Divided Sky
Divided Sky was first played on May 11, 1987 in Burlington, Vermont. Released on Junta and Hampton comes alive, this song has been labeled as the Number One hit by Phish. Being the most open-ended song, it has the best jam space compared to all other Phish songs. Everyone sings, and everyone has fun with it. It is, strangely not a part of TMWSIY, even though it has opened the saga before. The song is based around a ritual where three chosen ones pay homeage to Icculus by climbing the rhombus in the middle of a vast field, and sing to him. This instance relates to Trey's adolescence. When he was at Morcer Community college, he, Tom Marshall, and Marc Daubert took mushrooms and chanted the chorus into the night when they were inspired by the shapes of the clouds.
Divided Sky's theme came from a family relic called "Gus the Christmas Dog." It is hard to relate nowadays, because most of the song is improvised. When you hear the beginning of the song, you'll notice they play "Mary Had A Little Lamb" both forwards and backwards. True Skill.
To harcore fans and owners of the White Tape, you will notice that the original Divided Sky as of 1988 was only a 30- second piece, that ended after the lyrics, "Divided Sky, the wind blows high..." Post 1988, it became the most popular Phish song ever. It was played heavily all the time except in 1997, when it was played a couple of times.
Ahhh!
Divided sky, the wind blows high
[The divided sky chant is part of an ancient ritual dating back to the
pre-Wilson years of the purity in Gamehendge. After listening to the
sacred sounds for a sloping lawn, three chosen subjects eat a special
root collected at the base of the enormous mountain that rises in the
center of the forest. The root is believed to contain the spirit of
Icculus, who lives at the top of the mountain. After eating the root,
they venture into a vast field at sundown. The field is deep green,
and stretches as far as the eye can see in all directions. In the
center of the field stands an enormous black rhombus. They climb the
rhombus and begin to sing, paying homage to the gods of the night
sky.]