Legend Of A Mind

Possibly, this could be the Moodys theme song. People who dont "get" the Moody Blues music dont realize that they were mostly making background music for LSD trips. At least they were in the late 60s to early 70s. I love the whole Search of the Lost Chord album, its got that "lost innocence of the 60s" feel,although the sound quality of the original LP wasnt too good. I havnt seen a remastered version, but I will look out for it.

I belive this song is the Moody Blues way of saying that Timothy Leary had the right idea. "He's not dead, he's outside looking in" could mean, he's not a lost cause (dead) he understands the world (outside looking in). Not Known Fact: Mr. Leary experemented on collage students with LSD in small doses, and nobody had a negative reaction. Further more, some of them had their lives changed for the better! THINK ABOUT IT!

You are all correct. I was a teenager when the Moodies were a hip, psychedelic (even undergound) band. In the late 60s, if you were smoking good hash or dropping acid you listened to some mix of Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd (pre-Dark Side of the Moon) AND THE MOODY BLUES!! The Moodies, and Mike Pinder in particular, were "inner-nauts" who experimented with Eastern religion, meditation and (IMO) LSD. BTW, not that many people know this but the Moodies (Mike Pinder, actually) wrote another song about Tim Leary: "When You're a Free Man" on Seventh Sojourn.

Timothy Leary, Ram Dass, and Ralph Metzner wrote a book called "The Psychedelic Experiance" based on the "Tibetan Book Of The Dead". It's bascially an instruction manual for use during a psychedelic experience. John Lennon even used its text in the song "Tomorrow Never Knows". The Moody Blues, especially Michael Pinder & John Lodge knew what was going on. On their album "Caught Live Plus Five" Ray Thomas introduces the song by saying "This song is about a friend of ours who has been terribly victimized in America". LSD was legal at first but became illeagle after the powers that be made that decision. That turned Leary into an outlaw and he wound up in prison. He escaped prision with the help of the Weather Underground but that's another story.

I can't believe nobody got this! The Astral Plane was NOT a sightseeing biplane in San Francisco, but I like that interpretation. Points given for creativity!

No, G.R.S. Meade, a English author said this in 1919 about Gnostic religions: "The astral plane, also called the astral world, is a plane of existence postulated by classical (particularly neo-Platonic), medieval, oriental and esoteric philosophies and mystery religions."

Yes, it breaks into the use and effects of LSD and other psychedelic drugs. And (imo) "the bay" is almost certainly about San Francisco, as the song was released only months after the Summer of Love.

Some of the writers here have good handles on this song, some don't. I hope this adds some weight to the discussion. The Moodies most likely experimented with some kind of psychedelic medicines as was the fad of the day. But like many have found, those experiences may provide deep and profound spiritual experiences they are temporary and in the end you land "back in yourself". In other words, you get a glimpse of heaven which is fine, but you still have to come back into your mundane and messy life...however... after seeing the universal landscape you are never the same again which is why many who, with guidance and proper psychedelic experiential settings and guidance, try it and then begin focusing on doing the kinds of inner work (meditation, yoga, etc.) that provide a more grounded way of getting to "nirvana".

If you take the catalog of songs on their first 7 albums you will realize that Pinder, Thomas, Lodge, Hayward, and even Edge were traversing spiritual landscapes individually but the song lyrics indicate a lot of commonality. I suspect they were primarily into mysticism and eastern philosophical leanings. Also, I am sure some of them must have known and been friendly with Leary who was proselytizing LSD along with Richard Alpert Phd (Ram Dass). Look up their story, it is interesting. Ram Dass split with Leary and ended up in India and has a pretty incredible story and came back to teach what he had learned there in America. He was a good guy. Leary ended up a mess.

Now about this song...in my take it is Pinder saying that LSD is not the ultimate "answer" to finding the peace of mind Leary was promoting. He wasn't putting him down outright, but he wasn't preaching his gospel either. The song feels like a respectful acknowledgment of a fellow traveler whose path the band chose not to take—a reminder that LSD driven insights alone don't equal awakening. The Moody Blues’ catalog of lyrics seem to point towards finding self-integration, to finding peace that lasts after the “astral plane” ride is over. Read the lyrics to this song again after reading the above and see what you think.

Some of the writers here have good handles on this song, some don't. I hope this adds some weight to the discussion. The Moodies most likely experimented with some kind of psychedelic medicines as was the fad of the day. But like many have found, those experiences may provide deep and profound spiritual experiences they are temporary and in the end you land "back in yourself". In other words, you get a glimpse of heaven which is fine, but you still have to come back into your mundane and messy life...however... after seeing the universal landscape you are never the same again which is why many who, with guidance and proper psychedelic experiential settings and guidance, try it and then begin focusing on doing the kinds of inner work (meditation, yoga, etc.) that provide a more grounded way of getting to "nirvana".

If you take the catalog of songs on their first 7 albums you will realize that Pinder, Thomas, Lodge, Hayward, and even Edge were traversing spiritual landscapes individually but the song lyrics indicate a lot of commonality. I suspect they were primarily into mysticism and eastern philosophical leanings. Also, I am sure some of them must have known and been friendly with Leary who was proselytizing LSD along with Richard Alpert Phd (Ram Dass). Look up their story, it is interesting. Ram Dass split with Leary and ended up in India and has a pretty incredible story and came back to teach what he had learned there in America. He was a good guy. Leary ended up a mess.

Now about this song...in my take it is Pinder saying that LSD is not the ultimate "answer" to finding the peace of mind Leary was promoting. He wasn't putting him down outright, but he wasn't preaching his gospel either. The song feels like a respectful acknowledgment of a fellow traveler whose path the band chose not to take—a reminder that LSD driven insights alone don't equal awakening. The Moody Blues’ catalog of lyrics seem to point towards finding self-integration, to finding peace that lasts after the “astral plane” ride is over. Read the lyrics to this song again after reading the above and see what you think.

Think for yourself. Question authority.

Question authority and just say KNOW.

One of their better ones...aboout drugs. More specifically psychedelic drugs aka LSD. Timothy Leary was actually psychologist, and he campaigned for the legal use of LSD drugs. Thats a lesson for you kids, read, I remembered this from reading a book long ago. Anyways thye are kind of using his name as a metophor for the drug.