ORANGE (ORANGE FAMILY TREE):
"Magic Spell" Variations
5 variations of a song.
(mp3 zip, 5 tracks, 31 min, 42,9 min)
1. ANYONE'S DREAMCOLOUR - Magic Spell (original demo version, 1992); 4 track analog) (4:11)
2. ORANGE - Magic Spell (acoustic version; live unplugged session), Mainz 12-31-1993) (6.11)
3. ORANGE - Magic Spell (extended demo version); basic tracks recorded Frankfurt a. M., Bunker, 4 track analog 05-30 + 06-01-1994 with overdubbs added later; remixed by mike-floyd) (7.35)
4. ORANGE - Magic Spell/Rockwork Orange (live), Abensberg Open Air Festival, Germany, 07-09-1995; soundboard) (10.03)
Magic Spell is a perfect example for selfmade acid punk.
The song was written and first recorded as a demo by ANYONE'S DREAMCOLOUR, the solo project of former CLOUD NINE (& THE VITAMIN C) bassist Mike S., in 1992 and later recorded and also performed live many times by ORANGE. Many different versions exist on tape. While the early ANYONE'S DREAMCOLOUR version is more in the style of THE FEELIES perhaps, most ORANGE versions are pure acid punk with lots of fuzz guitar, feedback and psychedelic effects like backward voices, that create a strange mysterious atmosphere.
"Magic Spell" was often played as the last song at ORANGE concerts around 1993/1994, followed sometimes only by the minimalistic "Rockwork Orange", based on a repetitious bass riff from "Magic Spell" (and that continued on some occasions – in SOFT MACHINE-We-did-it-again-avantgarde-style – for over sixty minutes!).
POET ZERO was/is the post ORANGE solo project of former ORANGE guitarist Maxim Engl. This version here is taken from an one hour live solo performance, that was broadcast on RADIO X in Frankfurt a. M., Germany, in 2002. At the end you can hear a quote from the beginning of ORANGE's psychedelic Opus magnum "Neil's Elevator".
MAGIC SPELL
(music & lyrics by Mike S. (c) 1992)
I came to know a girl, she says she knows me well
She lives up that road some place I cannot tell
That girl, she lives there in a darkened room
with alligator teeth, the smell of old perfume
That girl I know, she says she's been through hell
She's playing with cards, knows all the magic spells
I'm sure I've seen her in another place
with eyes bright shining in her witch's face
Maybe you know her, maybe you know her
Maybe you know her, maybe you know her...
That girl I know is into magic things
I listen to her and I can spread my wings
She helps my mind to fly through time and space
Nothing but soul exists beneath the haze
(Nothing but soul exists beneath the haze...)
Maybe you know her, maybe you know her
Maybe you know her, maybe you know her
Maybe you know...
Enjoy!