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From: NEDEERC
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  • I am the hurdy gurdy man!

  • @bigcheese1973 I'm a hootchie-cootchie man!

  • i was taught to believe that a hurdy-gurdy man would have a monkey with him. he would have a music box and play music for anyone that would listen. the monkey would make the rounds with a tin cup collecting coins. but as the people would become mezmerized by the music,the monkey would come around, and take anything shiny,i.e. jewelry, coins, etc. from the distracted audience.

  • The evil of dreaming and wishing for all god positive things in the world is you get out of balance and cause massive damage evil and pain... As the Sun sets and darkness falls there is a need for death and destruction on a normal level... The warrior class is best suited to supply this needed balance in life. The Aryan way is to kill evil on sight and never all it to infect others. The evil of this world hate the Aryan warrior class.

  • The word Hurdy Gurdy could be a referrence to Martin Heidegger. It's a play on the word Heidegger who was an existential philosopher who wrote the book called 'Being and Time.' If you say the word Heidegger over and over real fast it sounds like Hurdy Gurdy.

  • Here comes the roly poly man and he's singing songs of love,

    Roly poly, roly poly, roly poly, poly he sang.

    Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang,

    Hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, hurdy gurdy, gurdy he sang

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  • Butthole Surfers introduced me to this crazy song. Love Donovan now. Groovy.

  • So what is the message? Anyone?I can't play it backwards...Please send me the answer? Thank you kindly...I love Donovan and it would be great to know...Either private message me or place in the comment section please...Thanks

  • Why is there so much confusion about who's playing guitar on this track? Is it Beck or Jimmy? Or some other dude?

  • @TBelvy420 Jimmy.

  • how is it 8 people could not love John B best early work and Jimmy is so sweeeeeeeeet on this

  • I found my own personal hurdy gurdy man while tripping on shrooms .... this song isnt about jesus/ hari krishna...go find your own hurdy gurdy man

  • This song may be inspired by Mac MacLeod's group, and the figures of Christ, Buddha and Maharishi. And obviouly, by Dylan's Tambourine Man, also about a mysterious figure who brings music. In keeping with the sixties' zeitgeist, these songs all hint at 'change coming'. (Many saw Donovan as a British Dylan). The song may be about all this. But as an open ended work of art, other meaning can be interpreted into it, as in the film Zodiac, when the Hurdy Gurdy man even becomes an ominous presence...

  • @genglemt Exactly! He wrote this with his friends at the ashram in India. George Harrison even wrote a verse, but it had to be left out of the recoding for a variety of reasons...

  • The real guy playing the guitar riff in this song is Alan Parker, he can make that guitar laugh or cry. I thought it was Jimmy Page myself, just like everybody else. This was confirmed by Donovans drummer Clem Cattini. F.Y.I.

  • Jeff beck is playing guitar

  • @redneck6310 No. Page. Donovan has verified this...

  • Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones are playing on this!

  • I think the word you're looking for is decipher.

  • Donovan said this song was about John Lennon.

  • Where I'm from (scotland) the Hurdy Gurdy Man was a gypsy playin' a weird fiddle, it's a derisory comment on the Romany insinuating a certain pied piper aspect to their nomadic nature.

  • i have to say sorry about last message,ican see a message rolly polly man is about ALL YOU OBESE FAT WASTE OF SPACE FUCKERS WHO WANT GASTRIC BANDS ON THE NHS WHILE YOU SIT AT HOME EATING ALL DAY, did i shout then, sorry

  • GET A LIFE YOU SADOS ITS A SONG N0THING MORE

  • Donovan wrote Hurdy Gurdy Man whilst In India. George Harrison liked the song and wrote the verse quoted above. Donovan never recorded the 'third verse'.

    lol Shaunus

  • People are always way off when it comes to this. I might be way off, but my thought is that the Hurdy Gurdy man is every truly good person. The Hurdy Gurdy man comes to those who need to be shown love, and he keeps coming to us throughout all time, in different forms and bodies, different names, Jesus Christ, Buddha, Gandhi, John Lennon, the gurus and the yogis, the role models, they always come out of the mysterious mist to turn everybody on to the love. The Hurdy Gurdy man is my hero.

