4 Songs From the 60s That Will Make You Either Love or Hate Psychedelic Rock

New to psychedelic rock? Here are some interesting tunes that can serve as an introduction to the genre that captured the attention of the rock scene in the mid-60s.

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“Break On Through (To The Other Side)” by The Doors

If you’re new to psychedelic rock, The Doors’ debut single is a great place to start. “Break On Through (To The Other Side)” is a jazz-influenced song with a bossa nova swing to it. It’s not entirely clear what this song is about, but it sounds to me like frontman Jim Morrison is singing about the afterlife.

“I like ideas about the breaking away or overthrowing of established order,” Morrison, who helped write the song, once shared. “I am interested in anything about revolt, disorder, chaos, especially activity that seems to have no meaning.”

“Little Wing” by Jimi Hendrix

“Little Wing” is a classic psychedelic rock song, with just enough rhythm and blues to keep you engaged, especially if you’re not really a fan of the genre. Hendrix wrote this one about a sort of guardian angel figure.

“I got the idea like, when we were in Monterey and I was just looking at everything around,” Hendrix told Harry Shapiro of the song. “So I figured that I take everything I see around and put it maybe in the form of a girl maybe, somethin’ like that, you know, and call it ‘Little Wing’, and then it will just fly away.”

“Slip Inside This House” by The 13th Floor Elevators

“Slip Inside This House” is as psychedelic rock as it gets—fuzzy guitar sounds, a solid groove, and quirky lyrics.

“If your limbs begin dissolving / In the water that you tread / All surroundings are evolving / In the stream that clears your head / Find yourself a caravan / Like Noah must have led.”

This song feels a little bit like an out-of-body experience, which is why I think it might not be for everyone.

“Tomorrow Never Knows” by The Beatles

John Lennon used LSD as a drug in the 60s, but also as a bit of a songwriting tool, weirdly enough. “Tomorrow Never Knows” was one of those tracks he wrote, deriving inspiration from his experiences with LSD.

According to Paul McCartney, this track was inspired by a book Lennon read called The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on The Tibetan Book of the Dead, which explores what happens to us after death.

“For the first time we got the idea that, as with ancient Egyptian practice, when you die you lie in state for a few days, and then some of your handmaidens come and prepare you for a huge voyage,” McCartney explained in The Anthology. “Rather than the British version, in which you just pop your clogs. With LSD, this theme was all the more interesting.”

You can hear the influence of Indian music in this song as well. The song literally stays on one chord the entire time.

Photo by: David Redfern/Redferns