“Six Dreams”
by The Seeds
1967 song
"Six Dreams" is probably the most overtly psychedelic thing The Seeds ever recorded, and one of the most bizarre statements from any garage/psych band in 1967 or ever. It’s a song, kind of, but it’s really a dark and surprising tone poem – or more accurately an atonal poem. It appears on the album Future and, in a move that still seems astonishing today, as a single B-side.
A lot of the unsettling nature of "Six Dreams" is due to its sound effects, thunderstorms mostly. Voices laugh/scream suddenly, denying the chance for any calmness. Rick Andridge crashes cymbals together as if he were leading a zombie marching band off of a cliff. The oppressive violence causes the listener to strain the ears for something familiar, something pleasant and musical. But the closest thing here is Sky Saxon’s vocals, slow and evil and deliberately-paced. His serial killer melody is shadowed by guest Peter Christ’s somber oboe.
With its anti-musical molasses pace and haunted-house-on-LSD atmospherics, "Six Dreams" would in most situations be lucky to make it even as an album track. But The Seeds’s record company, GNP Crescendo, chose it as the B-side to the non-album track "The Wind Blows Your Hair". In doing so, they not only created arguably the greatest 7″ of 1967 and one of the most psychedelic mainstream singles ever but also offset any criticism they may have inspired by their treatment of The Seeds otherwise. Any lament that begins “Why in the world did Crescendo…” can be countered with “Say what you want about them, but they chose ‘Six Dreams’ as a B-side.” Debate over.
"Six Dreams" was recorded in twelve takes on April 20, 1967; several were complete and the final was chosen for the album and single. Take 4 was added as a bonus track to Big Beat’s 2-CD expanded edition of Future.