  • @stfwho Well said!! ;)

  • @stfwho RIGHT ON MAN!!

  • @stfwho You're wrong. The Hurdy Gurdy man is the guy with a mustache and glasses driving his van around the kids' playground looking for one whose parents aren't watching very closely ... then off to the rape basement they go.

  • @stfwho YOU HAVE IT...That is THE Most Beautiful Way to Articulate the Meaning of the Song. Whether it be the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, which is what he Originally Wrote this about - his TM bringing "Natural Inspiration" - this Song allows all of us to really put whoever we Idolize in there.His Message is:  LOVE..That is Well Known.But with his Lyrics, he does give us all the Opportunity to put our own Hero{es} in there as 'The Hurdy Gurdy Man', Like 'sffwho' wrote, he comes in many forms.

  • this was god babe

  • hi. my english isnt very well, but I could hear some, it may have been some in the audio file but I´ve heard something

  • Donovan was inspired by and writing and singing about His Holiness Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, his guru, not Jesus. Although he was also talking about how Nature or God if you will, saves mankind when times get dark by sending another enlightened teacher to lead us out of ignorance and Jesus did that also.

  • ITS ONLY A SONG

  • @ziggybin not about christ gurus or such things........ written about his old friend mac macleod who had a band called hurdy gurdy..............

  • Great song, but unfortunately like many 60's teen shows, the song is lip-synced...which always feels like a bit of a rip-off...

  • tis a song...a great song but not some conspiracy theory

  • A "Hurdy Gurdy Man" is a stuffed monkey that plays symbols on top of an organ or piano in the old days...Dan O'Niallain, Grafton, Ma.

  • @oniallain1965 no, a hurdy gurdy man is like an organ grinder. They would play these Hurdy Gurdies around town, NORMALLY ACCOMPANIED by a small monkey. That's where the wind up monkey's come from... but that is by NO means a "Hurdy Gurdy Man"

  • hurdy gurdy---sounds like a man of peace- but he better carry a big stick.

  • hey iv tried to find a copy of this song reversed and i cant so if you can do it please do thanks

  • ereb nev rev .... Freddie is the devil....(I think so ?)

  • "To find that i was by the sea gazing with tranquility, Tiz then when the Hurdy Gurdy man came singing songs of love." or I was at the beach gazing at the water when my dose kicked in and awakened my Christ consciousness the song of love and compasion. The rolly polly man may also be a reference to buddha . The never ending Viola drown from a hurdy gurdy is much like a constant om montra

  • @usucmehardutube Cheers!

    Indeed, Christ is an energy which contains and animate all beloving belovers. As we're all One, we bring upon humanity a long awaited golden age of peace. The Age of Aquarius, which began recently, is the second coming of Christ and the realisation of Buddhahood on earth. Let there be peace on earth. Shalom - Om Shanti Om.

  • So fantastic to finally be able to identify this song... I heard it a long ago and instantly fell in love with it, but I never knew who performed it, until now. Thanks for loading the video here!

  • playing it backwoods is wreaking my player....great song but

  • It got louder?

  • liked this song ever since I heard it on the Zodiac movie.

    Can't hear the song now without thinking of the movie.

  • so, THIS song is actually led zeppelin without plant. did you guys know that? you can tell its bonham on drums and jimmy page's tele with the tonebender.

  • actually it's not Led Zep at all- backing provided here by the Jeff Beck Group, w/ Jeff on guitar, Mick Waller on drums...

  • @wea7777 ah that makes sense too

  • Actually I was wrong; Beck group did play w/ Donovan on other songs, but on this one according to John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin the players here were- * Donovan - acoustic guitar * John Paul Jones - arrangement, musical director and bass guitar * Alan Parker - electric guitar * Clem Cattini - drums.

