07-24-2016, 12:14 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-24-2016, 01:44 AM by Eric the Green.)
Right before "I Couldn't Live Without Your Love" surged to the top of the current picks list I was keeping in those days, this other amazing new song was my #1 pick, which was equally significant to my subsequent "evolution" and even more influential in the culture. This was "5D Fifth Dimension" by Jim McGuinn and The Byrds. I first noticed the music, but remember-- I had taken piano lessons earlier, but not organ, and I wasn't listening to classical organ music yet. But the organ was featured in most of my favorite songs and my picks here. This was one of the first ones, and I'm sure looking back that this was part of why I liked it so much. And according to wikipedia, "The song features the Bach-influenced organ and electric piano playing of Los Angeles composer, arranger, producer, and session musician Van Dyke Parks." So it definitely paved the way for my future interests in that way.
And not only musically, but as the years followed I realized how significant the lyrics were too. I didn't really pay much attention initially. Wikipedia's comments on this are interesting too. We know that the editors are pro-science, so I wonder how much that influenced their report on the song. They give prominence to McGuinn's comments that the song was an attempt to explain Einstein's theory of relativity. But also reported is this: "Talking to Michael Ross of Creem magazine in 1970, McGuinn further explained the song's meaning: "'5D' was an ethereal trip into metaphysics, into an almost Moslem submission to an Allah, an almighty spirit, free-floating, the fifth dimension being the 'mesh' which Einstein theorized about. He proved theoretically - but I choose to believe it." The song's abstract lyrics were largely interpreted by the band's audience as being about an LSD trip, much to McGuinn's dismay. The notion that the song was about drugs was given further credence when it was singled out, within a month of its release, by Variety magazine as one of a recent spate of pop songs containing references to illegal drug use. As a result of these allegations, the song was banned by some radio stations in the U.S.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5D_(Fifth_Dimension)
Naturally, McGuinn would want to deny the song is about LSD, if that gets it banned on radio stations. But it seems a bit coy to me. For one thing, on the Fifth Dimension album which came out on July 18, and which I bought quickly, the Byrds are pictured as standing and sitting on some kind of magic rug, all of them holding cups. Now, what is in those cups? And of course there's the psychedelic colors in the name "Byrds." And they had a bit earlier in 1966 released as a single "Eight Miles High," which is widely regarded as the first psychedelic song, and was included on the album.
![[Image: 5DCover.jpg]](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/6b/5DCover.jpg)
And then, the lyrics are strikingly similar to those of " Tomorrow Never Knows ."
http://genius.com/The-beatles-tomorrow-n...ows-lyrics
Now, we know these were taken from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, a key book from mystical Buddhism, so the mystical aspect and not the science aspect must be the main point of the song. Of course John Lennon used the book as a guide to taking an LSD trip. And what about the line, "I saw the great blunder my teachers had made, scientific delirium madness" which is scarcely an endorsement of science, but seems to me to indicate that McGuinn had transcended the scientific delusions which limit our consciousness. I certainly regarded the song more and more as great advice to live by as well as a guide to some kind of trip. Particularly the line, "just relaxed and payin' attention."
Oh, how is it that I could come out to here
And be still floatin'
And never hit bottom and keep falling through
Just relaxed and paying attention
All my two dimensional boundaries were gone
I had lost to them badly
I saw that world crumble and thought I was dead
But I found my senses still working
And as I continued to drop through the hole
I found all surrounding
To show me that joy innocently is
Just be quiet and feel it around you
And I opened my heart to the whole universe
And I found it was loving
And I saw the great blunder my teachers had made
Scientific delerium madness
Oh!
I will keep falling as long as I live
All without ending
And I will remember the place that is now
That has ended before the beginning
Oh, how is it that I could come out to here
And be still floatin'
And never hit bottom and keep falling through
Just relaxed and paying attention
http://lyrics.wikia.com/wiki/The_Byrds:5...Dimension)
And not only musically, but as the years followed I realized how significant the lyrics were too. I didn't really pay much attention initially. Wikipedia's comments on this are interesting too. We know that the editors are pro-science, so I wonder how much that influenced their report on the song. They give prominence to McGuinn's comments that the song was an attempt to explain Einstein's theory of relativity. But also reported is this: "Talking to Michael Ross of Creem magazine in 1970, McGuinn further explained the song's meaning: "'5D' was an ethereal trip into metaphysics, into an almost Moslem submission to an Allah, an almighty spirit, free-floating, the fifth dimension being the 'mesh' which Einstein theorized about. He proved theoretically - but I choose to believe it." The song's abstract lyrics were largely interpreted by the band's audience as being about an LSD trip, much to McGuinn's dismay. The notion that the song was about drugs was given further credence when it was singled out, within a month of its release, by Variety magazine as one of a recent spate of pop songs containing references to illegal drug use. As a result of these allegations, the song was banned by some radio stations in the U.S.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5D_(Fifth_Dimension)
Naturally, McGuinn would want to deny the song is about LSD, if that gets it banned on radio stations. But it seems a bit coy to me. For one thing, on the Fifth Dimension album which came out on July 18, and which I bought quickly, the Byrds are pictured as standing and sitting on some kind of magic rug, all of them holding cups. Now, what is in those cups? And of course there's the psychedelic colors in the name "Byrds." And they had a bit earlier in 1966 released as a single "Eight Miles High," which is widely regarded as the first psychedelic song, and was included on the album.
And then, the lyrics are strikingly similar to those of " Tomorrow Never Knows ."
http://genius.com/The-beatles-tomorrow-n...ows-lyrics
Now, we know these were taken from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, a key book from mystical Buddhism, so the mystical aspect and not the science aspect must be the main point of the song. Of course John Lennon used the book as a guide to taking an LSD trip. And what about the line, "I saw the great blunder my teachers had made, scientific delirium madness" which is scarcely an endorsement of science, but seems to me to indicate that McGuinn had transcended the scientific delusions which limit our consciousness. I certainly regarded the song more and more as great advice to live by as well as a guide to some kind of trip. Particularly the line, "just relaxed and payin' attention."
Oh, how is it that I could come out to here
And be still floatin'
And never hit bottom and keep falling through
Just relaxed and paying attention
All my two dimensional boundaries were gone
I had lost to them badly
I saw that world crumble and thought I was dead
But I found my senses still working
And as I continued to drop through the hole
I found all surrounding
To show me that joy innocently is
Just be quiet and feel it around you
And I opened my heart to the whole universe
And I found it was loving
And I saw the great blunder my teachers had made
Scientific delerium madness
Oh!
I will keep falling as long as I live
All without ending
And I will remember the place that is now
That has ended before the beginning
Oh, how is it that I could come out to here
And be still floatin'
And never hit bottom and keep falling through
Just relaxed and paying attention
http://lyrics.wikia.com/wiki/The_Byrds:5...Dimension)