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Cover of Hoist by Phish — Cover: Hoist

Song · Phish

“Down With Disease” by Phish

From the album Hoist (1994)

“Down With Disease” by Phish appears on 16 radio countdowns from 2 stations between 1999 and 2022. It was first released in 1994 on the album Hoist. Its best result is #334 on the CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000). In the combined RockLists rankings it is #944 alternative song of all time.

16countdowns

2stations

#334best position

0#1 finishes

0top 10 finishes

1999–2022years charted

Watch

Phish Down With Disease Music Video (1994)

Video from YouTube (Tyler Penn). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Down with Disease" sits second on Hoist, Phish's 1994 album, and it's the one that finally cracked American rock radio, reaching #33 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart that June. Trey Anastasio wrote the music with lyricist Tom Marshall, who drew the words from his own bout with mononucleosis, and Paul Fox produced it as a tight, springy funk-rock number, with Jean McClain and Rose Stone on backing vocals.

It began life onstage as a wordless jam on New Year's Eve 1993, and onstage is where it keeps growing: versions run anywhere from a few minutes to well past twenty, with the whole band stretching out, and one in April 2024 lasted 33 minutes and 56 seconds. The retail cassette single came with "NO2", an experimental piece built on dental-drill noises.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

#944 of all time

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

All-time and decade countdowns

Year	#	Station	Countdown	of
1999	334	CD101	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)	2000
2000	334	CD101	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)	2001
2001	339	CD101	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)	2002
2002	339	CD101	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)	2003
2003	339	CD101	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)	2004
2004	339	CD101	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)	2005
2005	340	CD101	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)	1994
2007	801	CD101	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)	2008
2008	802	CD101	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)	2009
2009	822	CD101	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)	2010
2010	844	CD101	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)	2011
2011	872	CD101	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)	2011
2013	913	CD101	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)	2012
2014	955	CD101	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)	2013
2022	890	The Colorado Sound	The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s	900
2022	731	The Colorado Sound	The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time	1055

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