Colonel Forbin's Ascent - Phish

Colonel forbin stared up at the mountain

And wiped away the beads of sweat

That glistened on his brow

His tired feet were buried in the quagmire

And his bloodshot eyes saw all that lay between him

And fulfillment of his vow

And he felt his fingers wrap around a knotted root

And pulled his body upwards

To a sea green mossy boulder

And he dragged his weary carcass up the mountain

And he climbed so slowly

He climbed so slowly

Ahead

Ahead

Suddenly he heard the crack of thunder

And the rocks began to crumble overhead

And tumble down the mountain to the

Dismal swamp that lay beneath the jagged cliffs

Through which his path had led

And the earth began to quake beneath his feet

And the mighty mountain changed before his eyes

And he stood amidst a sea of dust and rocks and stones

Cascading down the mountain

And a thousand birds were headed for the sky.

oh…

The sacred creed will be yours

And if you wait until tomorrow

The sacred creed will be yours

To devour

Yours

To seize

And to obey

Obey

When the dust had cleared, the colonel lifted up his head

And was driven to his knees by a blazing beam of light

And he saw the silhouette that stood before him

And he bowed in reverence

Trembling in the shadow of the mighty legend’s form

Icculus the prophet stood before his eyes

Looking down on colonel forbin

Where he shuddered in the puddles and the muck

And he quietly addressed him

And he spoke so slowly

He spoke so slowly

Ahead

He said

Colonel forbin i know why you’ve come here

And i’ll help you with your quest to gain the knowledge that you lack

I call upon my faithful friend the mockingbird

To fly and seize the helping book and bring it to your shack

And a tree of knowledge in your soul will grow

And the helping friendly book will plant the seed

But i warn you that all knowledge seeming innocent and pure

Becomes a deadly weapon in the hands of avarice

And greed

The sacred greed will be yours

And if you wait until tomorrow

The sacred creed will be yours

To devour

Yours

To seize

And to obey

And to obey

And the famous mockingbird swooped down out of the sky and landed on icculus’s

shoulder, and icculus whispered into the bird’s ear, and it flew off toward

wilson’s castle in the valley below.