for emotional expression not often afforded by Phish’s repertoire, especially as it existed in the mid-90s. Fans of the song will certainly want to visit the version from 5/3/94 in Antioch, TN, when Alison Krauss joined the band for a reprise of their studio collaboration. The performance on 7/1/95 at Great Woods featured a partial restoration of the original solo guitar introduction. In heavy rotation from its 4/4/94 debut through the end of 1995, "If I Could" became a rarity thereafter, with fewer than a dozen appearances over the next twenty years. 

“If I Could” > “Weekapaug Groove”– 8/22/12, Kansas City, MO

The essential live “If I Could” is unquestionably the version offered on 6/28/00 in Holmdel, NJ, the first time the song had ever closed a set. The concluding jam takes the song’s metaphorical admonitions to heart and takes the audience on a joyful ride of pure bliss.

The powerful themes of empathy and love in "If I Could" were in full display during a moving performance by Trey and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra on 5/21/09, shortly after the April 2009 death of his sister, Kristine Anastasio Manning. The orchestral version of "If I Could" with arrangement by Don Hart was performed on five additional occasions from 2009-2012.

Trey Anastasio & New York Philharmonic, “If I Could” – 9/12/09, New York, NY

"If I Could" has become a staple for Trey's solo acoustic shows, debuting on 02/12/18 at the Byham Theater in Pittsburgh, PA where he also debuted "Empty House" from his solo album Bar 17. The first performance with The Rescue Squad Strings was on 10/23/20 at "The Beacon Jams" during the quarantine days of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York, NY. A few months prior to the pandemic, Trey returned as a guest for the second time on the radio broadcast of Live From Here series (previously titled A Prairie Home Companion) on 10/12/19 at the Town Hall in New York, NY. This beautiful version closed the first of three short sets including Chris Eldridge on guitar, Brittany Haas on fiddle, Chris Thile on mandolin and vocals, Mike Elizondo on bass, Sarah Jarosz on vocals, Kush Abadey on drums, and Brett Williams on keys. Be sure to check out the third set featuring Wynton Marsalis with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra on "Blaze On," and Trey's debut of Lester Flatt’s "I'm Gonna Sleep With One Eye Open."

Trey Anastasio, "If I Could" - 10/12/19, New York, NY

 

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