‘Magic Carpet Ride’ is a rock song written by John Kay and Rushton Moreve from the Canadian-American hard rock band Steppenwolf. The song was initially released in 1968 on the album The Second. It was the lead single from that album, peaking at number three in the US, and staying in the charts for 16 weeks, longer than any other Steppenwolf song.
The 45-rpm version is not only an edit of the album version, but contains a different vocal take on the first verse. Despite the single's popularity, the album version enjoyed heavy airplay on FM radio and is still the preferred version on most classic rock stations, as well as the one most commonly included on compilations and in popular media.
When preparing to record the band's second album, The Second, bassist Rushton Moreve came up with a "bouncy riff". Band member Jerry Edmonton's brother, Mars Bonfire, started playing guitar, and the band developed the riff. For the introduction, guitarist Michael Monarch created feedback which was spliced on to the beginning of the band's recording. John Kay had recently bought a new top-quality hi-fi system, and started writing lyrics "about how great our new stereo system sounded." Kay took the demo home to work on the lyrics. In an interview with Kay, he explained what happened next: "I popped the cassette into the player, and out of these rather large speakers came this track. And what popped into my head was, 'I like to dream... right between the sound machine.' The 'sound machine' being that stereo system. I wrote the lyrics and melody in 20 minutes, went and overdubbed the vocal, and then we did some more work on the track with instrument overdubs and the like, and 'Magic Carpet Ride' evolved from that."
Released on their second album, ‘Magic Carpet Ride’ was the second big hit for Steppenwolf; their first, ‘Born To Be Wild,’ was released a few months earlier on their debut album. The band was best known for these two hits, but they developed a tight-knit fanbase (the "Wolfpack") that devoured the album cuts and supported the band for decades. In the late '60s and into the '70s, FM radio stations with Freeform or Album Oriented Rock formats would often play the lesser-known Steppenwolf cuts, and sometimes, the whole albums.
Label – ABC Dunhill
Songwriters – Rushton Moreve, John Kay
Producer – Gabriel Mekler
SONG LYRICS
{Instrumental Intro 00:00-00:29}[Verse 1]
I like to dream
Yes, yes, right between the sound machine
On a cloud of sound, I drift in the night
Any place it goes is right
Goes far, flies near to the stars away from here
[Chorus]
Well, you don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me, little girl
On a magic carpet ride?
You don't know what we can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me?
Fantasy will set you free
[Post-Chorus]
Close your eyes, girl
Look inside, girl
Let the sound take you away
[Verse 2]
Last night I held Aladdin's lamp
And so I wished that I could stay
Before the thing could answer me
Well, someone came and took the lamp away
I looked around, a lousy candle's all I found
[Chorus]
Well, you don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me, little girl
On a magic carpet ride?
Well, you don't know what we can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me?
Fantasy will set you free
[Post-Chorus]
Close your eyes, girl
Look inside girl
Let the sound take you away
Instrumental Break 01:58-04:12
[Organ Solo]
[Chorus]
You don't know what we can find
Why don't you come with me, little girl
On a magic carpet ride?
Well, you don't know what we can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me?
Fantasy will set you free