Hypnotized

Read more about the lyrics here: abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread879984/pg1

He said that one day in 1969, he and three friends were riding dirt-bike motorcycles in a large forested area near Winston-Salem. He described it as thick forest with bike trails worn through the woods. Deep in the middle of the forest was a large clearing. They had ridden their bikes there many times before, but on this day, when they reached the clearing, they were shocked to see a huge, perfectly round depression in the ground that was probably 80 - 100 feet in diameter . He said it was as if a giant iron ball had been pressed into the ground, buried halfway, and then lifted out. The dirt in the indentation was 'smooth as glass'. There was not a bump or a ripple anywhere. Of course they thought that it had somehow been man-made...dug out with bulldozers or something. But there was no machinery anywhere. There was no way to get any machinery there! There were no roads, just bike trails. They got really spooked and got the hell out of there. From what the guy said, all four of them were pretty spooked.

From the comments: In Hypnotized you talk about a strange pond in North Carolina. What's the story behind it, and where's it supposed to be? A curious North Carolinian... (Louie Golden, Charlotte, NC, USA)

A guy that I used to work with from Winston-Salem told me the story of he and some friends riding dirt bikes 20 miles or so out in the woods when they came upon a strange "crater" in the ground with smooth sides like melted glass. It was a "pond" in the sense that there was some rainwater in it I guess.

There were no access roads or caterpillar tracks so it wasn't a construction site. I think the location must have been near Winston-Salem. They all immediately got the feeling they should get out of there. Maybe it was a meteor impact ? I just liked the imagery for the song.

This song is like its subject. In the vast world of rock and roll it stands out as a strange anomaly granted for those who are sensitive enough to run with the sparks of imagery and mysticism not to far beneath the surface. At it's worst it's just a grooving "chill" song. but it can be like the "strange pond" discovered in the woods that defied all native cognition of the trail bike riders on that day… this cross section of reality will on occasion randomly wink at us or shuffle its feet, often leaving inspiration, magic, miracles and all kinds of items of peace love and harmony as its residue asking only that we enjoy it to it's fullest. This song has always "hypnotized" me.

A song about Alien abduction, perhaps? Reference to a 'spaceship' in the first verse.

'THEY' got me hypnotized...could it be that he can't tell if it's a dream or reality because of something that was done to him so that he would have no clear recollection?

'Strange pond' - indicating that this body of water hadn't been at the location referred to, so it was 'man-made'. However, no evidence was available that the pond had been constructed by man...what does that leave? Would your imagination permit you to consider that aliens exist?

This is a great, haunting song... It could definitely be about Alien Abduction.

I'm surprise there is only one previous post.

Sounds an awful like like a Magic Mushroom adventure or perhaps some sort of peyote fling. Whatever the hell I hold it up against any of the later Fleetwood Mac. Loved this time period of the band!

I have always thought this song was referencing the datona-induced spiritual journeys of Carlos Casteneda's books.

To me, and many artists say that their music is left up to the individual to interpret, but it reminds of the book by Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano. The book opens in Mexico with two men having coffee. With Flashbacks to the Mersey in Liverpool. It takes a weird hypnotic ending (#11 of 100 Greatest Books) as we follow the protagonist discovering a stolen Horse of a murdered indian and a deep ravine where he meets his demise. Oh well, I guess you have to read the book to know what I mean exactly, because it is difficult to say in words the way the novel ends, but it is hypnotic.

A song about the supernatural, or the unknown. The skeptics and realists among us (which is most people) will always think logically about strange, unexplainable scenarios. But Bob Welch is saying that rather than thinking too hard about whether it's possible, you should instead let the wonder of it wash over you and let you feel that there are mysteries out there that can never be explained. Or to have faith.

Just like Bermuda Triangle, it's a song that's hard to explain because it's about the hard to explain. Welch writes about things which cannot be explained and how they disrupt our life, they fascinate us, they intrigue us, but we can't seem to find them.

The first species of "Magic" mushrooms available to fleetwood mac were from mexico. They grow in boggy ponds. The song is about shamans.