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Traffic — 40,000 Headmen
Album: Traffic
Avg rating:
7.5

Your rating:
Total ratings: 672









Released: 1968
Length: 3:11
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Forty thousand headmen couldn't make me change my mind
If I had to take the choice between the deafman and the blind
I know just where my feet should go and that's enough for me
I turned around and knocked them down and walked across the sea

Hadn't traveled very far when suddenly I saw
Three small ships a-sailing out towards a distant shore
So lighting up a cigarette I followed in pursuit
And found a secret cave where they obviously stashed their loot

Filling up my pockets, even stuffed it up my nose
I must have weighed a hundred tons between my head and toes
I ventured forth before the dawn had time to change its mind
And soaring high above the clouds I found a golden shrine

Laying down my treasure before the iron gate
Quickly rang the bell hoping I hadn't come too late
But someone came along and told me not to waste my time
And when I asked him who he was he said, 'Just look behind'

So I turned around and forty thousand headmen bit the dirt
Firing twenty shotguns each and man, it really hurt
But luckily for me they had to stop and then reload
And by the time they'd done that I was heading down the road
Comments (72)add comment
 kcar wrote:
miahfost wrote: If you mean that your IQ has to be over 30, then yes. Sorry if that automatically rules you out.


Humpf, calm down please. Youth have to learn, but with IQ30?
 buddy wrote:

Outstanding & the best version of this great song!


Personally I prefer the version on Welcome To The Canteen.
GREAT TUNE!!!  GREAT BAND!!!
 buddy wrote:

Outstanding & the best version of this great song!



True, but Blood, Sweat & Tears does a damn good version as well.
oh my gosh

what a lineup
Unique voice of Stevie Winwood
Wow, 1968!  Knew old but not that ancient.  Great stuff!
Outstanding & the best version of this great song!
WONDERFUL old tune by a WONDERFUL group.  What daze!
{#Hearteyes}
love it
Great song from a great album.  Their 2nd release and it really showed that they all had a great deal of talent.
 Stropatus wrote:

Great band and good old memories.  I am still a sucker for Winwoods voice and not forgetting the later stuff Jim Capaldi did solo

 
Damn straight.  Entire canon of Traffic is 5-star.
Good memories, great song!
 
 crockydile wrote:

 The folks with bell bottoms and wide lapels made a hell of a lot better music than the tie-dyed, flower children.
  
 

Ever hear of Hendrix and a group called the Beatles ? Ever listen to what Dylan put out in the 60's, or Zeppelin.If Rock music was a flower it bloomed in the 60's and was plasticized in the 70's and 80's.Mirror balls and disco just didn't qualify.


Great band and good old memories.  I am still a sucker for Winwoods voice and not forgetting the later stuff Jim Capaldi did solo



Sitting in the lotus position and in a natural trance. {#Music}
One of my all time fav's. . . . . good memories
Hey, Traffic is playing on KPIG right now!  I couldn't figure out what station I was on for a second.  Except I'm hearing "Light Up or Leave Me Alone".  Funny.

40,000 Headmen is great too

Excellent song!  Brings back lots of mellow memories................

There are good old hippy tunes and then there are bad ones. . .  this is not one of the former. . .



 miahfost wrote:
You have to be over thirty to like this crap.
 
I'm 45 and I still think it's crap. Never liked Traffic,  but I did like Winwood's pop stuff in the 80's. Stick that in your bong and smoke it, hippie zealots!  There was good music that came out of the 60s, but the stuff in the early 70's was the best. The folks with bell bottoms and wide lapels made a hell of a lot better music than the tie-dyed, flower children. {#Moon}
 jagdriver wrote:


 
{#Roflol}

 strongbad wrote:
Those were the days, hippies, transcendence, hallucinogens, great music.
 
Your soo right!

 strongbad wrote:
Those were the days, hippies, transcendence, hallucinogens, great music.
 
man i miss those days...peace
 strongbad wrote:
Those were the days, hippies, transcendence, hallucinogens, great music.
 

 strongbad wrote:
Those were the days, hippies, transcendence, hallucinogens, great music.
 
I do agree,sad part,remember nothing! Still like Traffic though.
kaosmonkey wrote:
I have a feeling the musical landscape would be much the same as it is now if these hippies had never picked up a flute.

Thgese guys would disagree

https://www.music-map.com/traffic.html

In fact you'll find Bruce Hornsby on that list and you gave one of his songs a 9.

