from the LP Hawkwind, United Artists Records, 1970For most people, the psychedelic revolution which took place across most of the developed world in the late ‘60s was something of a novelty---you took LSD and other assorted hallucinogenic drugs a handful of times, tuned in and turned on, saw that the world around you didn’t change that much afterwards, and filed it all under “been there, done that.” The small bunch of others for whom this didn’t hold true rejoiced at this imminent pattern, for it meant that they would then have a lot more goodies to ingest themselves!! Hawkwind were the psychedelic overlords of the UK and Europe, building a reputation and following that rivaled that of the Dead’s in America; totaling over 50 members in & out during its forty year existence, the cult of Hawkwind is almost more a social experiment than a traditional band. For one thing, some members had never previously played any musical instruments before joining the band (some might argue that they never did, even when they were in the band), case-in-point being the mighty ‘DikMik’: he was just a hashish and pot dealer they knew, on his way to India, when they asked him to join the band and had him play this gigantic audio generator, which made all sorts of squelchy electronic blips and beeps. Though their music would get increasingly loud and aggressive with subsequent releases, many of them have said in interviews that the sound on this, their self-titled debut album, is the purest example of what Hawkwind was about; namely, acid, outer space, and playing free gigs. The words of this track implore the listener to question all they assume they know about life, “…the dream world that you’ve found, will one day drag you down; the mirror of illusion reflects the smile…” Relative to all the dippy, flower-power lyrics sung by other bands of that era who were indulging in the same chemicals, Dave Brock’s words here are rather harsh and penetrating; “…a box that you’re still livin’ in, I cannot see for why; you think you’ve found perception’s doors, they open to a lie…” You get the idea that these blokes weren’t looking to just peacefully expand their minds, but rather push people right over the edge in order to give them a breakthrough; in their own words, taken from the back cover of the LP, “This is the beginning…we started out trying to freak trippers…now we are trying to levitate their minds…” Dig it, man.
