Are You Sitting Comfortably

At first listen, I thought it was just a song with medieval fantasy themes. But after watching their live TV performance of it, I think it could be a little deeper.

The Merlin actor poses like he's casting a spell and there is a fake web around his hands. Perhaps it's just how the costumers were able to represent magic emanating from his hands. But there is the expression "cast a web of lies".

I am also tying this interpretation to the themes in The Beginning, with Merlin representing the establishment. The idea that we have become too comfortable while Merlin casts his spells. I am perhaps leaning on the Twain representation of Merlin as a farce or manipulator.

Likely this song is just going with the album theme of dreaming. But The Beginning doesn't seem to fit that idea so neatly--likely a social sub narrative is in play, was popular at the time, like what Jethro Tull used to do.

This is from an interview with Justin Hayward: “I went through that phase for about a year. The first time we did it, we did it as a group, with myself, Ray, Mike and Graeme (Edge). We all went into Richmond Park and we had the most amazing trip. It was just absolutely wonderful. And the next time I did it with my girlfriend, and it was just wonderful. And then one day I did it with Graeme and went to some awful club and the whole thing went terribly wrong, so that was the last time I did it.” His start to finish using drugs/LSD was in 1967-68 less than a year and involved a few times. Here he describes three times “and that was it”. So clearly drugs was not a tool he used to polish his craft. He went on to say this: “I remember always having a notepad near the bed— or wherever I was — after I’d taken a couple of trips and writing miraculous philosophical stuff down. Of course, when you look at it the next day, it’s complete nonsense”. And that was the end of that, this and that bad trip in the foul club with Graeme. (Which would had been his very last time, in early 1968). The thing is, if LSD were anything like unto what you had described & advocated, I don’t think Justin would have had such a very short career with it, especially given that he quit the drugs at the very beginning of his career - and that 95% of his published creativity (probably statistically more than that) was not on any drugs (where “on” meaning not even in the same year(s) his music was created & recorded). If he found anything like unto what advocates claim, I think he most probably would have continued. But Justin characterized the output of LSD as “nonsense”. So there you go. That and the fact that it’s illegal for a reason - and it has a definitive track record of doing a tremendous amount of harm a thousand times more than any pretended good it has ever done, hence its illegality and general lack of ethical, social & moral acceptance in civilized society.

Such a mystic song...just plain deep.

Such a mystic song...about dropping acid!

OK, maybe not, since it was written by Hayward and Thomas, and those two guys are diehard English romantics to this very day. But the song did serve as the intro to Have You Heard, by Mike Pinder, and I strongly suspect Mike was the purveyer of all things hallucinogenic back in those days.

Likely hallucinogenic, but excellent nonetheless. This is one of the best song they've ever done. I like it much.

Justin has said said that he did drugs back in the 60's, so it's possible there was some influence there with this great song. One of their best for sure!

The work involved in composing, writing lyrics, the arrangements, the writing necessary for each instrument, the engineering & mixing involved, the many rehearsals involved, and the producers, managers, publicists, record company executives, budgets, deadlines, legal contracts, promotional activities and concert scheduling & logistics, album cover & layout, etc., & etc., - no guys, they were not getting and being high on illegal street drugs in order for them to perform all the duties, requirements & expectations demanded of them. Drugs are inept for managing high pressure situations. Drugs would have crippled them. Although they may have indulged in any off cycle period in their lives, but when writing lyrics, composing music and getting it documented and being in the studio - no way! There’s no way they touched drugs and then come out with the quality output that they did. Drugs don’t enhance anything, they only tear down, and break down, and destroy and ruin. And degrade, diminish. “Every junkie is like the setting sun, gone, gone, gone”. Heavy use leads only to rehab. This is not the legacy they’ve left. They have earned our respect.