In the mood for some mind-blowing lyrics from some psychedelic delights from 1967? That year was such a solid one for songwriting. And while many songs released during that era were psychedelic in nature and involved the use of certain substances, they aren’t all just odes to mind-altering drugs. In fact, quite a few songs released that year have some fascinating lyrics with mind-bending themes. Let’s take a look!
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“The End” by The Doors
“Paid a visit to his brother, and then he / He walked on down the hall, and / And he came to a door / And he looked inside / ‘Father?’ ‘Yes, son?’ ‘I want to kill you’ / ‘Mother? I want to…’”
Much of Jim Morrison’s lyrical work was poetic, but few got as Oedipal and existential as “The End” from The Doors’ self-titled 1967 album. On the surface, this song shocked people for its use of Oedipal references, such as the line mentioned above. However, the more you listen to this song and absorb the lyrics, the more it becomes clear that this song could mean just about anything.
An incestuous obsession? Perhaps. Ego death? Sure. The loss of a lover? Maybe. Even Morrison himself said that the song was “sufficiently complex and universal in its imagery that it could be almost anything you want it to be.” Now that’s great songwriting.
“White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane
“When logic and proportion / Have fallen sloppy dead / And the White Knight is talking backwards / And the Red Queen’s off with her head / Remember what the Dormouse said / Feed your head! / Feed your head!”
This might just be one of the most beloved psychedelic songs of the Summer of Love in 1967. Most people associate the vivid, magical lyricism with psychedelic drug use. That’s obviously a big part of the song and Grace Slick’s music as a whole. But “White Rabbit” isn’t just some ode to LSD. Rather, it’s a critique of society that begs the listener to question the powers that be and to start thinking deeply about what’s truly going on around them. Slick implores the listener to feed their head, after all.
“The Red Telephone” by Love
“They’re locking them up today / They’re throwing away the key / I wonder who it will be tomorrow, you or me?”
On a musical level, this psychedelic pop song is so good that many listeners didn’t really take the time to sit with the lyrics. But once you do, this 1967 song’s mind-blowing lyrics start to really make sense. “The Red Telephone” is an incredibly philosophical and borderline apocalyptic exploration of things like death, race, prison systems, etc. It really reflects the uneasy mood at the time, when the Vietnam War raged on, everyone was on drugs, and the balance between joy and anxiety was a hard one to balance.
Photo by Sulfiati Magnuson/Getty Images
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