Music Saved My Life: The Donovan Edition.
I started listening to Donovan as soon as his music was available in the States. There was something about his sound that made me happy. It also helped me think about stillness, joy, the nature of loss and the reality that sadness just is human. His music has been part of my life ever since. It's true that listening to Donovan was part of what opened the door for me to start listening to the Grateful Dead in 1971. And ack, think of all the shows I could have gone to if I'd run away to join that circus in 1965. . .perhaps my parents might have not allowed that.
The thing about having a 128 GB iPhone and iPod Touch is that I can go back to collecting a lot of the music that with prior technologies I just didn't have room for. Or that I used to have on vinyl and never got around to getting on CD. Now it's so much easier to access and store. This means now some of the other Donovan collections are with reach. Not that I couldn't have them before, but seriously, there is only so much room for albums, tapes, CDs. Perhaps it's a response to the chaos of the my parent's house but refusing to clutter my home up as an adult is a strict rule for me.
I don't feel the need to own everything he ever sang, what I have is plenty to keep me on even keel. That same parameters applies to a lot of musicians I adore. Except the Grateful Dead of course, heh. I still always wish that Jerry Garcia had played Hurdy Gurdy Man, Season of the Witch and Catch The Wind. There is a fabulous version of Season of the Witch on Al Kooper's Super Session album. And oh, if you've never heard that along with the Live Adventures of Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield, hurry on up and get yourself a copy. It's damn fine music indeed.
Anyway, here's the lyrics for Summer Day Reflections Song:
Cat's a-sleeping in the sun
Eyes take heed, the colors call
Sunlight patterns touch the wall
Red kerchiefs sail and fall
Cat's a-sleeping in the sun
Dragon kite in the sky
Wheel and turns, spin and fly
Attacked by rooks who never fail
To cry the sound of fairy tales
The cat is walkin' in the sun
All the pebbles I have seen
Precious stones for Colleen
Every minute I pass through
With the grooves spent with you
The cat is yawning in the sun
Jewelled castles I have built
With freak feelings of guilt
And the words stab to the hilt
Pick the flower and it will wilt
Cat's a-shifting in the sun
Marionette dangles death
Insensitivity is fed
By the TV wizard's wand
Once in the spell, you're conned
Cat's a-smiling in the sun
Cat's a-smiling in the sun
Eyes take heed, the colors call
Sunlight patterns touch the wall
Red kerchiefs sail and fall
Cat's a-smiling into me
The thing about having a 128 GB iPhone and iPod Touch is that I can go back to collecting a lot of the music that with prior technologies I just didn't have room for. Or that I used to have on vinyl and never got around to getting on CD. Now it's so much easier to access and store. This means now some of the other Donovan collections are with reach. Not that I couldn't have them before, but seriously, there is only so much room for albums, tapes, CDs. Perhaps it's a response to the chaos of the my parent's house but refusing to clutter my home up as an adult is a strict rule for me.
I don't feel the need to own everything he ever sang, what I have is plenty to keep me on even keel. That same parameters applies to a lot of musicians I adore. Except the Grateful Dead of course, heh. I still always wish that Jerry Garcia had played Hurdy Gurdy Man, Season of the Witch and Catch The Wind. There is a fabulous version of Season of the Witch on Al Kooper's Super Session album. And oh, if you've never heard that along with the Live Adventures of Al Kooper and Mike Bloomfield, hurry on up and get yourself a copy. It's damn fine music indeed.
Anyway, here's the lyrics for Summer Day Reflections Song:
Cat's a-sleeping in the sun
Eyes take heed, the colors call
Sunlight patterns touch the wall
Red kerchiefs sail and fall
Cat's a-sleeping in the sun
Dragon kite in the sky
Wheel and turns, spin and fly
Attacked by rooks who never fail
To cry the sound of fairy tales
The cat is walkin' in the sun
All the pebbles I have seen
Precious stones for Colleen
Every minute I pass through
With the grooves spent with you
The cat is yawning in the sun
Jewelled castles I have built
With freak feelings of guilt
And the words stab to the hilt
Pick the flower and it will wilt
Cat's a-shifting in the sun
Marionette dangles death
Insensitivity is fed
By the TV wizard's wand
Once in the spell, you're conned
Cat's a-smiling in the sun
Cat's a-smiling in the sun
Eyes take heed, the colors call
Sunlight patterns touch the wall
Red kerchiefs sail and fall
Cat's a-smiling into me