This, That, and the Other

My theme for this year’s A to Z Blogging Challenge is classic rock songs. Each day during the month (except for the first four Sundays, I will post a classic rock song: a video from YouTube, along with a brief bit of background about the song and the recording artist(s).

This is much more difficult than I thought it would be. For every letter of the alphabet there are dozens of fantastic classic rock songs to choose from and picking just one song for each letter is maddening. But this is what I signed up for.

My M song is “Magic Carpet Ride” from Steppenwolf.

“Magic Carpet Ride” was written by John Kay and Rushton Moreve from the Canadian-American hard rock band Steppenwolf. The song was initially released in 1968 on the album, The Second. It was the lead single from that album, peaking at number 3 in the U.S., and staying in the charts for 16 weeks, longer than any other Steppenwolf song.

With royalties from Steppenwolf’s first album, lead singer John Kay bought himself two towering speakers hooked up to a hi-fidelity stereo sound system with 10-inch woofers, turntables, tape players, and equalizers. When the guys were working on their second album, bass player Rushton Moreve came up with a groove for a new song and inserted the line “I like my job, I like my baby” as a placeholder.

Kay took the demo home to work on the lyrics. He said, “I popped the cassette into the player, and out of these rather large speakers came this track. And what popped into my head was, ‘I like to dream… right between the sound machine.’ The ‘sound machine’ being that stereo system. I wrote the lyrics and melody in 20 minutes, went and overdubbed the vocal, and then we did some more work on the track with instrument overdubs and the like, and ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ evolved from that.”

Some thought “Magic Carpet Ride was about drug use, but Kay said it was really an invitation to a journey where fantasy will set you free.

The original single version of “Magic Carpet Ride” was not only an edit of the album version, it contained a different vocal take on the first verse. Despite the single’s popularity, the album version enjoyed heavy airplay on FM radio and is still the preferred version on most classic rock stations, as well as the one most commonly included on compilations and in popular media.

Here are the lyrics to “Magic Carpet Ride.”

I like to dream, yes, yes
Right between the sound machine
On a cloud of sound I drift in the night
Any place it goes is right
Goes far, flies near
To the stars away from here

Well, you don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me, little girl
On a magic carpet ride

Well, you don't know what we can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free

Close your eyes, girl
Look inside, girl
Let the sound take you away

Last night I hold Aladdin's lamp
And so I wished that I could stay
Before the thing could answer me
Well, someone came and took the lamp away
I looked around, a lousy candle's all I found

Well, you don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me, little girl
On a magic carpet ride

Well, you don't know what we can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free

Close your eyes, girl
Look inside, girl
Let the sound take you away

You don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me, little girl
On a magic carpet ride

Well, you don't know what we can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free

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