The Psych Ward: Journey to the Center of the Mind
The Psych Ward: Journey to the Center of the Mind
The title track of this ’68 psychedelic rocker was The Amboy Dukes’ only hit, rising to no. 16 on the Billboard singles chart. The album itself, which topped out at no. 78, has interesting moments, and the Nuge’s indelible leads throughout, but it’s the eponymous single that keeps me coming back.
Ted Nugent was the epicenter of The Amboy Dukes, which he put together in the Chicago suburbs in ’64, and later relocated to Nugent’s hometown, Detroit. Though the band has been characterized by multiple sources as psychedelic rock, later in life, the vehemently anti-drug
The Motor City Madman is mad at drugs, and perhaps always was, but Journey to the Center of the Mind is unambiguously psychedelic.
Nugent would go on to say The Amboy Dukes did not celebrate drug use as other 60’s/70’s bands. The Motor City Madman is mad at drugs, and perhaps always was, but Journey to the Center of the Mind is unambiguously psychedelic.
It’s an interesting juxtaposition because this album certainly borrows from the instrumental tropes and lyrical affect associated with psychedelic music of the era. The vocals are reminiscent of Moody Blues harmonies, with spoken word passages that aspire to mythic narrative. But where the Moody Blues seems to resonate with authentic spirituality, the lyrics on this record come off as daffier and eclectic.
The title track itself could be a driving, hard rock Syd and Marty Kroft cartoon theme. It could be an anthem for the entheogen movement, extolling the world to “Come along if you care/Come along if you dare.” I love the energy and sheer enthusiasm this song elicits. It’s one of the rockin’est tracks I’ve ever heard and by all appearances, taking the music at face value, it’s suggesting we, as a planet, all endeavor to trip.
Now maybe this song, attributed to Nugent and rhythm guitarist Steve Farmer, is asking us to come along and hunt game meat with a compound bow on our own private reserves. But there’s something very psychedelic in “How happy life could be if all of mankind/Would take the time to journey to the center of the mind.” Could be they meant meditation, could be they meant acid. I’m going to say acid.
But as much as I’d like to believe that this song is an entreaty for the world to open its collective third eye, maybe there is something more ominous going on here when the Dukes sing: “Where fantasy is fact/ So if you can, please understand/ You might not come back.” Did Ted ever make it back from the place where fantasy is fact? Inquiring minds want to know.
Related: The Top 200 Psychedelic Songs from the Original Psychedelic Era
AllMusic: Journey to the Center of the Mind by The Amboy Dukes
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