This remnant will be replaced soon. The FAQ is back, with a new design! What are they saying in Run Like an Antelope? Rye, rye, rocco. Marco Esquandolas. Been you to have any spike, man? Set the gearshift for the high gear of your soul. You've got to run like an antelope: out of control. Title and Origin: The Dude of Life wrote the chorus -- "(you've got to) run like an antelope, out of control" -- in high school, originally as "run like a space antelope". The preceding line -- "set the gearshift for the high gears of your soul" -- was added later (by Tom? Trey?). But there have been variations: on on 12/8/94 Trey sang "set the gear shit for the side of this hole" reported by ZZYZX and Marco Walsh (11/16/98) 6/30/95 he sang "lick the deer shit from the side of this hole" reported by Dan Nooter (11/16/98). Verse: Jesmund revealed (9/25/93, 12:14:33) that the sometimes-mumbled lyrics during the slower, ready-to-take off part are "Rye, Rye, Rocco, Marco Esquandolas. Been you to have any spike, man?" Tom Marshall wrote these lines (and wrote or co-wrote much of Phish's lyrics, fondly Golgi Apparatus and Chalkdust Torture) and performed them at three New Year's Eve shows: 12-31-92, 12-31-93, and 12-31-94. Marco Esquandolas reportedly used to refer to Marc Daubert, and may now (or may at some time) have referred to Jon as well. (Indeed, Trey substituted "Bob Weaver" for Marco Esquandolas at 8-16-98, after calling Fishman Bob Weaver for that entire tour. And 11/2/96 he said Norton Charleston Heston. Thanks to Ron Singual.) But the Dude of Life and his band played at Deerfield Academy in Nov. 98, performed "Antelope" as the encore, and told William Barret (when he asked) that Marco Esquandolas was Mike's high school Spanish teacher. Spike: For the last part, you may also hear, "If you need any spice/spike, I have a little" and might hear spice, spike, spliff, or spleef. Spliff: Trey reportedly used to say "spliff" -- rhymes with "leaf" (sometimes misspelled spleef) as pronounced by phans and Jamaicans, including Jah Roy, who performed with Phish in early years) referring to small joints (as opposed to cannabis/tobacco mixes rolled in cigar leaves and called "blunts"), though pronounced "spliff" by Europeans referring to joints made with both cannabis and tobacco and with a cigarette filter rolled into one end. Spike the Herb: A Burlington resident reported (12/16/97) that spike refers to a Northern Lights strain local to Burlington (the common alternative being "typical Vermont purple outdoor"), and that the switch from spliff/spike to spice came when the band "made the move out of the bar scene." Spike the Spice: Tom Lorenz emailed (12/30/98) about an all-natural multi-spice seasonging named Spike, "found at better grocery and health/organic food stores. My wife and I were turned on to Spike about ten years ago and have kept it on hand ever since. It goes with practically everything and comes in both regular and salt-free varieties." Tom also emailed (1/16/99) the text from the label: "From the Italian kitchens of internationally acclaimed gourmet nutritionist, Gayelord Hauser, comes this special blend of 39 flavorful herbs, vegetables and non-irritating exotic spices with just the right amount of salt crystals. Discover the taste excitement that has made Spike the favorite all purpose seasoner with great chefs everywhere. Spike adds a little magic in every meal." Spike is Mike? James Platts-Mills pointed our (4/18/00) that Mike's nickname is Cactus. Charles Brantman point out (4/6/00) that the verb may be "happen you to have any spike man" or "happen to have any spike" rather than "been you to..." Signal?: One observer suggested that variation since is some language trigger to the other members about how the song is going to go; e.g. "been you to have a little spleef, man?" asks the others to take the lead, while "if you're needing spleef, man, i've a little" instructs others that he's taking the lead. On 10/8/99, Trey just said "sssssssssss". (Thanks to Keith Putnam.) Cantaloupe: One popular variation (from the Cat's Cradle, 11/14/91) features the "roll like a canteloupe" variation, requested by James Roberts (a freshman at Duke Univesity at the time) who had mentioned before the show having seen it before, and whom you can hear requesting it right before the start of the second set according to Jennifer Saunders 11/14/98. Dana Zuul posted a soundclip to the web, and the lyrics (10/27/96) to rmp: Set the gearshift for the high gear of your soul Then walk through the doors of a supermarket Wander past the frozen foods section Go past the baked goods Slowly walk by the personal products Meander slowly past the magazine section Step slowly by the courtesy counter Walk toward the produce section Slowly come towards the fruits and vegetables With the small round fruit in your hand You've got to roll like a cantelope out of control!!! Twainalope: Sean Gugnani reported (8/4/98) that toward the end of chapter one of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, "just after receiving a whipping from Tom, a snobbish boy waits until Tom turns his back and then he heaves a rock at him. After the rock finds it mark, the boy 'ran like an antelope' to get away." Antelopes, Grass, and Runways: Kristen Godard sent this AP story (4/7/99): There's a Slight Danger to the Antelope, Too This week an antelope "wound up on the wrong side" of a new, higher fence designed to keep antelope off the grounds of the Converse County Airport in Wyoming, "where they like to eat grass and lie on the warm runway." Airport manager Steve Good "said antelope on the runway can be dangerous to incoming pilots, especially pilots from the East who may not be familiar with them" (AP/Casper [WY] Star-Tribune, 3/30). See also (or don't) Antelope Greg. Thanks also to Dan Baggott and Sasha@Rochester. This page last updated February 03, 2007. All contents © 1992-2007 Ellis Godard. All rights reserved.