I Had Too Much To Dream

I had a strange dream on Friday night/Saturday morning, during which I was crossing a road in Dunfermline and was honked at by a utility vehicle, a fire engine or some such. The weird bit about this was its horn sounded the musical phrase:- Daaah, da-da-da! dah, da-da-da! da-da, dah.

In my dream I recognised it was from a song and so while the dream was still running I kept on humming the tune until I got to the last line of the verse – when I knew what it was. And I felt great just to have worked it out. (Bear in mind I was still asleep.)

The song is The Diamond Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon, written and performed by The Nice, formed as P P Arnold’s backing group but now better known as the first rise to prominence of Keith Emerson of ELP notoriety fame. It was the B-side of America, their first (only?) hit.

It’s a fine piece of psychedelia with TARDIS-like sound effects and some great bits of mellotron work but features almost impenetrable lyrics which a quick search on the internet can not shed light on.

The nearest I can get for the first verse is:-

The ??? stroked circles from the heads of all the heroes
And confusions caused by echoes
That’s not ???? for us to see
The sound of magic carpets (cobblers?)
Suddenly be seeking for the

Here it is on You Tube.

Can anyone decipher them? The lyrics, that is.

Edit (24/4/10): I see the original clip has been taken down.

Here is a new link.

The Nice: Diamond Hard Blue Apples of the Moon

Edit (20/7/17): I found the new link also inoperable so replaced it with the one above.

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10 comments

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  1. Friday On My Mind 1. – A Son of the Rock -- Jack Deighton

    […] down.) Or there’s America by The Nice, with which I started off my prog rock musings, plus their The Diamond Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon – even if it was a B-side – and The Thoughts Of Emerlist Davjack, The Electric Prunes’ I […]

  2. gareth davies

    Jack – this is very interesting – the lyrics are very hard to decypher – I’ve never been able to de-scramble them – but now i’ve stumbled upon your site – you’ve done a good job.
    1st line : transcribed circles round the heads of all the heroes
    2nd line : and confusion caused by echoes
    3rd line : that’s not hard for us to see
    4th line : the sound og magic carpets
    5th line : suddenly be seeking for the …(“same as you – this bit is a mystery”)

    2nd verse (my first attempt at trying to understand the lyrics)

    1st line : find them in the darkroom
    2nd line : from their magic carpets
    3rd line : we have stretched by the blank strep
    4th line : and the _____ we declare
    5th line : wanna be be there
    6th line : try to make a ______

    I’m sure we will sort this out together .. cheers gareth.
    ie. 2nd verse 3rd line … “blank strep” …. that is what it sounds like .. so we need to think of something sensible that fits the “shape” of what he says…. if you know what I mean

  3. gareth davies

    corrections to last entry

    1st verse 4th line : “of” .. not “og”
    1st verse 5th line : dismiss my comment in brackets

    2nd verse 2nd line : from their magic flying carpets
    2nd verse 4th line : and the apples we declare

  4. Misheard Lyrics: Angel Of The Morning – A Son of the Rock -- Jack Deighton

    […] Soldier which I featured recently, also had a great influence on The Nice whom I mentioned several months ago now. They were formed to be her backing band. However they quickly broke off to do their own […]

  5. Fraser Taylor

    My best effort at transcription (with the help of Refugee’s version on YouTube):

    The transplant circles
    ‘Round the heads of all the heroes
    And confusions caused by echoes
    That are not for us to see
    We sit on magic carpets
    Its circles may be seeking for the

    Diamond hard blue apples of the moon [x4]

    To a blind man in a dark room
    On their magic flying carpets
    They must search to find a black cat
    And two apples make a pair
    But they are not really there,
    But they’re still tryin’ a make a pair of

    Diamond hard blue apples of the moon [x6]

    Still not convinced of “transplant”; Jackson sings “two cats” in the Refugee version.

    Fraser Taylor
    Bellsmyre
    Dumbarton

  6. jackdeighton

    Thanks for taking the trouble to do this Fraser,
    I couldn’t decipher much of The Nice’s original at all.
    I hadn’t heard Refugee’s version before your comment. It’s different!
    How is Bellsmyre these days? I’ve not ventured there for decades. Not since I lived in Whiteford Avenue.

  7. Dave Stewart

    Hi Jack,

    Myself and school pals saw The Nice at The Marquee many times, always loved this song! I think the opening lyric is ‘The transparent circles round the heads of all the heroes’ 🙂

    Cheers,
    Dave Stewart

  8. jackdeighton

    Dave,
    I never saw The Nice. The Marquee was a bit too far to travel!!!
    Thanks for your idea of the lyric. I’ve been puzzling over it for about fifty years….
    Thanks for looking in and commenting.

  9. Dave Stewart

    Hi Jack, you’re welcome. I was fortunate to live in central London at a time when bands such as The Nice, Spooky Tooth, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac (etc.) were playing at small venues like The Marquee… The Nice’s Lee Jackson’s vocals were hard to decipher even at close quarters, but I always remembered that “transparent circles round the heads of all the heroes” line 🙂 Best, Dave.

  10. Reelin’ In the Years 119: RIP Keith Emerson – A Son of the Rock -- Jack Deighton

    […] and which has a good claim, in its extravagance, to be the first truly prog track, its B-side, The Diamond Hard Blue Apples Of The Moon and their first single The Thoughts Of Emerlist […]

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