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The Moody Blues — Gypsy (of a strange and distant time)
Album: To Our Children's Children's Children
Avg rating:
7.3

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1874









Released: 1969
Length: 3:26
Plays (last 30 days): 0
A gypsy of a strange and distant time
Travelling in panic all direction blind
Aching for the warmth of a burning sun
Freezing in the emptiness of where he'd come from
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Left without a hope of coming home

Speeding through a shadow of a million years
Darkness is the only sound to reach his ears
Frightening him with the visions of eternity
Screaming for a future that can never be
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Left without a hope of coming home

A gypsy of a strange and distant time
Travelling in panic all direction blind
Aching for the warmth of a burning sun
Freezing in the emptiness of where he'd come from
Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh, oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh
Comments (214)add comment
EXCELENT!!  Thanx RP   
All through my childhood -- as well as in college -- whenever I heard a Moody Blues song, I would drop whatever I was doing, crank the volume, and listen, utterly rapt and enchanted. Their cerebral poetry, masterfully symphonic arrangements, and ROCKING GUITARS never failed to grab me by the ears and soothe my soul. They still remain a fave!
Good song that I'm hearing for the first time
I love the earnestness of this band.  They come across as completely uncynical, and it remains completely refreshing.
Melltron! Big time!   ...Yes, King Crimson & ELP also used it!
A nod to the Gypsy King...Tyson Fury...a larger than life man
Mercy Bill, mercy.  We all had a good time in the seventies...
 ljenny281 wrote:
Reminds me of my childhood, but it isn't really my jam. 
 
Definite nostalgia stuff...enjoyed several of their tunes but...an entire album? Never bought one
Reminds me of my childhood, but it isn't really my jam. 
As a rabid MB fan for over 45 years, it's hard to pick my favorite song, but this is one I come back to often. I'll be seeing Justin Hayward's solo tour this summer. Saw him about 3 years ago & he's excellent on his own. 
As typical, think this will make excellent Song Du Jour material. Thanks Mr. Bill! 
 kingart wrote:
VOTE:Why bother with the "Hall"?  Too many half-assed acts are in there!

https://www.rockhall.com/fan-vote/2018-fan-vote

The Moody's are on it. They should not on the ballot. They should already be in the Hall. 
I voted for my 5: Moody Blues, Dire Straits, The Zombies, The Cars, Rage Against the Machine
 

This is one of the songs many why the Moody Blues should be appreciated by many more.
Few bands produced more great music between 1967 and 1971.
Who could trust a person who didn't like the Moody Blues, if not necessarily anyone named "Gypsy." (A very bad skulking and scamming hippy-dippy type in a recently aired Dateline episode, fer real.)
Love this! Their PBS reunion concert last year was outstanding! My wife plays viola in a symphony orchestra and loves how well they were able to use orchestral resources.
And Sadly, we lost Ray Thomas last week to Prostate Cancer. RIP, Ray, and rock on, Moodies!
{#Meditate} still sounds good !
VOTE:

https://www.rockhall.com/fan-vote/2018-fan-vote

The Moody's are on it. They should not on the ballot. They should already be in the Hall. 
I voted for my 5: Moody Blues, Dire Straits, The Zombies, The Cars, Rage Against the Machine
 Andybob wrote:
 Until Lemmy is in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame it'll be a joke to me. I mean seriously....dsd wrote:

Although I appreciate ABBA, I agree with your point.  There is no figuring many of the selections and omissions that have occurred so far.  
But whenever I think about this stuff, a little voice inside says "RnR Hall of Fame?  Are you kidding me?  What in heaven's name is the purpose of that?  RnR don't need no stinking HOF!"
 

