Sorry Mike, but I'm with Mo - I always read 'Bright Phoebe' as the sun, whatever evidence from Greek mythology, or the rare occurrences of rosy-tinged lunar manifestations you might be able to quote. I was hoping Jon Dudley might have shown up by now to tell us what the Coppers think it all means.

One possibility I might suggest is that 'the new act' is the act of inebriation, and 'bottle and friend' means 'the bottle is my friend', i.e. the song is a hymn to alcoholism.