ONE RECORD project.

The 13th Floor Elevators are probably best known for their song ‘You’re gonna miss me’ from their first album ‘The Psychedelic Sounds of..’. This is primarily because of it’s inclusion on the first ‘Nuggets’ compilation. However it is their second album ‘Easter Everywhere’ that is considered one of the true classics of the Psych era. The opening track ‘Slip Inside This House’ alone assures it’s status as a classic.

It is 8 solid minutes of relentless, dirty guitars spitting fractals over rolling drums and a popping electronic jug. The vocals run almost throughout, Roky Erickson’s pained voice distilling the philosophies of ancient mystics seen through youthful eyes. The song was written by jug player Tommy Hall and it is an attempt to combine the general beliefs of the psychedelic movement, taking it’s influences from Eastern and Christian mysticism and Mayan culture among many others. The lyrics often seem to be nonsensical, like much from the psych movement, but on deeper interpretation, the song is a very loose conglomeration of all these philosophies and the end result is like an acid trip, evoking the feeling of an epiphany just out of reach.

“Four and twenty birds of Maya
Baked into an atom you
Polarized into existence
Magnet heart from red to blue
To such extent the realm of dark
Within the picture it seems true
But slip inside this house and then decide.

All your lightning waits inside you
Travel it along your spine
Seven stars receive your visit
Seven seals remain divine
Seven churches filled with spirit,
Treasure from the angels’ mine
Slip inside this house as you pass by.
Slip inside this house as you pass by”

The song perfectly captures the open mindedness of the psych movement and while it may be a disparate philosophy, the true values it espouses; fearlessness, humanity, curiosity, empathy and compassion are something the world could do with a lot more of. This song is an experience and it stands alone to such an extent that the remainder of the album feels like a comedown from it.