 

 
Bands pay in order to get into the RnR Hall of Fame, regardless of how much RnR they play...
1969; To our children's children's children.
Hmmm, maybe about another 10 years and they'll be listening to this.
time and space
 Until Lemmy is in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame it'll be a joke to me. I mean seriously....dsd wrote:

Although I appreciate ABBA, I agree with your point.  There is no figuring many of the selections and omissions that have occurred so far.  
But whenever I think about this stuff, a little voice inside says "RnR Hall of Fame?  Are you kidding me?  What in heaven's name is the purpose of that?  RnR don't need no stinking HOF!"
 

 


Nice way to start the day at work here on the east coast in Florida.  Thanks RP
 meloman wrote:

ABBA is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?! Are you shitting me?! Sort of like giving Obama a Nobel Peace Prize.

 
Although I appreciate ABBA, I agree with your point.  There is no figuring many of the selections and omissions that have occurred so far.  
But whenever I think about this stuff, a little voice inside says "RnR Hall of Fame?  Are you kidding me?  What in heaven's name is the purpose of that?  RnR don't need no stinking HOF!"
 
 meloman wrote:

ABBA is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?! Are you shitting me?! Sort of like giving Obama a Nobel Peace Prize.

 

Hmmm.... I see what you mean.


 buddy wrote:

I agree 100%, been saying it for years.  This is a ground-breaking group that redefined what rock and roll could be.  Meanwhile...ABBA in the HOF?!

Hurry, HOF, while these guys are all still around to enjoy their well-deserved moment. 

 
ABBA is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?! Are you shitting me?! Sort of like giving Obama a Nobel Peace Prize.
 Orphan wrote:
I will not go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame until these guys are inducted. Glad to hear that Deep Purple were finally recognized, long overdue.

 
I agree 100%, been saying it for years.  This is a ground-breaking group that redefined what rock and roll could be.  Meanwhile...ABBA in the HOF?!

Hurry, HOF, while these guys are all still around to enjoy their well-deserved moment. 
I will not go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame until these guys are inducted. Glad to hear that Deep Purple were finally recognized, long overdue.
 kcar wrote:

I love their big hits and the first albbwum. I do wonder whether it would be pretty easy these days to OD on the Moodies. I tried to listen to some of the Big 7 albums all the way through and it became tedious.  

 


Great song!

{#Bounce}
 blackaddermrbean wrote:
RP should play more Moody Blues.  they don't get enough airtime on the normal radio for me to ever be satisfied 
 
I second your motion!  This is one of my favorites from a group that should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
 blackaddermrbean wrote:
RP should play more Moody Blues.  they don't get enough airtime on the normal radio for me to ever be satisfied 
 
I love their big hits and the first album. I do wonder whether it would be pretty easy these days to OD on the Moodies. I tried to listen to some of the Big 7 albums all the way through and it became tedious.  
Wow! From the first few notes....way to get transported!
 Bleyfusz wrote:
Weird lyrics, after all.

 
It was the 60s...
RP should play more Moody Blues.  they don't get enough airtime on the normal radio for me to ever be satisfied 
Weird lyrics, after all.
 Cynaera wrote:
Moodies are always my music of choice - lots of good memories, and I agree - WHY have they not been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?  Holy cow - they set the bar for the likes of Electric Light Orchestra, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and a host of other classical/rock bands. When Moody Blues' time comes, I'm do all I can to be there, even if I'm a ghost.
 
miss you so much, Cynaera...

everybody in my alien space craft loves this song...  we be dancing buck naked like bowlegged gypsy muleskinners and cross-eyed like Willy Shakes...

 Pedro1874 wrote:
Still sounds great! {#Clap} More Moodies please B&R {#Good-vibes}

 
They all sound great-just listened to Search of the Lost Chord today-that take off song, Departure-'the sight of the sand, the scent of the touch, something inside we need so much...' I was laughing just as Graeme Edge was at the end. Yes, more please...
The Bluedy Moos!
Still sounds great! {#Clap} More Moodies please B&R {#Good-vibes}
 westslope wrote:

I don't want to say that this has aged well.

