"Magic Carpet Ride" is a rock song written by John Kay and Rushton Moreve and released by the Canadian-American hard rock band Steppenwolf. The song was initially released in 1968 on their album The Second, as the lead single. The music video for the song is often considered the first modern rock video.
In 2000, the song was covered by Mexican pop singer Myra for the Disney Latin album La Vida Mickey, in which the song was sung in both English and Spanish.
The song was featured in the 2004 Disney film Home on the Range when Alameda Slim yodeled it while being stuck on a steam train.
In 2009, rock band KSM covered the song for the soundtrack of Wizards of Waverly Place.
In 2017, the original version by Steppenwolf was featured in the Guardians of the Galaxy TV series episode "Behind Gold Eyes".
History[]
The single version differs noticeably from the album version with a different vocal take by Kay used for the first verse of the song and differing instrumental balances. The single version is also much shorter than the album version, with a running time of 2 minutes and 55 seconds, while the album version is 4 minutes and 25 seconds long.
John Kay, who was one of the songwriters of the song said that the lyrics "I like to dream, right between my sound machine" came from his inspiration from listening to a hi-fi home stereo system he bought with they royalties from Steppenwolf's first album.
Lyrics[]
I like to dream yes, yes, right between my sound machine
On a cloud of sound I drift in the night
Any place it goes is right
Goes far, flies near, to the stars away from here
Well, you don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride
You don't know what we can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free
Close your eyes girl
Look inside girl
Let the sound take you away
Last night I held Aladdin's lamp
And so I wished that I could stay
Before the thing could answer me
Well, someone came and took the lamp away
I looked around, a lousy candle's all I found
Well, you don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride
Well, you don't know what we can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free
Close your eyes girl
Look inside girl
Let the sound take you away
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