Brilliant!!! right alonside the trippy syd barret floyd, moody blues, jerry garcia....mmmm, music in technicolor {#Tongue}
 strongbad wrote:
Those were the days, hippies, transcendence, hallucinogens, great music.
 

Glory be, we were there!
Some prodigious talent in that cover shoot!

 laroue wrote:
How about some Blind faith while were at it? {#Music}
 Yeah, wanna get me all misty, play Blind Faith.


And the elbows going flying up in defence of Traffic.  LOL!

Who said Canadian hockey players were the only ones who played rough?

 

Great set Bill, all of it.


How about some Blind faith while were at it? {#Music}
Oxford Hall, Berkeley, summer of 1969. This album was the soundtrack.
I can smell it all so clearly now
wally42 wrote:
If your under thirty the music you listen to owes it's very existence to this crap.
I have a feeling the musical landscape would be much the same as it is now if these hippies had never picked up a flute.
miahfost wrote:
You have to be over thirty to like this crap.
No, just stoned.
Not my favorite from Traffic but it still works for me!
This is an awesome band, song, genre. But it has a hint of Jethro Tull in it and it's not just the flute, its the whole mystery, travelling quality to it. Like venturing down an English road waiting to be ambushed by the local robbers. Traffic always created a great atmosphere to their tunes.
miahfost wrote:
You have to be over thirty to like this crap.
If you mean that your IQ has to be over 30, then yes. Sorry if that automatically rules you out.
miahfost wrote:
You have to be over thirty to like this crap.
You betcha'!
A ONE OF A KIND SOUND0 ONE OF A KIND SONG!
Frater_Kork wrote:
I obviously fit into that category =)
Perhaps over 50 to fully enjoy it!
miahfost wrote:
You have to be over thirty to like this crap.
I obviously fit into that category =)
Those were the days, hippies, transcendence, hallucinogens, great music.
Live version is better. Welcome to the Canteen
wally42 wrote:
If your under thirty the music you listen to owes it's very existence to this crap. Good point! Awesome set , Bill the last our has just rolled along!
miahfost wrote:
You have to be over thirty to like this crap.
If your under thirty the music you listen to owes it's very existence to this crap. Awesome set , Bill the last our has just rolled along!
You have to be over thirty to like this crap.
xs9095 wrote:
its all trippy hippy like, flute'tashious
where really are the power of the seventies music. what kind of magician is this? melody? lyrics? drugs?? liberty?? i love the seventies atmosphere... ((Sorry my english))
Traffic was one of the best bands ever, but this was not one of their best tracks.
Make that BS&T "Dyslexics untie!!"
In spite of the possibility of being flamed, may I put in my request to hear BTS's version of this song? TIA!!
This was the first Traffic album I owned and it will always hold a special place in my heart.
liser wrote:
Oh, duh. Thank you!!
:)
RobRyan wrote:
Blood Sweat & Tears
Oh, duh. Thank you!!
liser wrote:
Um, who's BST?
Blood Sweat & Tears
Um, who's BST?
its all trippy hippy like, flute'tashious
I'm always amazed at how many Traffic albums I have in my collection. They always managed to maintain remarkably consistent quality despite all the personnel changes, but I've always considered this to be one of their best tracks. Never seems to get stale.
Roach wrote:
Yeah, go figure. David Clayton-Thomas has one of the best R&B voices this side of the sun.
Unfortunately, while I agree that Davidy Clayton-Thomas had a great voice, I believe his pop/top-40 incarnation of BS&T was far inferior to the previous lineup blessed with the talents of Al Kooper.
haunting excellence.
AC wrote:
How the hell people with enough taste to boot up RP can mention Traffic and BST in the same breath is beyond me.
Yeah, go figure. David Clayton-Thomas has one of the best R&B voices this side of the sun.
jbwiv wrote:
Nice, beautiful, and trippy. I like it ;-)
Yup! and danceable too... trippy dancing!
you guys are hot tonight!!!! An all time favorite that still sounds as good as when I first heard it
Nice, beautiful, and trippy. I like it ;-)
Bravo
How the hell people with enough taste to boot up RP can mention Traffic and BST in the same breath is beyond me. I swear this band\'s stuff just keeps getting better and better with each passing year.
I'm a Traffic fan from 'way back, but... as with the Stones' rendition of "Sympathy for the Devil" you played a short while ago, I vote for David Clayton-Thomas' BST version. The two songs ("Sympathy" and "Headmen") are on the same album, too, y'know!
Haven\'t heard this song in ages.Music for the ages.Traffic at it\'s best.