 

But I still love it.



 
Yep, it hasn't aged that well. Still pretty good though 9 -> 7.
A strange and distant time....

I don't want to say that this has aged well.

 

But I still love it.


 Wizzo_oz wrote:
A band I can always do without.

 

A band I can't do without.
Thanks for the flash-back... Nice to see the print verifying that It is not a real Flash-back..
Once upon a time, in a land far, far away... where people dressed differently, thought and acted differently...
 
A band I can always do without.
 mapman wrote:
I rank this a 10 - ie "Godlike" in RP jingo.

Not my favorite Moodies tune by a longshot, but indicative of what made them special and as "godlike" as rock musicians have any right to be for many even to this day.

 
Completely d'accord!
I rank this a 10 - ie "Godlike" in RP jingo.

Not my favorite Moodies tune by a longshot, but indicative of what made them special and as "godlike" as rock musicians have any right to be for many even to this day.
....or Frodo Baggins, perhaps? 


   buddy wrote:

It might help if you actually listened to the lyrics.  I defy you to find a single wizard or dragon in any song.  Might you be thinking of Yes?  Or even Led Zeppelin?

 


 Papernapkin wrote:

Yeah, too wizards and dragons.

 
It might help if you actually listened to the lyrics.  I defy you to find a single wizard or dragon in any song.  Might you be thinking of Yes?  Or even Led Zeppelin?
 Hannio wrote:

I believe "sister from another mister" is the appropriate phraseology.
 


From where I'm from, my phrasing is quite correct. It would be nice to be able to share without being picked on for something so petty.
 shakitten wrote:
My roommate in college turned me onto the Moodies, and this was one of my favorite songs. She penned the lyrics in calligraphy for me as a present, and I cherished it for years. Still miss her...we lost touch, but I'll always see her as a sister from another mother. Thanks for the memory!
 
I believe "sister from another mister" is the appropriate phraseology.
Nice to hear this and give it some breathing room over Nights In White Satin. Yep.
Love the Mike Pinder Moodies. Great song.
Nice segue' Bill. I get the connection. From the music of Gypsies to this.
 icemang wrote:
Not a fan.
 
Yeah, too wizards and dragons.
My roommate in college turned me onto the Moodies, and this was one of my favorite songs. She penned the lyrics in calligraphy for me as a present, and I cherished it for years. Still miss her...we lost touch, but I'll always see her as a sister from another mother. Thanks for the memory!
Master blaster from the past-er.
 
 martinc wrote:
Add this to the stack of great LP released in 1969
 
Jaa..and a mighty big stack it is !

 eswiley2 wrote:

Only way to listen to this album is from start to finish, in a room lit only by candles.

Helps if the room is a college dorm room.


 


A very true, shared experience!
Moody Blues are amazing..... Inspiring music...and instrumentals...{#Bananajam}
Not a fan.

Only way to listen to this album is from start to finish, in a room lit only by candles.

Helps if the room is a college dorm room.


I've been away too long. Hope everyone is doing well   =>





Add this to the stack of great LP released in 1969
 unclehud wrote:
Mr. Peabody!  One from the WayBack Machine!
 

This post apparently contained an image that was dragged into the post editor. Sorry, but any text contained in the post after this point has been lost.
This song lifts your spirit and even your body. A truly multidimensional pleasure! A perfect synchronicity of time, space and rhythm. Can you see and feel the waves emitted from this masterpiece?
 mapman wrote:
Cool to hear this played.

Other Moodies songs that should be in the RP rotation:

Forever Autumn

 
Minor nit - Forever Autumn was Justin Hayward solo, from Jeff Wayne's "War of the Worlds" album. A bit schmaltzy for my taste, much prefer "Blue Guitar" which he recorded with the members of 10cc as the "Blue Jays".

Mr. Peabody!  One from the WayBack Machine!
Mapman - you are on course with that point!
RRHOF does not like "progressive rock" and they categorize the Moodies that way.

