Beauford / Lessard / Matthews / Moore / Tinsley (1998)

Don't Burn the Pig

Through the decades after its release, Pig has grown into a song with one of the deepest connections between the band and the fans. It debuted as a drum groove with a simple three-note guitar rhythm called Don't Burn the Pig on 5.10.1995 on the famous Yoshi's radio show. It was only played a handful of times full band in 1995 and 1996, and teased a few times during the Dave & Tim 1997 Tour. When DMB went into the studio for Before These Crowded Streets, they revisited the song - increasing the tempo and adding pre-chorus and chorus sections, changing the lyrics to a message of living and loving for today.

Pig got consistent play in the 1998 and 1999, but disappeared in 2000 as DMB rotated in a new set of songs. Ironically when many of those songs were set aside in 2001 (both in the studio and live), the biggest fan outcry was for the return of Pig. Fans began bringing signs to shows for the song, throwing stuffed pigs on stage, and handing out mass-printed paper. This led to a sometimes playful teasing of fans and the song throughout the tour - most famously at Soldier Field 7.7.01 when Dave teased it 6 times throughout the show.

When DMB opened their Spring 2002 tour on 4.4.02 they surprised the crowd by opening the encore with Pig, and to date 2002 saw the most plays of any year by a wide margin.

While Dave & Tim casually played Don't Burn the Pig a few times in 1996 and 1997, they didn't play Pig itself until 6.3.17.

Versions from 2002 on have sometimes been officially referred to on setlist and releases as "Don't Burn the Pig" due to Dave singing that line instead of "don't burn the day" (and sometimes even with the standard album lyrics). These versions are not the same as Pig's earlier predecessor of the same name, though, and all are called "Pig" on this site.