Chalk Dust Torture Reprise
| Originally Performed By | Phish |
| Music/Lyrics | Phish |
| Vocals | Trey (lead), Fish, Mike, Page (backing) |
| Historian | Chris Bertolet (bertoletdown) |
| Last Update | 2023-11-27 |
History
“Chalk Dust Torture Reprise” debuted during the encore of 12/10/94 Santa Monica. Its foundation is little more than a deliciously simple and irrepressibly catchy 4-chord hook (E, A, F#m, B), interspersed with tension runs on that B chord, over which Trey primes the pump with cries of “torture....torture...TORTURE” before blasting back into the main riff and chorus (simply, “Chalk dust torture!”).
Think Ramones by way of Burlington, Vermont.
The first time “Chalk Dust Torture Reprise” appeared it served as the backdrop for a litany of thanks from Trey to the unsung heroes in the crew and back office who made the fall 1994 tour such a smashing success, and ultimately to Phish’s “First Fan” Amy Skelton (who got her own chorus).
The second time the tune appeared, almost six years later at Deer Creek, it oddly preceded a volcanic first set “Chalk Dust Torture,” then was given a more lengthy workout in the second set.
The 4-chord progression from “Chalk Dust Torture Reprise” re-appeared at Coventry as the foundation of the one-off ditty “Dickie Scotland” – itself a tribute to Phish’s tour accountant, Richard Glasgow.
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