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The self-referential "Let Me Lie" seems to encompass multiple threads running through Trey's life in the aftermath of Phish's 2004 breakup. At one level the song represents the realization of a yearning to escape the confines of being the de facto leader of Phish – of finding peace and self-expression unburdened by business meetings, a demanding fan base, and a staff comprised mostly of friends and utterly dependent on Trey and the rest of the band for their livelihood. In this respect the song represents a catharsis of personal and artistic rediscovery, despite the fact that recovery was still in Trey's future when the song was written. The flip-side of this story is to read "lie" not as "to lie down" but rather as lying, a direct reference to Trey's well-documented drug abuse – a story of addiction, of friends and employees as enablers, of lying to one's self.

Watch Let Me Lie on YouTube "Let Me Lie" – TAB, 10/16/08, New York, NY

"Let Me Lie" made its debut with the "70 Volt Parade" version of TAB on 4/26/06 at Atlanta's Tabernacle and it has been in regular rotation with all TAB incarnations to date. A studio version was released on Trey's 2006 Bar 17; this dark and haunting track features Trey repeating the chorus throughout the song, a device abandoned in live versions with both TAB and Phish. When Trey re-emerged from his stint in Washington County drug court for solo acoustic performances in the summer and with Classic TAB in fall 2008, "Let Me Lie" – in parallel with Trey's life in general – was delivered with a decidedly more positive tone and vocal clarity. This slightly more upbeat approach carried through to the Phish studio version on Party Time, making it the first song released on both a band member's solo album and a Phish studio release.

The Phish debut of "Let Me Lie" took place at Great Woods on 6/6/09 and it was in regular rotation with seven appearances in 2009, and one version to date in 2010, 8/10/10 in the cozy confines of Telluride, CO. The song was initially met with a mixed reception among Phish's fans, many of whom characterized the song as classic "buzz-kill." The only live notable outlier to date by Phish was the wonderful acoustic offering at Festival 8 on 11/1/09.

Watch Let Me Lie on YouTube "Let Me Lie" – Phish, 11/1/09, Indio, CA

While quality audience recordings are thus far scarce, fans of the song will want to seek out the three versions of "Let Me Lie" with orchestral accompaniment: 9/27/08 (with Orchestra Nashville), 5/21/09 (with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra) and 9/12/09 (at Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic).

Watch Let Me Lie on YouTube "Let Me Lie" – Trey Anastasio w/Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, 5/21/09, Baltimore, MD

(Anastasio, Marshall)
© Seven Below

Gonna take my bike out
gonna take my bike
gonna ride it slowly
gonna ride just how I like

Gonna take my bike out
gonna take my bike
gonna ride it slowly
gonna ride just how I like

Leave me way up here
up on the mountain
let me lie uncovered
on the floor

Make me wonder when
you go away again
if you're ever
coming back here anymore

Gonna take my bike out
gonna take my bike
gonna ride it slowly
gonna ride just how I like

Gonna take my bike out
gonna take my bike
gonna ride it slowly

I don't care what you did
but I can tell its hanging over you
the effects of sun and sand
are hard to understand

So leave me way up here
up on the mountain
let me lie, ooh…

Gonna take my bike out
(gonna) take my bike
gonna ride it slowly
gonna ride just how I like

Gonna use my brakes
when I go downhill
Gonna climb back on
when I take a spill

Gonna peel my shirt off
gonna feel it burn
gonna keep my eyes closed
gonna miss my turn

Gonna take my bike out
(gonna) take my bike
gonna ride it slowly

Let me lie
Let me lie
Let me lie
Let me lie

Gonna take my bike out
(gonna) take my bike
(Let me lie)
gonna ride it slowly
gonna ride just how I like
(Let me lie)

Gonna take my bike out
(gonna) take my bike
(Let me lie)
gonna ride it slowly
gonna ride just how I like
(Let me lie)

Gonna use my breaks
when I go downhill
Gonna climb back on
when I take a spill

Gonna take my bike out
gonna take my bike
gonna ride it slowly
gonna ride just how I like

Gonna peel my shirt off
gonna feel it burn
gonna keep my eyes closed
gonna miss my turn

Gonna take my bike out
gonna take my bike
gonna ride it slowly
gonna ride just how I like