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Sopwith Camel — Dancin' Wizard
Album: The Miraculous Hump Returns From The Moon
Avg rating:
6.9

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1118









Released: 1973
Length: 2:57
Plays (last 30 days): 0
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I'm feeling down
I'm acting grumpy
I'm a fool like everyone else.
I'm a falling down dancing monkey
I need to be by myself.

Should take a long walk out
through the desert
living in the rocks like a blue
bellied lizard
not come back until I'm dry and
weathered
then come back as a dancing wizard.

Feeling down my vision's hazy
I'm doomed like everyone else.
I'm driving all my people crazy
falling under evil spells.
I ought to go out and put myself together
out of all the rocks and snakes of
a feather.
Then I'd leave behind a limestone wizard
I might come back as a dancing lizard.

I don't know why I should be so haggard.
City lights hit me like a blizzard.
Ought to go back as far as I can
stagger
dance on the rocks like a wise
old lizard

Feeling down
Acting grumpy
I'm a fool like everyone else.
I'm a falling down dancing monkey
I need to be by myself.
Comments (54)add comment
 bob0301 wrote:



It was an airplane used in World War I.


Don't forget the Snoopy context... 
Just guessing that may be relevant here
Posted 2 months ago by MildGeorge    [ Reply ]
I saw this group in 1973 at my college. They were setup outside with a handful of students standing around listening to them. I bought their album for grins. I never thought I'd be listening to them again in 2023! Thank you RP.
Posted 1 year ago by TheGolfster    [ Reply ]
8 for the sitar
Posted 1 year ago by johnnycache    [ Reply ]
 lily34 wrote:

what is a sopwith camel?




It was an airplane used in World War I.
Posted 1 year ago by bob0301    [ Reply ]
what is a sopwith camel?
Posted 1 year ago by lily34    [ Reply ]
Enjoyably weird.
Posted 1 year ago by DanielHLloyd    [ Reply ]
I love this whimsical little number! 

I say "whimsical," for that's how it strikes me. Yet, listening to the words more carefully, it is serious too. I'd like to play it for my granddaughter (aged 6) sometime when she's feeling sad. She'll love the idea of coming back like a dancin' lizard--or was that wizard? 

Posted 2 years ago by sunward    [ Reply ]
 Hippostar wrote:

Another one of these sing-song art-ists? Thought we were done with this after the Juno soundtrack...


Well, except that this excellent album came out 34 years before Juno.
Do try to keep up, dear.
Posted 2 years ago by On_The_Beach    [ Reply ]
reminded me of anyone else by the moldy peaches https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceV62E-c86g
Posted 2 years ago by dischuckin    [ Reply ]
Another one of these sing-song art-ists? Thought we were done with this...
Posted 2 years ago by Hippostar    [ Reply ]
Still have this album on vinyl. Good to hear it on RP.
Posted 2 years ago by Madness1954    [ Reply ]
Wow. This is a first hear for me and it seems to be hitting me hard at this particular moment. Very nice. 
Posted 2 years ago by tulfan    [ Reply ]
whoa

wilco 

uncle T
Posted 2 years ago by idiot_wind    [ Reply ]
Loved this album from its inception. Good old laid back music. 
Posted 2 years ago by fillerupart    [ Reply ]
I’ve liked this song for years, but today is the first time I actually heard the lyrics. It matches my mood well.
Posted 3 years ago by staygood    [ Reply ]
 flyboy wrote:

I did know that.  Did you see my name?  I'm an airplane nut, hence my surprise at not knowing about this band.  I'm really glad I know about them now.  I really like this song, except it gets stuck in my head for weeks at a time now.


Snoopy flew a Sopwith Camel, right?
Posted 3 years ago by chuck02    [ Reply ]
 a_geek wrote:


Well, I didn't know about them before I heard them here, but the band name is realy odd. You know, the Sopwith Camel was a Britisfighter plane in WW1.
 
I did know that.  Did you see my name?  I'm an airplane nut, hence my surprise at not knowing about this band.  I'm really glad I know about them now.  I really like this song, except it gets stuck in my head for weeks at a time now.
Posted 3 years ago by flyboy    [ Reply ]
Easy listening 9/10! Good job RP team!
Posted 3 years ago by Matt_Maurer    [ Reply ]
So bloody good! Love the lyrics. 
Posted 3 years ago by Gregfine    [ Reply ]
Keep thinking this should be Dr Hook.
Posted 3 years ago by jukes1    [ Reply ]
 n4ku wrote:
I uploaded three songs from this album years ago, and they were all rejected. This is a great record, and more of it needs to be heard here.
 
Hate the DJ! Love the DJ! Touch him! Bite him! 






This may be the first time I've heard Sopwith Camel. Thanks, Bill. 
Posted 3 years ago by kcar    [ Reply ]
I swear I thought this was from the 2000's, unbelievable.  Could easily be released today!
Posted 4 years ago by jelgator    [ Reply ]
 flyboy wrote:
How did I not know there was a band called Sopwith Camel?  And I like this song.
 

