The Dude Abides: The Alternate Lyrics To Phish’s ‘Suzy Greenberg’

Throughout their 40-year career, Phish has welcomed many guest musicians onstage, most recently inviting guitarist Derek Trucks for a lengthy sit-in at SPAC on their 2023 Summer Tour. The guest spot made Trucks the latest addition to the list of musicians who have sat in with Phish more than once.

According to Phish.net, 63 people have been asked to join Phish on stage on multiple occasions over the past four decades. Topping the list with the most guest spots are members of the Giant Country Horns – Carl Gerhard, Dave Grippo and Russell Remington – who did multi-show runs with the band in the 1990s. The trio of horn plays are trailed by Tom Marshall who has written the lyrics to many Phish songs.

Next on the list is another person who helped write many of Phish’s classic songs, The Dude Of Life, who is credited with 15 known instances of performing with Phish. Credited with contributing lyrics to early Phish originals, “Suzy Greenberg,” “Dinner and a Movie,” “Fluffhead” “Run Like an Antelope” and others, The Dude Of Life (Steve Pollak) was a member of Space Antelope with guitarist Trey Anastasio before the latter formed Phish in 1983.

The Dude Of Life first appeared on stage with Phish when they made their debut at Nectar’s in Burlington, Vermont on December 1, 1984. Several subsequent appearances in the 1990s featured performances of songs off The Dude Of Life and Phish collaborative album, Crimes Of The Mind, which was recorded in 1991 and released in 1994.

Phish teased another guest spot 26 years ago today when they played the final show of their landmark Fall Tour 1997 in Albany, New York. During a wild second set “Mike’s Song,” the members of the band called to “Bring the Dude,” and even namechecked The Dude Of Life himself, but Pollak never materialized onstage at the Pepsi Arena.

One year later, on November 24, 1998, Phish did bring The Dude Of Life onstage for the encore of their concert at the New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum in New Haven, Connecticut. The band let The Dude lead a performance of his song “Suzy Greenberg,” which featured some alternate lyrics from those typically sung by Anastasio.

The Dude Of Life’s November 1998 guest spot was the second recorded time he performed “Suzy Greenberg” with Phish, the other time coming when it made its public debut on February 13, 1987. In both instances, the lyrics sung by The Dude were different from the ones usually heard at Phish shows.

The November 1998 alternate lyrics were slightly different from usual verses. Here’s a look at the differences:

Typical Lyrics:

Suzy’s ’bout as faithful as a slot machine
Pays off once in a while, but then she robs you clean
She’s always afraid that she’s not sure what she’s worth
She’s out of her mind, and she’s not of this Earth

The woman walks the streets like she’s the queen of the town
Doesn’t talk very much, she’s very profound
Little Suzy Greenberg, always playing a game
But today I bet she’s probably forgot my name!

---

November 1998 Alternate Lyrics:

She’s always trying to tell me she’s not of this earth
She’s out of her mind and she’s not sure what she’s worth
You know that she’s gonna fly to the moon
I hope that Suzy comes back real soon

You don’t even know what she’s done to me now
But that don’t matter to me anyhow
Today I bet she’s probably forgotten my name
And I don’t even know how I’ll recall it again

---

The reason the lyrics typically sung by Anastasio cannot be labeled “original” is due to the fact that when the song premiered in 1987, The Dude Of Life sang drastically altered lyrics. A lo-fi recording circulates of the first time Phish publicly performed “Suzy Greenberg,” which is the only documented instance of The Dude singing the unusual lyrics with Phish.

