| "Mushroom" | |
|---|---|
| Song byCan | |
| from the albumTago Mago | |
| Released | 1971 |
| Studio | Inner Space Studio,Cologne |
| Genre | Krautrock |
| Length | 4:08 |
| Label | United Artists |
| Producer | Can |
"Mushroom" is a song by the Germankrautrock bandCan, from their 1971 albumTago Mago. It's the shortest song on the album, lasting for 4 minutes and 8 seconds. Avideo was made for the track which has been shown onMTV.[1]
The song has a hypnotic and repetitive structure, where vocalistDamo Suzuki, up-close to his microphone, chants "When I saw mushroom head / I was born, I was dead" and "When I saw skies are red / I was born, I was dead" during the verses. For the chorus, he yells "I'm gonna give my despair".
Rob Young, Can's biographer, described Damo's lyricism on the "Mushroom" as his "seldom cut to the existential", referencing red skies, the mushroom shape of the title, "overtones of nuclear unease".[2] This idea is reinforced by the sound of a bomb explosion that abruptly ends the song. According toMichael Karoli, the explosion was created using firecrackers and "slowing them down to around one-sixteenth their normal speed".[3]
The song "Don't Forget Ya Job" from 1998 albumV.E.R.N.I.S.S.A.G.E byDamo Suzuki incorporates "Mushroom", along with anotherTago Mago song, "Halleluhwah".[citation needed] Szuki's band at the time featured Can'sJaki Liebezeit on drums.[4]
TheSerbian andformer Yugoslavspace rock bandIgra Staklenih Perli covered the song on their eponymous debut album in 1979.[5] The Swedish band Komeda released a cover of the song with their 1998 single "It's Alright, Baby".[citation needed] The song was covered by the bandThe Jesus and Mary Chain. A version recorded live inNuremberg in 1986 was first released on the double-7"-single version of "April Skies".[6] It was later reissued on the CD version ofBarbed Wire Kisses,[7] and then on the 2011 expanded version ofDarklands.[citation needed]
The Flaming Lips' song "Take Meta Mars" fromIn a Priest Driven Ambulance is closely modeled on "Mushroom".
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