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Sopwith Camel — Dancin' Wizard
Album: The Miraculous Hump Returns From The Moon
Avg rating:
6.9

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1090









Released: 1973
Length: 2:59
Plays (last 30 days): 0
I'm feeling down
I'm acting grumpy
I'm a fool like everyone else.
I'm a falling down dancing monkey
I need to be by myself.

Should take a long walk out
through the desert
living in the rocks like a blue
bellied lizard
not come back until I'm dry and
weathered
then come back as a dancing wizard.

Feeling down my vision's hazy
I'm doomed like everyone else.
I'm driving all my people crazy
falling under evil spells.
I ought to go out and put myself together
out of all the rocks and snakes of
a feather.
Then I'd leave behind a limestone wizard
I might come back as a dancing lizard.

I don't know why I should be so haggard.
City lights hit me like a blizzard.
Ought to go back as far as I can
stagger
dance on the rocks like a wise
old lizard

Feeling down
Acting grumpy
I'm a fool like everyone else.
I'm a falling down dancing monkey
I need to be by myself.
Comments (53)add comment
I saw this group in 1973 at my college. They were setup outside with a handful of students standing around listening to them. I bought their album for grins. I never thought I'd be listening to them again in 2023! Thank you RP.
8 for the sitar
 lily34 wrote:

what is a sopwith camel?




It was an airplane used in World War I.
what is a sopwith camel?
Enjoyably weird.
I love this whimsical little number! 

I say "whimsical," for that's how it strikes me. Yet, listening to the words more carefully, it is serious too. I'd like to play it for my granddaughter (aged 6) sometime when she's feeling sad. She'll love the idea of coming back like a dancin' lizard--or was that wizard? 

 Hippostar wrote:

Another one of these sing-song art-ists? Thought we were done with this after the Juno soundtrack...


Well, except that this excellent album came out 34 years before Juno.
Do try to keep up, dear.
reminded me of anyone else by the moldy peaches https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceV62E-c86g
Another one of these sing-song art-ists? Thought we were done with this...
Still have this album on vinyl. Good to hear it on RP.
Wow. This is a first hear for me and it seems to be hitting me hard at this particular moment. Very nice. 
whoa

wilco 

uncle T
Loved this album from its inception. Good old laid back music. 
I’ve liked this song for years, but today is the first time I actually heard the lyrics. It matches my mood well.
 flyboy wrote:

I did know that.  Did you see my name?  I'm an airplane nut, hence my surprise at not knowing about this band.  I'm really glad I know about them now.  I really like this song, except it gets stuck in my head for weeks at a time now.


Snoopy flew a Sopwith Camel, right?
 a_geek wrote:


Well, I didn't know about them before I heard them here, but the band name is realy odd. You know, the Sopwith Camel was a Britisfighter plane in WW1.
 
I did know that.  Did you see my name?  I'm an airplane nut, hence my surprise at not knowing about this band.  I'm really glad I know about them now.  I really like this song, except it gets stuck in my head for weeks at a time now.
Easy listening 9/10! Good job RP team!
So bloody good! Love the lyrics. 
Keep thinking this should be Dr Hook.
 n4ku wrote:
I uploaded three songs from this album years ago, and they were all rejected. This is a great record, and more of it needs to be heard here.
 
Hate the DJ! Love the DJ! Touch him! Bite him! 






This may be the first time I've heard Sopwith Camel. Thanks, Bill. 
I swear I thought this was from the 2000's, unbelievable.  Could easily be released today!
 flyboy wrote:
How did I not know there was a band called Sopwith Camel?  And I like this song.
 

Well, I didn't know about them before I heard them here, but the band name is realy odd. You know, the Sopwith Camel was a Britisfighter plane in WW1.
Underrated group - good to hear them again!
Hey...these are the parents of the Uncle Tupelo band!
I always here "Vielen Dank..."
 PaganSkier wrote:
I bought this album ages ago. Amazing I was able to keep it all these years with various roommates fondling my vinyl. Play Fazon.
Their  first album Sopwith Camel had a sticker on it sayin' "Remember
Hello,Hello"

Oh, I love me some Sopwith Camel! There are so many great tracks on their two albums.
 avikatz wrote:


Kurt Weill
 
Sounds more like Kurt Vile, sublime Philly guitarist, than Kurt Weill, IMHO, though I am more familiar with the former and so could be simply uninformed.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Each time I hear this it makes me want to hear some Steve Poltz, whose humour and odd timings are so similar (and he's still touring and so worth seeing live - a masterful Story Teller).
 arserocket wrote:
thinkin this sounds like Curt Vile ( I like) and yet it's from late 60's .... how good and timeless
 

Kurt Weill
Solid 7. No, wait. Yeah it's an 8. 
Whoa
Orange Peel, please!
 NeuroGeek wrote:
I keep hearing "chicks and geese and ducks better scurry"
 
"When we hit that road, hell-for-leather
Cats and dogs will dance in the heather
Birds and frogs'll sing all together and the toads will hop!..."
I keep hearing "chicks and geese and ducks better scurry"
This whole album is full of nice little ditties.  Actually released in 1973.


https://www.discogs.com/Sopwith-Camel-The-Miraculous-Hump-Returns-From-The-Moon/master/257744
thinkin this sounds like Curt Vile ( I like) and yet it's from late 60's .... how good and timeless
Bill, you are a genius. That's all I can say 
 rascal wrote:
Sound quality is excellent...analogue from the 60's
 
I believe this album was released in 1973, but these guys were around since the mid-1960s.
Sound quality is excellent...analogue from the 60's
 n4ku wrote:
I uploaded three songs from this album years ago, and they were all rejected. This is a great record, and more of it needs to be heard here.

 
I tried too. All the groovy kids I know like this album quite a lot.
I bought this album ages ago. Amazing I was able to keep it all these years with various roommates fondling my vinyl. Play Fazon.
Blast from the past whoa.... I haven't thought of this band in 30 years probably. 
How did I not know there was a band called Sopwith Camel?  And I like this song.
ahhh yes the Miraculous Hump
 kingart wrote:
Good grief!  Another first hear at RP. An enchanting but pretty weird track.
Another song, much more recent, bears a mysterious resemblance. I will have to visit the ear worm library and search the archives to suss out what track may have squeezed a few samples out of this one. 

 
Yep. I heard this decades ago so it was familiar, in a way, but I thought it was way more recent.
Good grief!  Another first hear at RP. An enchanting but pretty weird track.
Another song, much more recent, bears a mysterious resemblance. I will have to visit the ear worm library and search the archives to suss out what track may have squeezed a few samples out of this one. 
Such a great album; thanks for playing.
As quirky and eccentric as Steely Dan.
The whole album is excellent, btw.


Where does Bill find this stuff? Very cool.
c.
I always liked this group.  Saw them for the first time on a PBS station in San Francisco, I was playing Sitar at the time so that might have made them extra interesting to me.  Thanks Bill.
I thought "Sopwith Camel" last night... while watching "The Great Waldo Pepper."

Coincidence? ; )
I uploaded three songs from this album years ago, and they were all rejected. This is a great record, and more of it needs to be heard here.
Never head this before; I dig it {#Music}