  • @wea7777, great guitar solo on this one. I always thought that it might have been Jimmy Page, but thanks for the info!

  • @klmullins65 it is Jimmy Page

  • This song is actually about the AntiChrist, and Donovan is actually a puppet of the Illuminati.

  • this song is CLEARLY about LSD. just take a dose and listen while peaking. it's great fun!

  • @TaterTed You are about one of the only other people besides me that knows this was just for trippy fun. They sit there and intellectualize and spiritualize, but are way off base. This song, like many other ones by Donovan(along with other acid rock songs) are to be enjoyed while tripping. This song particularly opens up to you like a curtain being opened on a stage. Anyone that hasn't tripped before, should just shut the hell up.

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  • @fatjec Pretty silly statements, fella. Acid is/was often used as a spiritual tool. Your post starts out with two statements attempting to set yourself apart from, and above, the masses. Interestingly, you do this by claiming a lack of intellectual and spiritual depth, instead of an abundance. You use "know" when you mean "think", and "you" when you mean "me", affirming the intellectual shortcomings. Finally, you end with a little righteous anger. Middle management, indeed. lol

  • @brianenewton75, Yeah, you are a real expert. I wasn't mad at the end. I'm just saying that you won't get the full effect of the song unless you trip. I haven't tripped for years btw. Don't twist my words douchebag. I said that people try to intellectualize and spiritualize, that doesn't mean they are really deep. They make silly assumptions and are way off base. Like you for instance, you are a psuedo-intellectual that took offense to a comment I made. Did I slight you, dumb ass?

  • @fatjec lol

  • @brianenewton75 You're so sweet Brian. Lots of love back at you. Because if you were laughing out loud, you may just be an idiot. So why did you stalk my profile? I just have this account to look at videos, not make them. Sorry to disappoint you.

  • why dont you backmask it instead of just playing the song dont you think that would make a little more sence

  • @sixxtattoo I'll perhaps do that

  • @NEDEERC So, are you suggesting that the change in audio is MORE than editing? This is essentially Led Zeppelin with D. on vocals, Donovan was so blown away that he let them jam their hearts out. Of course there would be an edit of the best parts of the jam(in Donovan's opinion), as well as a likely "bleed-over" into the verse that you are pointing out.

    Are you suggesting something more than that? I don't hear it, other than the edit, and I have been recording for years. Specifics?

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  • Hey ziggy I think you mean "organ grinder"

  • It's at 1:52 into the song, just before the first refrain. And another alteration at 2Z:27.

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  • Donovan is clearly talking about the UFO phenomena, and when the "hurdy gurdy" I.E.= "society" wakes up to the UFO reality....RUN LIKE HELL!!! THE END IS NEAR!!!!

  • have a good day

  • @timofborg09  at 1:50-1:53 you can hear the change in audio, play that part backwards and you will then hear the hidden message

  • @NEDEERC how do you play the song backwards?

    Ive tryed but i cant do it..

  • @NEDEERC yES

  • @NEDEERC what is the message idk how to play songs backwards and me and my firned are real intereested in this song because it was the zodiacs theme

  • Wonderful piece of music! as well as get thy bearings!

  • oh by the way it was a kind of organ

  • a hurdy gurdy man was someone years ago  went round street s playing music on a machine called a hurdy gurdy and sometimes the player would have a monkey to collect the money

  • What' s amazing about this song is that, I believe that it's about Buddhism ... but the words, and its relationship to timelines ... (sea of tranquility, for instance, relates to the moonlanding of 1969, which I understand was the Age of Aquarius, the LOVE generation ... )

  • I love this song, and it was written way before my time. It is sad that many people do not know about.

  • It's obvious he is referring to the Buddha in the song...sitting by the ocean (the ocean of birth and death). he mentions unenlightened shadows and history of ages past..a Buddha comes along every few ages as to enlighten beings. The last hint is rolly polly man...the future Buddha is often depicted as a fat monk symbolizing prosperity.