No Moodies, Yes, King Crimson, Tull, or ELP I'm pretty sure.

Procol Harum? 

Good luck!

Nitwits!

I think they recently broke down and inducted Genesis.

I think Pink FLoyd is in.

THat's about it.

The further away in style you are from rock's R&B roots, the less likely you are to get in.

So much for innovation in rock.

Double Nitwits!

 
jimbaca wrote:
Why hasn't this band been inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame?  I have seen them in concert (with and without symphony) and they are amazing!
 

Cool to hear this played.

Other Moodies songs that should be in the RP rotation:

Gimme a Little Somethin

Never Blame the Rainbows for the Rain

Meet Me Halfway

Tortoise and the Hare

Melancholy Man

The Land Of Make Believe

Sooner or Later

THe Swallow

Love is on the Run

Cities

Love and Beauty

I Dreamed Last Night

Forever Autumn


CLASS!
 LowPhreak wrote:


Good music never ceases to be good music.
 
Bad music never ceases to be bad music either. . . and this is a classic example of that to me. It was then. . . it is now.
Yep....RP seems to be better at night...
 Bluesgrrl wrote:
It's funny how one person can alter your perception of a band. Used to be a big fan back in the day until I had the misfortune to work with one of their members on a gig in NY. Class A prick. I dont like anything he's on anymore. Luckily their early work is still good IMO.
 
Why do they have to be that way?  Apparently they've forgotten the message in their early albums - peace and love.
Hate to see musicians become jerks.

It's funny how one person can alter your perception of a band. Used to be a big fan back in the day until I had the misfortune to work with one of their members on a gig in NY. Class A prick. I dont like anything he's on anymore. Luckily their early work is still good IMO.
 jyoull wrote:
The Moodies once did it for me, all through and through. They don't any more. Let's move on.
 

Good music never ceases to be good music.
Is it ok if i don't like all the "aahaahahahaaaaaahahaaa" ?
Great sunny day music, too.
Great rainy day music.
The Moodies once did it for me, all through and through. They don't any more. Let's move on.
Moodies are always my music of choice - lots of good memories, and I agree - WHY have they not been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?  Holy cow - they set the bar for the likes of Electric Light Orchestra, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, and a host of other classical/rock bands. When Moody Blues' time comes, I'm do all I can to be there, even if I'm a ghost.
 jimbaca wrote:
Why hasn't this band been inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame?  I have seen them in concert (with and without symphony) and they are amazing!
 
Agreed!!

Why hasn't this band been inducted into the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame?  I have seen them in concert (with and without symphony) and they are amazing!
Thank You,Walking_Turtle!"(We mellowed and invented the Internet and stuff like that instead. )"    Some fine thoughts there !   {#Cheers}
But I am still searching for the chord that I'v lost !  {#Guitarist}

 kaybee wrote:
Maybe I just dropped too much mescaline in my youth, but I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the overwrought, bombastic yet gentle and heartfelt music of the Moody Blues.  This is one of my favourites off of what I think may be their best album.

 
Also I really like this album cover.  But the Moodies always did have cool album art.  Too bad Bill doesn't segue into "Eternity Road" the next song on this this album.

 Walking_Turtle wrote:

Enjoy the music!  I'll enjoy with you!  :)
 
Me too.

I've always thought that this was the best Moody Blues album. 
Thank you, Bill!
 Walking_Turtle wrote:
The national de-education having proceeded apace from that time forward has produced all manner of  roils and rashes of antsy anti-artsy negative-connoted media-channel comment nowa(days, though.  These days, a full twenty percent of US high school grads are reported to be convinced that the sun circles the earth and not the other way around. 
 
Fascism sucks, donit?{#Frown}
{#Yes} jagdriver wrote:

Roger that.
 


 hippie wrote:
CLOSE YOUR EYES AND INJOY THE JOUNNEY. The Moody Blues will take you to a place that you have never been before.
 

