Welcome back to Psychobabble's Psychedelic 500, in which I count my personal fave psych songs from 500 all the way down to #1! Today, let's see what's bogarting that joint from 225 to 201...
224. Pink Floyd- "Let There Be More Light" (1968), in which Roger Waters declares, "Nice try, God, but it's not nearly light enough for me." That's so Roger.
223. Tintern Abbey- "Vacuum Cleaner" (1967), in which household cleaning appliances become instruments of hallucinogenic splendor.
222. King Crimson- "21st Century Schizoid Man" (1969), in which King Crimson lay down a riff so elephantine that they are forever mislabeled a heavy metal band by those who never heard another one of their songs.
221. The Zombies- "Butcher's Tale (Western Front 1914)" (1968), in which The Zombies create a gut-wrenching, tear-jerking portrait of man's inhumanity to man by detailing events of a war that no one who's ever heard this song experienced firsthand.
220. Serge Gainsbourg- "The Initials B.B." (1968), in which Serge Gainsbourg drops some not so subtle hints about who he's got a crush on.
219. The Velvet Underground- "Lady Godiva's Operation" (1968), in which The Velvet Underground make noises with their mouths to show what they think an operating room sounds like.
218. The Four Tops- "Standing in the Shadows of Love" (196), in which Holland-Dozier-Holland nip a phrase from a very recent Rolling Stones semi-hit as if to say, "Two can play at that sticky fingers game, suckers!"
217. Small Faces- "Here Come the Nice" (1967), in which Small Faces have absolutely nothing but nice things to say about the gentleman who sells them speed.
216. The Hollies- "Pay You Back with Interest" (1967), in which The Hollies get the most psychedelic piano sound in the history of psychedelic pianos.
215. Small Faces- "I Feel Much Better" (1967), in which Small Faces fashion a psych classic by playing the standard Chuck Berry riff on a bass instead of a guitar and speeding up their voices like Alvin and the Chipmunks.
214. Jeff Beck- "Morning Dew" (1968), in which Jeff Beck tackles one of the most over-covered songs of the late sixties and slays all other interpretations with one hand tied behind his Les Paul.
213. The Velvet Underground- "I'm Waiting for the Man" (1967), in which Lou Reed waits for his man... TO SELL HIM DRUGS!!!
212. The Blues Magoos- "(We Ain't Got) Nothin' Yet" (1966), in which The Blues Magoos currently have nothing, but they're pretty hopeful about their future chances of ownership.
211. Elton John- "Where to Now, St. Peter?" (1970), in which Elton John uses a concept album about the Old West to smuggle a totally psychedelic number into the seventies.
210. King Crimson- "Epitaph" (1969), in which King Crimson reveal what their epitaph will be and it's going to leave a lot of empty space on their headstone.
209. Love- "Maybe the People Would Be the Time or Between Clark and Hilldale" (1967), in which Arthur Lee says,"Fuck your concise song titles."
208. Yes- "Starship Trooper" (1971), in which the line between psych and prog blurs.
207. Traffic- "Coloured Rain" (1967), in which Traffic notice that the rain is not its usual clear-water composition yet they do not seem remotely alarmed by this.
206. The Chocolate Watch Band- "Sweet Young Thing" (1967), in which The Chocolate Watch Band get all leery.
205. The Rascals- "It's Wonderful" (1967), in which The Rascals take an absolutely crazy acid trip that apparently ends with them fox hunting.
204. The Beatles- "Glass Onion" (1968), in which John Lennon has a go at his own fans...and they love it!
203. King Crimson- "I Talk to the Wind" (1969), in which King Crimson talks to the wind, and we can only hope it does not say to them what it said to Howard Moon.
202. The Who- "Glow Girl" (1968), in which Pete Townshend works through his terror of airplane crashes by crashing his Fender Jazzmaster.
201. The Hollies- "King Midas in Reverse" (1967), in which all The Hollies flip out because Graham Nash wrote a song and it's not even about a cute girl or anything!
