2000 Great Songs #1295: Eighteen Is Over The Hill

As noted previously, I've always been fascinated by The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band, the late 60s psych-pop act whose creative and surprisingly colorful psychedelic music, which ranged from jangly folk to fizzy acid rock to Zappa-influenced avant garde experimentation, was tarnished somewhat by the participation of a non-musician band member whose primary role (aside from some spoken-word raps) seemed to be funding the band so he could hang out with them and hit on underage girls. And while this latter predilection mostly just lurked in the background, occasionally he prevailed on the actual players in the band to work it into the songs.

And, obviously, the title "Eighteen Is Over The Hill" (from 1968's Vol. 3--A Child's Guide To Good & Evil) isn't exactly subtle. But title creepiness aside, the lyrics themselves are largely vague and impenetrable, while the music is surprisingly catchy folk-rock. As with a lot of the material, you have to wonder if it would be nearly as interesting without the band's insane back-story, but I've always found this a lovely, haunting track.

Veronica Falls cover:

Another cover...

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