“Fallin’ Off The Edge Of My Mind”
by The Seeds
1969 song
With a title that stands as Sky Saxon’s credo, "Fallin' Off The Edge Of My Mind" is a beloved song from The Seeds’ final GNP Crescendo single, released in 1969. The flip side was "Wild Blood". "Fallin' Off The Edge Of My Mind" is a zany country-esque tune (yes!) with wild slide guitar and an intensity that gets more and more scary as the song goes on.
Sky Saxon sounds great on "Fallin' Off The Edge Of My Mind". Despite the comedy inherent in the song, the druggy abandon in his voice suits it well. It’s quite a change from the thick menace of songs like "900 Million People Daily (All Making Love)" from just a year before. Zany and hilarious, catchy and self-possessed, this brief coming together of The Seeds and Kim Fowley hit pay dirt. Alas, the record-buying public were uninterested in saving the band’s contract with GNP Crescendo and this excellent single was the beginning of the end.
"Fallin' Off The Edge Of My Mind" was, of course, added to the 1977 compilation Fallin' Off The Edge. Because of this, perhaps, it has achieved a far greater stature over the years than "Wild Blood", showing up on several band compilations in contrast to that flip side. The recommended place to find it now is an original vinyl single; failing that, the Big Beat CD Singles As & Bs 1965-1970.
The song is occasionally rendered with parentheses (“Fallin’ Off The Edge (Of My Mind)”) and with or without the apostrophe (“Falling Off The Edge Of My Mind”). Just so you don’t get confused.
