Floating (The Moody Blues song)
"Floating" is a song by the Moody Blues from their November 1969 album To Our Children's Children's Children, a concept album about space travel, dedicated to NASA and the Apollo 11 astronauts.[1]
| "Floating" | |
|---|---|
| Song by The Moody Blues | |
| from the album To Our Children's Children's Children | |
| Released | 21 November 1969 |
| Recorded | May–September 1969 |
| Length | 3:01 |
| Label | Threshold |
| Songwriter(s) | Ray Thomas |
| Producer(s) | Tony Clarke |
Background
Written by band flautist Ray Thomas, "Floating" is a jaunty, semi-children's song about a future in which advances in space travel have enabled the Moon to become a family vacation spot. The song's lyrics describe the experience of "Floating" from weightlessness due to the microgravity experienced in space flight.
Thomas's previous outspoken sympathy for LSD advocate Timothy Leary, as expressed in his song "Legend of a Mind", along with coincidental drug-related slang terms current at the time involving words such as "candy" and "rock," led some Americans to see in "Floating" a coded encouragement to use drugs.[2]
Personnel
- Ray Thomas – lead vocals, flute
- Justin Hayward – acoustic guitar, backing vocals
- John Lodge – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Mike Pinder – Mellotron, backing vocals
- Graeme Edge – drums, percussion
References
- The Moody Blues Companion, Edward Wincentsen and Rhonda Conley (2001)
- See for instance Bob Larson, "Rock and Roll: The Devil's Diversion" (3rd ed., 1970); David Noebel, "The Marxist Minstrels" (1970)