Mushroom (song)

"Mushroom"
Song by Can
from the album Tago Mago
Released	1971
Recorded	Inner Space Studio, Cologne
Genre	Krautrock
Length	4:08
Label	United Artists
Songwriter(s)	Can
Producer(s)	Can

"Mushroom" is a song by the German krautrock band Can, from their 1971 album Tago Mago. It's the shortest song on the album, with a duration of 4 minutes and 8 seconds. A video was made for the track which has been shown on MTV.

Content

The song has a hypnotic and repetitive structure. Vocalist Damo Suzuki repeats the phrase "When I saw mushroom head / I was born, I was dead" and "When I saw skies are red / I was born, I was dead" during the verses. For the chorus, he yells "I'm gonna give my despair". It has been suggested that the song refers to an atomic bomb blast and the feeling of despair. This is reinforced by the sound of a bomb explosion that abruptly ends the song. It has also been suggested that the lyrics refer to psilocybin mushrooms, which can give users psychedelic visions of rebirth.

Personnel

• Damo Suzuki – vocals
• Holger Czukay – bass
• Michael Karoli – guitar
• Jaki Liebezeit – drums, double bass
• Irmin Schmidt – Farfisa organ, electric piano, synthesizer

Cover versions

On Can vocalist Damo Suzuki's 1998 solo album V.E.R.N.I.S.S.A.G.E, a new version of this song is performed along with "Halleluhwah", another song originally from Tago Mago. His band at the time featured Can's Jaki Liebezeit on drums.

The Serbian and former Yugoslav space rock band Igra Staklenih Perli covered the song on their eponymous debut album in 1979.

The song was covered by the band The Jesus and Mary Chain. A version recorded live in Nuremberg in 1986 was first released on the double-7"-single version of "April Skies." It was later re-issued on the CD version of Barbed Wire Kisses, and then on the 2011 expanded version of Darklands.

The Flaming Lips' song "Take Meta Mars" from In a Priest Driven Ambulance is closely modeled on "Mushroom."

The Swedish band Komeda covered the song in their 1998 single "It's Alright, Baby."