November 30, 2012

Traffic - Dear Mr. Fantasy (1967)

Formed in April 1967 in the West Midlands region of England, this band’s most acknowledged lineup featured Steve Winwood, Dave Mason, Jim Capaldi, and Chris Wood. The group’s earliest singles were inspired by The Beatles, but they're most remembered for works fusing psychedelia, rock, jazz, and folk. Windwood, Mason, and Wood often collaborated with Jimi Hendrix and even appeared on Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland in 1968, the final album of The Jimi Hendrix Experience. Although the group initially split in 1969 for Winwood to form Blind Faith with Eric Clapton and Ginger Baker, the group reunited in 1970 and, in some incarnation or another, continued on until 1975. The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004.

Coming from their debut album, Mr. Fantasy released in 1967, this song’s lyrics were written by Capaldi and its music was written by Winwood and Wood. Never released as a single, it has since been covered by the Grateful Dead, Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Jimi Hendrix, and many others. Based on a poem given up on by Jim Capaldi, it was later retrieved and finished up by Steve Winwood and Chris Wood.

album art

Traffic - Dear Mr. Fantasy (1967)

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Lyrics:

Dear Mister Fantasy, play us a tune
Something to make us all happy
Do anything, take us out of this gloom
Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy

You are the one who can make us all laugh
But doing that, you break out in tears
Please don't be sad; if it was a straight mind you had
We wouldn't have known you all these years

Dear Mister Fantasy, play us a tune
Something to make us all happy
Do anything, take us out of this gloom
Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy
Yeah

Dear Mister Fantasy, play us a tune
Something to make us all happy
Do anything, take us out of this gloom
Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy

You are the one who can make us all laugh
But doing that, you break out in tears
Please don't be sad; if it was a straight mind you had
We wouldn't have known you all these years
Posted by Zolland at 10:17 AM
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6 comments:

  1. JermNovember 30, 2012 at 5:06 PM

    i always used to make fun of this tune! the words were just too obscene!

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    1. ZollandNovember 30, 2012 at 5:50 PM

      Haha, I've always wondered the back-story to the lyrics myself. I searched but I couldn't come up with anything. I saw Dave Mason in concert a few months ago and we sat about 15 feet away from him on the stage - a really small concert in a public park. I wish I could have talked to him but he got out of there pretty quickly. Ah, well...

      Delete
  2. DavidDecember 3, 2012 at 11:14 AM

    What a great song. And the way the guitars mesh with the music just hook you in.

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    Replies
    1. ZollandDecember 3, 2012 at 11:16 AM

      I love this song. I'm surprised it isn't played on the radio. It seems to have that hook that you find in all radio songs these days.

      Delete
  3. WombatDecember 16, 2012 at 9:41 AM

    Oh my, Winwood's voice was ethereal in those days. Am I wrong, or was the single backed by the even more wonderful "No Face, No Name, No Number"? I'll bet I'm wrong.

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    Replies
    1. ZollandDecember 16, 2012 at 10:17 AM

      I only have the Mr. Fantasy album, so I can't really say much about the album's singles. But after a quick look around, it almost appears as if this track wasn't released as a single. That doesn't seem right. Maybe it was released later on?

      Delete

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