On the other hand, hopefully your spelling will improve if you keep your eyes open.

 hippiechick wrote:
Any Moodies is good Moodies.
 
Roger that.
cool album cover artwork...
 hippie wrote:
CLOSE YOUR EYES AND INJOY THE JOUNNEY. The Moody Blues will take you to a place that you have never been before.
 

Might be your first trip, but some of us went 40 years ago. I definitely don't need to go again.

 :)


I like Moody Blues quite a bit... but this song is extraordinarily "ho-hum" for them.
 Walking_Turtle wrote:

............project did indeed while thus employed by the US Gummint not only drop acid and trip right lively.  While There in That Space (so best to term it) he "went Tesla" on the core challenge of his work assignment.  In bottom-line net effect, he "saw" the complex phase relationships extant among the.......
 
I think that guy who won the Nobel in Chemistry for "inventing" the polymerase chain reaction tripped (trips?) a lot too.  I think now he just trips and surfs, which is probably way more fun than SCIENCE!

okay.  Evidence that "tripped" was not in the past tense at least as of 1992:
(wikipedia):

"In 1992, Mullis founded a business with the intent to sell pieces of jewelry containing the amplified DNA of deceased famous people like Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe.<6><7>"   references and everything


I think I would PCR that Elvis DNA with some T.Rex DNA from amber and maybe try to make an Elvisaurus Rex.  The true king

And playing on the LRC - a song called "Went to See The Gypsy" What are the odds? {#Stupid}
 westslope wrote:

Just imagine if you had been tripping on San Pedro cactus.  What would you have listened to?  

 
Probably much the same as I listen to now!  I envy you the lovely spring weather you folks in BC are no doubt getting now.  Today in T.O., we're getting sleet & snow! 


 HazzeSwede wrote:

And ones you get there,there is no way out but who needs that!!?
 
That fear passes.  Life Itself is better than that; all manner of Gummint psyoganda notwithstanding.

Um, acid and other such molecules were all quite legal once; some still remember.  The Moodies started publishing their work back then.  BTW, one must mention in passing that most of us did not self-destruct, freak/morph irretrievably into citrus fruit, die of venereal diseases, starve or land in in jail either.  (We mellowed and invented the Internet and stuff like that instead. )

Here's a hint if one may provide a bit:  Next time you see a shot on the Telly-Vision of that world-famous multiple-dish radiotelescope that the US SETI project uses for its probing of the stars for electromagnetic evidence of intelligent life, please remember this:  The only reason that wonderful phase-adjusted multiple-dish antenna array works at all and to this day is because the chief engineer on the (Kennedy-era as I remember it) project did indeed while thus employed by the US Gummint not only drop acid and trip right lively.  While There in That Space (so best to term it) he "went Tesla" on the core challenge of his work assignment.  In bottom-line net effect, he "saw" the complex phase relationships extant among the multip

So he scribbled the maths down longhand while he had them, and double-checked his insight a couple of days later.  Then proceeded and the whole shebbamg tuned right up first shot.  Been making history ever since.

Our insightful chief engineer, however, was ultimately made to forfeit his security clearance and on-site job.  The question of how he had conceived of such a brilliant solution without months and reams of theoretical computation and peer review had started to bother some higher-ups.  So he answered honestly, as described above.  It all came out, there was this war on all manner of drug-associated things just kicking butt all over the lot at a new level of profitable activity for Law Enforcement nationwide, and the dumbing-down of all the brilliance that had emerged during that brief - almost Atlantean - era  had already been noticed my the more observent ones. 

His firing made the papers and chilled many things right dead down, hard and bad.  The decline is by now self-evident to pretty much all.

The national de-education having proceeded apace from that time forward has produced all manner of  roils and rashes of antsy anti-artsy negative-connoted media-channel comment nowa(days, though.  These days, a full twenty percent of US high school grads are reported to be convinced that the sun circles the earth and not the other way around.  ('S the propaganda on the hearts 'n' minds, y'know.  Modern fact o' life.). 

