Do You Believe in Magic?

Yesterday while talking with my brother Tom, he got a little tongue-tied and said, "...he's a magician -- er, I  mean, he's a musician...."  I interrupted him and said, "Yes indeed!  Anyone who's a musician is definitely also a magician!"  We laughed.

This got me remembering one of my favorite songs from the '60s:  Do You Believe in Magic by The Lovin' Spoonful.  Below, I link to a full-color video of that group performing that song live on The Ed Sullivan Show on March 19, 1967.  Lyrics are below the link to that video.

Wikipedia says this song has been enJOYing successive generations, including being recorded by BBMak for the score of Return to Never Land, a sequel to Disney's 1953 classic Peter Pan. (one of my FAVORITE childhood stories).  And it was ranked #216 on Rolling Stone's (November 2004) list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

My brother's linguistic "mix up" is just one more clue in our quest to solve the mystery of life.  It's not a meaningless coincidence that our words for magic and music are so similar.  (I wonder if that's true in other languages.)  It's intentional languaging, like Hansel and Gretel left pebbles for themselves to find their way back home when in the forest.  But the day they didn't have time to collect some pebbles and had to use bread crumbs instead (which the birds happily ate), Hansel and Gretel couldn't find their way home, and ended up caged inside a wicked old woman's house.  (The symbolism in that fable is a topic for another post entirely!)

May the magic of music enJOY you and set you free!  (Complete lyrics below.)



The Lovin' Spoonful performing
Do You Believe In Magic  in 1965 on the Hullabaloo show.

  

Do You Believe in Magic lyrics
Do you believe in magic in a young girl's heart
How the music can free her, whenever it starts
And it's magic, if the music is groovy
It makes you feel happy like an old-time movie
I'll tell you about the magic, and it'll free your soul
But it's like trying to tell a stranger 'bout rock and roll

If you believe in magic don't bother to choose
If it's jug band music or rhythm and blues
Just go and listen it'll start with a smile
It won't wipe off your face no matter how hard you try
Your feet start tapping and you can't seem to find
How you got there, so just blow your mind

If you believe in magic, come along with me
We'll dance until morning 'til there's just you and me
And maybe, if the music is right
I'll meet you tomorrow, sort of late at night
And we'll go dancing, baby, then you'll see
How the magic's in the music and the music's in me

Yeah, do you believe in magic
Yeah, believe in the magic of a young girl's soul
Believe in the magic of rock and roll
Believe in the magic that can set you free
Ohh, talking 'bout magic

Do you believe like I believe Do you believe in magic
Do you believe like I believe Do you believe, believer
Do you believe like I believe Do you believe in magic