Covers – Season of the Witch

A dark, hypnotic psychedelic-rock piece built around an insistent electric-guitar riff, bass, drums, keyboards and his understated vocal.

“Season of the Witch” was written by Scottish singer-songwriter Donovan and recorded in 1966 for his third studio album, Sunshine Superman. It marked a major change from the gentle acoustic

folk songs that had established Donovan as a star. Instead, he created a dark, hypnotic psychedelic-rock piece built around an insistent electric-guitar riff, bass, drums, keyboards and his understated vocal. The song runs for more than five minutes on the original album, giving its repetitive groove plenty of time to establish its eerie, almost hypnotic mood.

Donovan is the official songwriter, although Shawn Phillips, who was closely associated with Donovan during this period, has claimed that he contributed to the composition. The lyrics describe a world that seems increasingly strange and unsettling. The repeated declaration that it is “the season of the witch” does not necessarily refer to an actual supernatural witch.

Rather, the song captures the paranoia, uncertainty and suspicion surrounding the rapidly changing social world of the mid-1960s. Donovan was observing new fashions, personalities, lifestyles and attitudes appearing everywhere, making it difficult to know exactly what was happening beneath the surface. The song’s references to people watching

one another and to someone looking over his shoulder give it a feeling of uneasiness that distinguishes it from the more optimistic side of psychedelic music. The recording was made during the sessions for Sunshine Superman in Hollywood, with Donovan using a group of American studio musicians. The exact personnel has sometimes been confused because

Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones participated in some of Donovan’s 1960s recordings, but their presence on “Season of the Witch” is disputed and should not simply be listed as established fact. The recording’s combination of electric instruments and a steady, blues-influenced rhythm helped demonstrate that Donovan

was capable of moving well beyond his earlier folk sound. Sunshine Superman itself became a major success, reaching No. 11 on the Billboard 200, although “Season of the Witch” was not released as a single in the United States and therefore did not receive a Billboard Hot 100 ranking.

Covers

The song’s importance became much greater through other artists. Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity recorded it in 1967, followed by versions from Vanilla Fudge and Al Kooper and Stephen Stills. Kooper and Stills’ performance on Super Session became particularly famous for expanding the song into an extended psychedelic-blues improvisation lasting more than eleven minutes.

Their version transformed Donovan’s relatively controlled recording into a sprawling instrumental showcase and helped establish “Season of the Witch” as a favorite among musicians interested in psychedelic rock and improvisation. Many other artists have subsequently recorded the song, including Terry Reid, Lou Rawls,

Sam Gopal, the Dream Syndicate, Hole, the Blues Brothers with Dr. John, Richard Thompson, Joan Jett and Lana Del Rey. Each version emphasizes a different aspect of the composition. Some make it heavier and more rock-oriented, others emphasize the blues foundation, while later interpretations often concentrate on its mysterious and sinister atmosphere.

Lana Del Rey recorded the song for the 2019 film Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, introducing it to another generation and making its spooky quality particularly appropriate for the movie. Although “Season of the Witch” was not a charting single when Donovan originally recorded it, it has become one of his most enduring and influential compositions.

Its reputation has grown steadily through cover versions, movies, television appearances and its association with psychedelic and Halloween-related imagery. The song’s greatest achievement may be the atmosphere it creates: the repeated rhythm and mysterious lyrics make the listener feel that something unusual is happening even though the song never explains exactly what that something is.

That ambiguity is a major reason it has remained compelling for decades. “Season of the Witch” is now regarded as one of the essential recordings from Donovan’s psychedelic period and one of the strongest examples of the darker side of 1960s psychedelia. Rather than offering the bright, idealistic image often associated with the Summer of Love,

it suggests that beneath the colorful surface there was confusion, suspicion and danger. Its influence can be heard particularly in the many artists who have taken the basic structure and transformed it into something heavier, bluesier or more ominous. For a song that was originally only an album track and never had a U.S. Hot 100 ranking, its longevity and enormous number of interpretations are remarkable.

Season of the Witch written by Donovan Leitch

When I look out my window
Many sights to see
And when I look in my window
So many different people to be
That it’s strange, so strange

You’ve got to pick up every stitch
You’ve got to pick up every stitch
You’ve got to pick up every stitch
Mmm, must be the season of the witch
Must be the season of the witch, yeah
Must be the season of the witch

When I look over my shoulder
What do you think I see?
Some other cat lookin’ over
His shoulder at me
And he’s strange, sure, he’s strange

You’ve got to pick up every stitch
You’ve got to pick up every stitch, yeah
Beatniks are out to make it rich
Oh no, must be the season of the witch
Must be the season of the witch, yeah
Must be the season of the witch

You’ve got to pick up every stitch
The rabbits running in the ditch
Beatniks are out to make it rich
Oh no, must be the season of the witch
Must be the season of the witch
Must be the season of the witch

Where’d I go?

When I look out my window
What do you think I see?
And when I look in my window
So many different people to be
It’s strange, sure is strange
You’ve got to pick up every stitch
You’ve got to pick up every stitch
The rabbits running in the ditch
Oh no, must be the season of the witch
Must be the season of the witch, yeah
Must be the season of the witch
Where’d I go?
Where’d I go?

Further Reading
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Author: Doyle

I was born in Atlanta, moved to Alpharetta at 4, lived there for 53 years and moved to Decatur in 2016. I've worked at such places as Richway, North Fulton Medical Center, Management Science America (Computer Tech/Project Manager) and Stacy's Compounding Pharmacy (Pharmacy Tech).

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