But at least there is a little bitty happiness in the ending.  The Gummint kept the radiotelescope and has not improved upon the original phased-multiple-dish-array concept to this day.  That was Nixon's pragmatism, one might quasi-facetiously surmise.  Some might indeed aver that had it been Tha Prior Admin that'd had at it instead (big timewarp so hang on), the entire lab and array would have been ill-treated like Ramallah, any Gaza hamlet under cast Lead siege, or another Waco just to force the "drugfree" point.  (Thank Heaven for even the smallest of comforts!)

Enjoy the music!  I'll enjoy with you!  :)


 hippie wrote:
CLOSE YOUR EYES AND INJOY THE JOUNNEY. The Moody Blues will take you to a place that you have never been before.
 
And ones you get there,there is no way out but who needs that!!?
 kaybee wrote:
Maybe I just dropped too much mescaline in my youth, but I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the overwrought, bombastic yet gentle and heartfelt music of the Moody Blues.  This is one of my favourites off of what I think may be their best album.

 
Just imagine if you had been tripping on San Pedro cactus.  What would you have listened to?  

I will have to agree that the studio albums do not hold up over time unless you are a true fan.  But after seeing them many times in concert and aquiring some live albums, these guys can still rock.  If I am going to listen to the Moodys I will always reach for the live stuff.
Maybe I just dropped too much mescaline in my youth, but I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for the overwrought, bombastic yet gentle and heartfelt music of the Moody Blues.  This is one of my favourites off of what I think may be their best album.

The Moody Blues is one of those bands that I liked when I was teenager, but doesn't hold up over the last 30 years.
 LPCity wrote:
If you went to college in the early 70's and were trying to get laid, the Moody Blues should have been playing on your dorm room stereo.
 
It was.{#Biggrin}
 matchball wrote:
Reminds me of Robby Williams: Let me entertain you...
 

"ARE YOU SERIOUS?"
Always love to hear the Moodies. I spent hours and hours listening in my younger years.
Reminds me of Robby Williams: Let me entertain you...
SanFranGayMan wrote:
A hippie in 69 who just met the Moodies. Lyrics that had meaning? Melody? I could think, I could soar mentally with them and the purple haze of some Mexican Gold (it is all relative as it turned out-Gold--how about potmetal?). Pretentious? Only if you think you know it all. I don't mediate, I listen to the Moodies to get my balance and keep it. And it is easier than yoga or mediation and more gratifying, in my humble opinion. But each path is different, so don't listen the fuck to me--find and follow your own.
Like he said... I luv the Moodies, too! I got hip in 'Frisco in '67 and I miss it still... Don't dare go south of the border these days tho' - do they gitmo gays yet? But do come on up to the Great White North sometime (never mind the MexiGold - we got BCBud) - we'll show you a good time!
Loved it since i was a kid! ;O)
What a great track! More Moodies, please!
A hippie in 69 who just met the Moodies. Lyrics that had meaning? Melody? I could think, I could soar mentally with them and the purple haze of some Mexican Gold (it is all relative as it turned out-Gold--how about potmetal?). Pretentious? Only if you think you know it all. I don't mediate, I listen to the Moodies to get my balance and keep it. And it is easier than yoga or mediation and more gratifying, in my humble opinion. But each path is different, so don't listen the fuck to me--find and follow your own.
hippiechick wrote:
Any Moodies is good Moodies.
What she said!
I think I have to get the Deluxe Edition of To Our Children's Children's Children. I remember the LP being muddy, and I'm afraid any CD that has not been remastered would suffer the same problem. One of my favorites!
Awesome. Awesome Awesome.
If you went to college in the early 70's and were trying to get laid, the Moody Blues should have been playing on your dorm room stereo.