A transcript from the 1987 tape, as best discerned, follows:

Little Suzy Greenberg, with her head caved in
Soon will let me drown beneath the undertow
You better stick that woman in the looney bin
‘Cause you know I’d really like to be a part of her show

[Inaudible]

Suzy tells me that she’s not sure what she’s worth
She’s out of her mind, and she’s not of this Earth

Suzy, Suzy, Suzy, Suzy
Suzy, Suzy Greenberg
Suzy, Suzy, Suzy, Suzy
Suzy, Suzy Greenberg

Look at her now, she’s so beautiful
She’s got that nice long twirl and Eyes Of The World
Suzy was a little girl on long street, the finest girl that you’ve ever would meet
She don’t even know what day it is, but whatever she says you know it is

Little Suzy what’s the matter with you
I gave you anything that you wanted to do
Look at you now, you’re the queen of the land
Whatever you can do I can understand

Suzy, Suzy, Suzy, Suzy
Suzy, Suzy Greenberg
Suzy, Suzy, Suzy, Suzy
Suzy, Suzy Greenberg

Suzy’s body is big and her nose is quite huge
I don’t even understand her quiet deluge
But she never says a word that’s bad
And if you knew what she’d say if she knew she had it

Little Suzy I don’t know what to say
But I’d like to see you just one more day
I’m like a crazy planet in the sky
I’m going to love you til the day I die

Suzy, Suzy, Suzy, Suzy
Suzy, Suzy Greenberg
Suzy, Suzy, Suzy, Suzy
Suzy, Suzy Greenberg

She’s such a strange girl
There’s no one else like her on the planet
But she’s a very strange girl
She’s got a few mental problems
But still she has her good qualities too
One day she’s gonna snag you too

Little Suzy, little Suzy, look at you just stroll down that street
You know you’re the queen
You’re the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen

[Inaudible Screaming]

You’re such a beautiful lady but you lost it
You lost it
Oh, Suzy

Regardless of the form of the lyrics, it is clear The Dude Of Life wrote the song about a real person named “Suzy Greenberg.” (Despite rampant speculation, Seinfeld producer Suzy Mamann-Greenberg is not the subject of the song). Phish bassist Mike Gordon shared his thoughts on The Dude Of Life’s “Suzy Greenberg” lyrics with the author of The Phish Book Richard Gehr.

“I like ‘Suzy’’s music but I don’t think the lyrics reflect any of us,” Gordon told Gehr. “It’s basically a misogynist rejection song about some chick who turned Steve Pollak down years ago. It was funny for awhile, and it was always a perfect song for horns.”

The real Suzy Greenberg, who inspired The Dude’s hard-hitting lyrics, remained an elusive figure in the Phish scene. That changed when she attended her first Phish show on April 21, 2022. Anastasio called out Greenberg at the start of the concert and thanked the “hero of the song” before kicking the night off with “Suzy Greenberg.”

A few days before attending her first Phish concert, Suzy Greenberg joined The Dude Of Life onstage at Phish’s old stomping grounds in Burlington, Vermont. Greenberg got her revenge on The Dude when she accompanied him and his band on a performance of “Suzy Greenberg” at Nectar’s.

Greenberg provided yet another alternative set of lyrics, this time flipping the script on The Dude by singing:

Little Stevie Pollak wants to stay in touch
He hits me up on Facebook but I say “Fuck off!”
The things he says about me they just don’t ring true
Didn’t have a clue what I was going through

Steve is a bullshit artist, he’s juvenile
Been in a mid-life crisis for quite awhile
Digs up the past like he’s an archeologist
Time for him to see a good proctologist

Stevie, Stevie, Stevie, Stevie
Stevie, Stevie Pollak
Stevie, Stevie, Stevie, Stevie
Stevie, Stevie Pollak

Stevie is a teacher, he’s a pretty good guy
That has a house, a car and a normal life
But somewhere in his mind it just isn’t enough
Something is missing and it’s getting rough

Don’t you know that I am the queen of the town
The tables have turned, it’s time to boogie down
Little Stevie Pollak always playing his game
Still thinks he wants into Phish, it’s kind of sad and lame

Stevie, Stevie, Stevie, Stevie
Stevie, Stevie Pollak
Stevie, Stevie, Stevie, Stevie
Stevie, Stevie Pollak

Watch Suzy Greenberg get revenge on The Dude Of Life below: