Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Donovan



The Sun is a Very Magic Fellow, from the Hurdy Gurdy Man album.  Have to admit I don't recall it, very pleasant though.  Wanted to put in video of Cosmic Wheels, but none of the ones posted on youtube have any decent graphics.  This song reminds me though, of my musings on the ubiquity of sun imagery or what amounts to solar worship in psychedelic music, in song names, lyrics and band designations.  One could mention songs by the Beatles: Here Comes the Sun, I'll Follow the Sun, Sun King; the Grateful Dead's Anthem of the Sun, Sunshine Superman by Donovan, the Doors' Sunshine of Your Love, Sunlight in Her Hair, Waiting for the Sun; I Can Take You to the Sun by the Misunderstood, Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun by Pink Floyd, Paper Sun by Traffic and so forth. 

Solar imagery plays a big part of psychedelic art posters and album covers as well.  The whole hippie counterculture movement could be seen as a return to some imagined solar pagan worship, from communes to outdoor festivals, nudity and food co-ops based on small outdoor gardens.   

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