Future

“Somewhere, the children are out there playing, so happy in their flower garden.”

With this bit of spoken wide-eyed innocence, Sky Saxon and The Seeds kick off their psychedelic masterpiece Future from August 1967 by announcing that they are in this thing all the way. No looking back now. Sky Saxon never did anything halfway, and that certainly applied to The Seeds in 1967.

Future is an obvious progression from 1966’s A Web Of Sound, which explored fully psychedelic ideas with a heady air of experimentation and incense smoke. The two are very much companion pieces — Web‘s pioneering older brother and Future‘s audacious, crazier younger sibling. In the hands of anyone else much of Future might sound dated today. But Sky’s conviction, plus an adept band swimming in inspired arrangements, make the listener accept the music on its own timeless terms.

Unsurprisingly, given its exotic and experimental approach, Future can be uneven — it lacks the pithy simplicity of A Web Of Sound and occasionally suffers for it. Some of its songs are not particularly memorable. A subset of fans believe the highs make up for the lows; others argue about where exactly the highs lay.

But most agree that if it’s highs you’re looking for, you don’t have to wait for them. Sky told us himself: The future is yours… today…

About the songs on Future

1. "Introduction"
   A short spoken-word piece, Sky’s other-worldly innocence promising a vague and glorious new future over a skeletal and weird backing track. He even manages to name-check a couple of the upcoming tracks on the album. Just for fun. It leads into the next track and is even indexed together with it on many CD versions of Future.
2. "March Of The Flower Children"
   A call to arms for those who would hear. Dance, sing, love, children! March! March! Released as a single, one of the most 1967-ish of all 1967 singles despite that dark sense of dread that The Seeds could never quite hide all the way.
3. "Travel With Your Mind"
   A bongo-infused raga tone poem. You may find this infamous track noisy and grating, and I’d agree – but I mean it as a compliment. In 1993 a remix was issued that balanced out the extreme panning of the original stereo mix.
4. "Out Of The Question"
   A 1965 recording, and the only track on the LP not done during the Future sessions. This was issued as the B-side to the band’s second single “You’re Pushing Too Hard”, a non-hit until it was renamed and re-released months later. This furious punk rock classic was only available in mono and was remixed into fake stereo for Future.
5. "Painted Doll"
   A gentle ballad on which Sky returns to his purer teen idol singing voice. He also returns to lyrics that are flat and cliché-ridden, a malady he seemed to have cured on A Web Of Sound.
6. "Flower Lady And Her Assistant"
   Brilliant in every way. A red-eyed, double-vision organ riff and Sky’s stoned, circular observations over the curious duo from the title often make this classic a choice for Seeds compilation albums.
7. "Now A Man"
   Originally a song called “Contact High”, this is a buzzing and droning rock song that nobody else could have conceived of or recorded. Jan Savage adds some great licks to this one.
8. "A Thousand Shadows"
   A very faithful rewrite of "Pushin' Too Hard" – one that, believe it or not, may actually be better than that all-time classic. There’s a new dynamism here, more cohesive melodic ideas, a winning maturity. What The Seeds did, they did very well.
9. "Two Fingers Pointing On You"
   This track shows where The Seeds had come in two short years: it’s yet another aggravated assault on a society that wants to repress those who would be free, but the imagery is far more poetic and strange. This song appeared in the 1968 Jack Nicholson movie Psych-Out and is on the film’s soundtrack album.
10. "Where Is The Entrance Way To Play"
    A child-like singalong, a kindergarten on LSD. Controversial in some Seeds circles, divisive like few other songs. Do you love it, or hate it?
11. "Six Dreams"
    Arguably the most psychedelic thing The Seeds ever recorded. The high watermark for lysergic art-rock on Future, full of crashing cymbals, thunder effects, spooky electric organ, and unexpected screams. Musique concrète for a late-night hippie party ca. 1967. Unbelievably, and to GNP Crescendo’s great credit, this was chosen as the B-side to the rare "The Wind Blows Your Hair" single.
12. "Fallin'"
    Eight scintillating minutes of absolutely mesmerizing beauty. Repetitive and psychedelic, with Sky Saxon crying wildly over and over about “fallin’ back DOWN” in one of his more insane high nasal whines.

2013 bonus tracks:

Disc One: mono mixes
12. "Chocolate River" – [mono]
13. "Sad And Alone" – [mono]
14. "The Wind Blows Your Hair" (version 2) – [mono]
15. "Travel With Your Mind" – [mono]
16. "Painted Doll" – [mono]
17. "Flower Lady And Her Assistant" – [mono]
18. "Now A Man" – [mono]
19. "Two Fingers Pointing On You" – [mono]
20. "Where Is The Entrance Way To Play" – [mono]
21. "Six Dreams" (alternate mix) – [mono]
22. "Fallin'" – [mono]
23. “The Navy Swings” – [mono]

Disc Two: Contact High — Outtakes from the Future Sessions
1. “Rides Too Long”
2. "Chocolate River"
3. "Flower Lady And Her Assistant" (take 1)
4. "Where Is The Entrance Way To Play" (alternate mix)
5. "Sad And Alone"
6. “Contact High” (take 1)
7. "Travel With Your Mind" (alternate mix)
8. "Six Dreams" (take 4)
9. "Two Fingers Pointing On You" (take 1)
10. "The Wind Blows Your Hair" (version 2)
11. "March Of The Flower Children" (alternate mix)
12. "A Thousand Shadows" (take 7)
13. "Gypsy Plays His Drums" (version 1)
14. "Satisfy You" (version 1)
15. “900 Million People Daily All Making Love” (full length version)

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