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Irony may be dead, but in Phish 3.0, lesbian irony is alive and well.

"I Kissed a Girl" made its Phishy debut in the middle of "Harpua" at the summer 2009 tour closer at SPAC. As with the interstitial songs from the other two post-hiatus "Harpuas", Fish slays the vocals in his inimitable dying whale falsetto. This peculiar cover found Phish not only behind the curve (Katy Perry's confectionery ode to bi-curiosity charted a year earlier) but slumming artistically as well.

Yeah, slumming. There, I said it.

Perry's collaboration with producer Dr. Luke was widely and fairly criticized as a bald-faced ripoff -- conceptually, if not musically -- of Jill Sobule's 1995 hit of the same name. While God knows that the world needs pop-tarts like Perry, Sobule is a legitimate artist with a legitimate beef, and her version might have been a classier call, all things considered. But lest I be accused of taking anything too seriously, we're talking about a work interpreted by a man in a donut muu-muu in the middle of a prog epic about a dog named Harpua and a cat named Poster Nutbag.

Next.

Watch I Kissed a Girl on YouTube Phish, "I Kissed a Girl" – 8/16/09, Saratoga Springs, NY

(Perry/Dr. Luke/Martin/Dennis)
© EMI April Music, Inc. (ASCAP)

This was never the way I planned, not my intention
I got so brave, drink in hand, lost my discretion
It's not what I'm used to, just wanna try you on
I'm curious for you caught my attention

I kissed a girl and I liked it, the taste of her cherry chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it, I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong, it felt so right, don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it, I liked it

No, I don't even know your name, it doesn't matter
You're my experimental game, just human nature
It's not what good girls do, not how they should behave
My head gets so confused, hard to obey

I kissed a girl and I liked it, the taste of her cherry chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it, I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong, it felt so right, don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it, I liked it

Us girls we are so magical, soft skin, red lips, so kissable
Hard to resist, so touchable, too good to deny it
It ain't no big deal, it's innocent

I kissed a girl and I liked it, the taste of her cherry chapstick
I kissed a girl just to try it, I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong, it felt so right, don't mean I'm in love tonight
I kissed a girl and I liked it, I liked it