Well, I didn't know about them before I heard them here, but the band name is realy odd. You know, the Sopwith Camel was a Britisfighter plane in WW1.
Posted 4 years ago by a_geek    [ Reply ]
Underrated group - good to hear them again!
Posted 4 years ago by RoundT    [ Reply ]
Hey...these are the parents of the Uncle Tupelo band!
Posted 4 years ago by idiot_wind    [ Reply ]
I always here "Vielen Dank..."
Posted 4 years ago by Donar    [ Reply ]
 PaganSkier wrote:
I bought this album ages ago. Amazing I was able to keep it all these years with various roommates fondling my vinyl. Play Fazon.
Their  first album Sopwith Camel had a sticker on it sayin' "Remember
Hello,Hello"
Posted 4 years ago by tonyinnj    [ Reply ]
Oh, I love me some Sopwith Camel! There are so many great tracks on their two albums.
Posted 4 years ago by bob_lee1    [ Reply ]
 avikatz wrote:


Kurt Weill
 
Sounds more like Kurt Vile, sublime Philly guitarist, than Kurt Weill, IMHO, though I am more familiar with the former and so could be simply uninformed.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
Posted 5 years ago by LYS    [ Reply ]
Each time I hear this it makes me want to hear some Steve Poltz, whose humour and odd timings are so similar (and he's still touring and so worth seeing live - a masterful Story Teller).
Posted 5 years ago by memoryboxer    [ Reply ]
 arserocket wrote:
thinkin this sounds like Curt Vile ( I like) and yet it's from late 60's .... how good and timeless
 

Kurt Weill
Posted 5 years ago by avikatz    [ Reply ]
Solid 7. No, wait. Yeah it's an 8. 
Posted 5 years ago by fraserji    [ Reply ]
Whoa
Posted 5 years ago by ExploitingChaos    [ Reply ]
Orange Peel, please!
Posted 5 years ago by JeriF    [ Reply ]
 NeuroGeek wrote:
I keep hearing "chicks and geese and ducks better scurry"
 
"When we hit that road, hell-for-leather
Cats and dogs will dance in the heather
Birds and frogs'll sing all together and the toads will hop!..."
Posted 5 years ago by Proclivities    [ Reply ]
I keep hearing "chicks and geese and ducks better scurry"
Posted 5 years ago by NeuroGeek    [ Reply ]
This whole album is full of nice little ditties.  Actually released in 1973.


https://www.discogs.com/Sopwith-Camel-The-Miraculous-Hump-Returns-From-The-Moon/master/257744
Posted 5 years ago by kurtster    [ Reply ]
thinkin this sounds like Curt Vile ( I like) and yet it's from late 60's .... how good and timeless
Posted 5 years ago by arserocket    [ Reply ]
Bill, you are a genius. That's all I can say 
Posted 5 years ago by LoveRParadise    [ Reply ]
 rascal wrote:
Sound quality is excellent...analogue from the 60's
 
I believe this album was released in 1973, but these guys were around since the mid-1960s.
Posted 5 years ago by Proclivities    [ Reply ]
Sound quality is excellent...analogue from the 60's
Posted 5 years ago by rascal    [ Reply ]
 n4ku wrote:
I uploaded three songs from this album years ago, and they were all rejected. This is a great record, and more of it needs to be heard here.

 
I tried too. All the groovy kids I know like this album quite a lot.
Posted 6 years ago by PaganSkier    [ Reply ]
I bought this album ages ago. Amazing I was able to keep it all these years with various roommates fondling my vinyl. Play Fazon.
Posted 6 years ago by PaganSkier    [ Reply ]
Blast from the past whoa.... I haven't thought of this band in 30 years probably. 
Posted 6 years ago by gatorade    [ Reply ]
How did I not know there was a band called Sopwith Camel?  And I like this song.
Posted 6 years ago by flyboy    [ Reply ]
ahhh yes the Miraculous Hump
Posted 6 years ago by hayduke2    [ Reply ]
 kingart wrote:
Good grief!  Another first hear at RP. An enchanting but pretty weird track.
Another song, much more recent, bears a mysterious resemblance. I will have to visit the ear worm library and search the archives to suss out what track may have squeezed a few samples out of this one. 

 
Yep. I heard this decades ago so it was familiar, in a way, but I thought it was way more recent.
Posted 6 years ago by ScottFromWyoming    [ Reply ]
Good grief!  Another first hear at RP. An enchanting but pretty weird track.
Another song, much more recent, bears a mysterious resemblance. I will have to visit the ear worm library and search the archives to suss out what track may have squeezed a few samples out of this one. 
Posted 6 years ago by kingart    [ Reply ]
Such a great album; thanks for playing.
As quirky and eccentric as Steely Dan.
The whole album is excellent, btw.
Posted 6 years ago by On_The_Beach    [ Reply ]


Where does Bill find this stuff? Very cool.
c.
Posted 6 years ago by cc_rider    [ Reply ]
I always liked this group.  Saw them for the first time on a PBS station in San Francisco, I was playing Sitar at the time so that might have made them extra interesting to me.  Thanks Bill.
Posted 6 years ago by scadawizard    [ Reply ]
I thought "Sopwith Camel" last night... while watching "The Great Waldo Pepper."

Coincidence? ; )
Posted 6 years ago by robertomiller    [ Reply ]
I uploaded three songs from this album years ago, and they were all rejected. This is a great record, and more of it needs to be heard here.
Posted 6 years ago by n4ku    [ Reply ]
Never head this before; I dig it {#Music}
Posted 6 years ago by JimboLD    [ Reply ]