# What is he Donovan singing about? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238 "2003-08-23T22:57:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JoeyThePenguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@JoeyThePenguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeyThePenguin)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/1 "2003-08-23T22:57:08Z")
It’s pretty well known that Donovan Leitch sang some pretty obscure (and hard to understand) music, but recently I have begun to like his music, and I was wondering: does anyone understand, or has any explanation been given for, the lyrics to Where Your Love Like Heaven? Here is a link to the lyrics. For a while I didn’t even know what the frickin’ words were, but now that I have seen them I still don’t know what the heck he’s talkin’ about. [Wear Your Love Like Heaven Lyrics](http://http://www.ivory.org/lyrics/wearlove.html) Joey. ---
**Author:** ![JoeyThePenguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@JoeyThePenguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoeyThePenguin)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2003, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/2 "2003-08-23T22:58:39Z")
I made a mistake with the link. It’s [http://www.ivory.org/lyrics/wearlove.html](http://www.ivory.org/lyrics/wearlove.html) Just copy and paste. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/3 "2003-08-24T00:02:18Z")
This question actually belongs in the Cafe Society forum. I expect a moderator will move it. Read the FAQ to learn about what to post where and other pertinent info. The song is essentially a poem. It’s artistic and somewhat oblique. He’s observing the world–sky, sunset, etc.–and presumably is inspired by what he sees. He seeks God’s blessing, that he may be filled with joy and love, as if closer to heaven. Then, in the least obscure part (“All our race proud and free”), he either sees hope for mankind in general, or for progress in the rights of Scots vis-a-vis England. Some thought he was trying to be a Dylanesque protest singer with that line. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/4 "2003-08-24T00:05:51Z")
Sadly, Donovan was one of the millions who bought into the rumor that you could get _really really high_ by smoking a bowl of [Doctor Bronner’s 18-in-1 Pure Castile Soap](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_386.html). He was still recovering from the experience when he penned Wear Your Love Like Heaven. His later work, such as the classic **Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth** , shows what the man was capable of after regaining full control of his faculties. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/5 "2003-08-24T00:17:55Z")
Is this the same Donovan who sang Mellow Yellow? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/6 "2003-08-24T00:23:17Z")
Some songwriters believe that if you can give a single, simple, obvious meaning to their song the first time you listen to it, then there’s not much point in listening to it a second time. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/7 "2003-08-24T00:35:29Z")
Not only “Mellow Yellow,” but also “Goo Goo Barabajagal.” (Admit it–you’re jealous you didn’t think of that title, aren’t you? :rolleyes: ) And “Sunshine Superman.” And “Season of the Witch.” And “Catch the Wind.” And “There is a Mountain.” And “Hurdy Gurdy Man.” And “Jennifer Juniper.” And “Atlantis.” And more. He may have been weird, but he was prolific. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/8 "2003-08-24T00:38:40Z")
I could have sworn I posted here and moved this thread to Cafe Society quite a while ago. Nothing to worry about, I’m just going insane. Off to Cafe Society. bibliopahge moderator GQ ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/9 "2003-08-24T00:58:01Z")
Apparently, the electric yellow got Donavan by the brain banana when he wrote most of his music. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/10 "2003-08-24T01:43:08Z")
_Donovan’s Greatest Hits_ is one of the great albums of the 1960s. Yes, great. There, I said it in public. And that’s Paul McCartney singing backup (“quite rightly”) in “Mellow Yellow”. But you have to go to another album to find the much superior original to “Catch the Wind,” which was redone for Greatest Hits. (Or redone somewhere along the line, since I can’t even find a source that says that this version isn’t the original. It isn’t. Trust me.) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/11 "2003-08-24T05:02:06Z")
Donovan notes on the back cover of the _Wear Your Love Like Heaven_ LP that “if some words appear strange they are the names of colours.” That’s not quite accurate–terms like “alazarin crimson” and “havana lake” are the names of _pigments_. Evidently Donovan was perusing the tubes in his paintbox for inspiration. (By the way, he badly mispronounces “alizarin”–it’s a-LIZ-a-rin, not al-iz-a-REE-an.) ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 24, 2003, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/12 "2003-08-24T05:06:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Exapno Mapcase \* > \*\*But you have to go to another album to find the much superior original to “Catch the Wind,” which was redone for Greatest Hits. (Or redone somewhere along the line, since I can’t even find a source that says that this version isn’t the original. It isn’t. Trust me.) \*\* That’s correct. Both “Catch the Wind” and “Colours” were re-recorded for _Greatest Hits_ because Epic didn’t have rights to Donovan’s earlier recordings. ---
**Author:** ![MontanaG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ed8c4c/32.png) [@MontanaG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MontanaG)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/13 "2016-09-26T16:28:46Z")
Donovan was an artist. Many of the references to colors were used as they were the names of paints. I believe he is talking about colors used to paint a sunset or a garden, or both plus how he gets his inspiration. I think he uses a lot of color references in his songs and that mellow yellow was NOT referring to smoking bananas!! LOL!! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/14 "2016-09-26T16:33:11Z")
After thirteen years, I think the OP has figured this out. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/15 "2016-09-26T17:21:00Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > And “There is a Mountain.” Then there is no mountain. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/16 "2016-09-26T17:23:43Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > Then there is no mountain. Then there is. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/17 "2016-09-26T17:27:37Z")
Oh Juanita! ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2016, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/18 "2016-09-26T18:13:23Z")
Gary T gets it right. Donovan is singing about a beautiful sunset, one that makes him feel close to God for a moment. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/19 "2016-09-29T20:12:20Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > (By the way, he badly mispronounces “alizarin”–it’s a-LIZ-a-rin, not al-iz-a-REE-an.) Dude comes from a country where they can’t even pronounce “aluminum” correctly. You’d expect him to get “alizarin” right? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2016, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-he-donovan-singing-about/197238/20 "2016-09-29T23:30:30Z")
You guys are all wrong. It’s about a [young girl with freckles](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s2_mA_N6iI) who is trying to be grown up and discovers a certain make-up will cover the freckles over.