3 Psyche Rock Tracks From 1967 That Might Make You Feel Like You’re Tripping

Drugs, man. They come in all forms. Sometimes they’re pills or potions. Other times you put them in a pipe. But there are some that you don’t ingest the traditional ways. No, sometimes music can feel like its own intoxicant. Providing an incantation that makes you feel like you’re melting into the walls and the sofa on which you sit.

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Here below, we wanted to explore three such examples. A trio of psychedelic rock tracks that are as good as the magic mushrooms in Alice in Wonderland. Indeed, these are three psyche rock tracks from 1967 that might make you feel like you’re tripping.

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“White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane from Surrealistic Pillow (1967)

Speaking of Alice in Wonderland, let’s dive into a song inspired by the trippy novel. It includes lyrics about pills that make you smaller and larger. While the book is out there and full of wild images and characters, this song does a great job mimicking the source material. With a snare beat that leads you toward your hazy climax, lead singer Grace Slick offers,

One pill makes you larger
And one pill makes you small
And the ones that mother gives you
Don’t do anything at all
Go ask Alice
When she’s ten feet tall

“The End” by The Doors from The Doors (1967)

Somewhere, Jim Morrison is tripping right now. The man seemed to wake up and roll out of bed seeing imagines shape-shift before his eyes. At least, that’s the aura he gave off. And on this song, he creeps like a shadow into the music and sings to us with a shaman-like quality about the end of … life, the world, the edge of reality? Who knows but we are enchanted as if we’ve taken ayahuasca. Sings Morrison,

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
I’ll never look into your eyes again

“Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” by The Beatles from Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

Sure, yes, no, totally, we definitely believe you, John Lennon. This song wasn’t inspired by LSD—no, it was inspired by a child’s hand-drawn picture. Thumbs up! Of course, yes, we actually do believe the story, that Lennon’s own child showed him a picture with the very caption on it, “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” and it inspired the Beatle. But it’s funny to think drugs—specifically, LSD—inspired this one because it’s so kaleidoscopic, colorful, dreamy. And on the trippy tune, Lennon sings,

Picture yourself in a boat on a river
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes

Cellophane flowers of yellow and green
Towering over your head
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes
And she’s gone

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