Music

According to Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman”, Love = LSD

Let’s Look At That Formula, Shall We?

A groovy psychedelic folk track straight from the ’60s, Donovan’s “Sunshine Superman” is catchy, getting stuck in your head like a fly in a trap.

What feels like a sweet, happy, no-nonsense love song has much more depth than it first lets on.

As Donovan sings, let’s “make like a turtle and dive deep” into the possible underlying meanings of this song.

Drug Undertones

When we hear the first lines, one envisions a morning scene of someone waking up:

“Sunshine came softly through my a-window today Could’ve tripped out easy a-but I’ve a-changed my ways”

The hand drums and happy organ accentuate this feeling, too, with their whimsical and opportunistic approach, giving you warm feelings of anticipation for a new day’s beginning.

It’s easy to be fooled — especially if you’re removed from slang terms in the ’60s and the underground world of psychedelic drugs. However, it’s hidden in plain sight if you know where to look.

A popular slang term for LSD in the ’60s was known as “sunshine.” Hearing this makes the lyrics shift in meaning. Instead of awakening physically, Donovan refers to awakening mentally and spiritually through the use of a popularly abused psychedelic of the era.

Does that mean this song is about drugs, not love?

Not quite.

Love = LSD

The main side effects of LSD include being excited, energized, and giggly, while seeing brightened colors, having enhanced sensations, and hallucinating.

Now, look at the above sentence and replace LSD with the word “love.”

I know what you’re thinking.

“Dude, there’s no way I hallucinate when I love someone.”

Are you sure?

Love isn’t logical. We can look at a friend’s relationship, unable to see how and why they fell for someone. Also, people often have trouble seeing their partner's flaws, ignoring them, and actively not seeing them.

Of course, after the beginnings of a relationship end, often referred to as the “honeymoon phase,” these flaws do tend to reveal themselves. But some might never. Or the person in the relationship might not see them as a flaw!

An annoying laugh? Cute to them. A gross habit? More like endearing.

Wait a minute. What’s the definition of hallucinating again?

hallucinate (verb) — a perception of having seen, heard, touch, tasted, or smelled something that wasn’t there

Uh oh.

Let’s Shift Your Perception, You Dig?

Love is all about perception. From the outside looking in, we can try to rationalize what makes a relationship work and why two people fall in love, but we'll never know for sure unless we’re the people involved.

Sometimes, the people inside the relationship don’t know either.

LSD was and often still is abused to “shift the perception of one’s reality,” sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.

Similarly, Donovan tells us that meeting a girl changed his perception of reality, just like when he took a tab of acid.

Comparing love to a drug in a work of art is nothing new. But Donovan finds a way to do it uniquely and subtly. Part of this reasoning was that he didn’t want to have his music banned on the radio. The radio rules were stringent at the time, not allowing for songs like The Byrds' “8 Miles High” to get played because of the title’s possible reference to drug use from one specific word in the title. I bet you can figure out which one.

Yeah. Things were that strict.

But there’s a deeper reason.

Because to Donovan, he doesn’t see love as cocaine like The Weeknd. He doesn’t feel like a junkie like Justin Timberlake.

He sees it as transformative.

Open Up Your Mind And Take A Trip

At the end of the day, Donovan wants one thing:

“It’ll take time, I know it but in a while You’re gonna be mine, I know it, we’ll do it in style ’Cause I made my mind up you’re going to be mine”

Yeah, it’s that simple. He wants this girl to be his.

Did he know that immediately? No. Look at the lines. He had to “make up his mind” and we do that by shifting perspectives.

And now, he wants to open her mind up and change hers.

Is Donovan asking his lover to take an acid trip with him to get closer together? Possibly.

But more likely, he’s going to bring her on dates such as going to the beach:

“We stood on a beach at sunset, do you remember when? I know a beach where, baby, a-it never ends”

And he’s hoping that if he treats her right, things will go well:

“A you-you-you can just sit there a-thinking on your velvet throne ‘Bout all the rainbows a-you can a-have for your own”

He sees her on a throne, like a queen. He wants to treat her that way too.

Donovan hopes he can convince her to be with him by doing these things. He’s hoping to shift her perspective.

Like when one convinces themselves to take a psychedelic like LSD, they often do it to open up their mind.

Do these lovers' attempts always work?

No.

But you can’t blame a guy for trying.

I’m Bill. I write about music and spirituality, and I’m listening to 1001 Must-Hear Albums Before You Die in a Year and documenting it on Youtube.

I’ve written some other “drug and music” themed pieces on The Riff. I can’t help it. I’m currently in the heat of the “Summer of Love” in my 1001 Album Challenge. You can’t help but think about that stuff while you listen. If you’re interested, check ’em out:

Thanks to all nice peeps at The Riff who continue to publish my stuff! I continue to find the coolest people on Medium in this community.

Give me a follow if you like my vibe.