Sample In A Jar

I have a Sample in A Jar meaning story that I think comes from a fairly
reliable source.  A buddy of mine (Mike Lupishinsky) who does a lot of
touring and has met the band several times first let me in on this take on
the song.
        Sample in a Jar is about a time Trey got really drunk at a bar.  The
"Sample in a Jar" is Trey on the ride home from the bar as all his buddies
were taking car of him.  The "binding belt enclosing me" is a seat belt.
"The glances and glares" probably refer to people being worried about him,
and to those who are angry at him.  If anyone has ever taken care of an
extremely drunk friend it can be very annoying and frustrating.  He speaks
of being "foggy, rather groggy," which probably describes being intoxicated.
All the other strange lines are about things he saw on the ride home,
staring out the window.  "The marketplace unfolding with all their willies
and their ware" could mean the ride home took them through a main
strip/town square/strip mall/center of commerce.  "Elihu," and "Leemor" and
other strange nonsense in the song refer to signs and stores he saw on the
ride home.

I think the most definitive lines are towards the end of the song:
"And I think of you unheeding
All the times I've raised my cup
It's now I know that you knew that
I'd soon end up end up."

Basically, this seems to say:
"I know you don't like drinking,
but I've been drunk a lot in my life.
I guess now I know you were right,
I did end up flat on my face."

The person to whom he is speaking could be someone who disapproves of
drinking, a friend, or Significant Other. Lastly, "The simple smiles and
good times seem all wrong," tells me that boozing can be a good time,
although sometimes drinking can make you miserable.  Of course, if I am
wrong and this is a Marshall song, not an Anastasio song, then this whole
thing applies to Tom Marshall.  However, I remember hearing that Trey
personally really liked the song, and that's why it why played so often in
'95, right after it was written.

Hoping this made sense,
Chris

i read the one posted and i think it has some good points that it does have
to do  some with the scene.  I think the section on the market place was
perfect.  But i think that it conveys another meaning as well. Your
forgetting the chorus.  It almost sounds like something of an intoxicated
incident at a party, were the main character in the song is "foggy rather
groggy."  e goes up to visit his girl, but she's with osme else, he is
pissed and storms out of the party.  He drove his car, becuase he didnt
hear what she had said.  When the binding melt encloses him, he is nothing
but a sample in a jar.  Meaning he died or something of that nature and is
literally a sample in some doctors jar.  Or he might even be paralyzed from
the accident.
This also helps to explain the first line, "It's hidden far, for someday i
might tell.  The tale of metal tangle when itno your world i fell."  He is
in the world of the disables because of his accident and his carelessness
to listen to his freind.  It also might be some sort of repressed memory of
the accident, because it's hidden far away and someday he might tell.  

Well always thinkin...  keep on phishin

the scene thing is very true, if your not "in" your not a "Phan."  Of
course i believe thats bs.  But for some, if u dont have dreads and dont
tour, you dont belong.  They can't sit back and realzie why everyone goes
to the shows, because of the music. The music keep us all on this one
level, a level of equality wheter we've been to 200 shows or its our first.
 The music is why we come, not to sit in the lot and get wasted.  Well
thats always fun too, but without the music we wouldn't be there.  And when
they come out and bust into that opening tune for that one moment, no
matter how many shows you've seen or how many tapes you have.  Everyone is
the same, a sea of people watching their every move.
peace

i've always wondered how much phish comments on their (growing) 'scene'
in some of their somgs.  consider 'sample in a jar.'  while admittedly
not my personal favorite song, i think the second verse could be
interepreted about the lot scene.

'and on the market stands unfolding
with all the willies and their wares':
  a reference to all of the vendors in the lot now, and how the 'heads
who tour are sorta like a little caravan, setting up and closing for
every show.

'i shuffle by alert but numb':
  i wonder what percentage of concert-goers are wasted at each show? i
would bet that it's more that 3/4.. maybe tom was commenting on the fact
that the band wants people to come for the music more than for the party 

'to all the glances and their glares':
  while giving lip service to acceptance and the like, phans can be
remarkably bitter towards those who they don't consider to be 'with it.'

and the end:

'you tricked me like the others
and now i don't belong
the simple smiles and good times seem all wrong':
  again, i think maybe tom was trying to tell people to get out and do
more than smoke pot and see shows.  maybe he's talking about people who
go to great lengths to identify themselves with the 'scene' and then
find they have no place outside of it..

thanks andy, this is a great idea!

I completely agree with the first comments, considering the out-of-place
concert-goer.  I remember going to my first phish concert last
December.  I had been listenting to phish for over two years, and I
loved their musical style and expression and everything else that makes
them what they are.  Now, this shouldn't seperate me from any other
phishead, should it?  No.  So why is it a problem that I am a
middle-class, white, suburban highschool kid?  I showed up at the show
early and hung out in the lot wearing my typical winter attire:  a dark
green Brooks Brothers Sweater and nice (not torn or ditry) kahki pants. 
I had freshly cut and combed hair (short, around the top of the ears)
and I was clean shaven and spritzed with colonge.  I received several
"Glances and Glares" as I made my way through the lot, smiling and
saying hi to people that walked by.  When we  (my friend and I) got
inside, it was hot enough to remove my sweater, revealing my white Polo
golf shirt underneath.  I think the lyrics "And now I don't belong" fit
in here somewhere.  The standoffish attitude that I received in such
crowded places as the bathroom (what a scene that was!) made feel like
"The simple smiles and good times seem all wrong!"  I mean, come on, I
just wanted to have a good time and I didn't need any flak because of
the way I dressed.  It's alright, I still had a great time, and my
perception of phish and concerts hasn't been tarnished.  I just don't
think that it's fair for anyone to have to "Dress-Down" for a concert. 
I actualy know a lot of people who do this (they don't change their
pants a week in advance, they stop shaving, etc.) and I think that music
is heard by the ears, not the eyes.