  • jimmy page is on guitar and johnpaul jones on bass for this track, donovan was the poster boy for psychedelic soft rock, along with manfred mann, status quo and strawberry alarm clock, not to mention iron butterfly

  • Actually, the guitar was played by a session man named Alan Parker. I also thought it was Page for a long time. Sounds like him, doesn't it?

  • WRONG-It was Jeff Beck.

  • In the film, Donovan claims that "Hurdy Gurdy Man" ushered in the Celtic rock sound that Led Zeppelin capitalized on, arguing that the lineup of Page, Jones, and Bonham shortly thereafter reformed as Led Zeppelin.

  • Jimmy Page has often been credited as playing electric guitar on the track but Alan Parker has been named by Page, Jones and Cattini. Donovan contends that it is indeed Jimmy Page on guitar. This is documented in the 2008 documentary film by Hannes Rossacher, Sunshine Superman: The Journey of Donovan.

  • Mac MacLeod. Donovan wanted Mac's band Hurdy Gurdy to record it. However, Donovan changed his mind of giving the song as gift and recorded the song himself and his version was a hit and the band never recorded the song. Donovan has stated in an interview with Little Steven Van Zandt that he had originally desired Jimi Hendrix to play on "Hurdy Gurdy Man," but as he was unavailable, he got Jimmy Page to play.

  • In interviews with Keith Altham for the NME (and Hit Parader) and Tony Wilson for Melody Maker in 1968 Donovan explained he wrote "Hurdy Gurdy Man" as a gift for his friend and early guitar mentor Mac MacLeod. Donovan wanted Mac's band Hurdy Gurdy to record it. However, Donovan changed his mind of giving the song as gift and recorded the song himself and his version was a hit...

  • All the members of "Led Zeppelin" where on this song.

    (Except, Robert Plant.)

    Gee... sometimes things work out better if you don't MANUFACTURE them!

    Has anyone ever heard a real "Hurdy Gurdy" played?

    It is an amazing creation that Jimmy Page simulates with his guitar on this song.

    Oh, and this song might be about drugs.

    Imagine that.

  • Donovan is great !!

    "Hurdy-Gurdy Man",1968 and "Cosmic Wheels",1973...the best albums!

  • Isn't "Hurdy Gurdy" a tune from old nokia mobiles? It's even similar to it.

  • "Death Personified"...One of the great composers of all time pleading to the "Hurdy-Gurdy" man that his music will not be forgotten. It wasn't.

  • zodiac

  • DONOVAN WITH(PRE-LED ZEPPELIN)JIMMY PAGE Guitar,JOHN PAUL JONES Bass J.BOHAN DRUMS.....CLASSIC PSYCHEDELIC

  • such a haunting and moving song.

  • Never heard this song before seeing Zodiac. Heard it on the trailer first. That opening murder scene when this song is playing on the radio and that kid gets shot through the neck and then that girl through the hand...Brutal. Then he comes back and shoots them some more. Intense. Great scene, great song.

  • feels waird that thats my name watching it on utube

  • Your name is hurdy gurdy man?

  • funny

  • A hurdy gurdy is a stringed musical instrument from medieval times. I think the term "hurdy gurdy" is a metaphor for Christ re-emerging with a message from God. A hurdy gurdy player was often a story teller or even a messenger with news. Music often served as a news source in days of yore.

  • It's just broad Sheffield Yorkshire accent. Like : as tha bin int coyl oyl nt seen owt or erd agir dee dah bleedah . If you come from Sheffield , you will know the " hidden " message ! But it's not hidden , Dus tha no wat a mee an mi owdan ? sithi

  • I just smoked a fat jizzy and was watching Zodiac and just listened to this song for the first time ever. What an experience.

  • I figured it out! The secret message!! Send all your cash to Yosimitesam36 and you will have enlightenment!

  • Why would Christ be playing a Hurdy Gurdy? Do you even know what a Hurdy Girdy is? See this is the advantage of eating Oxycontin over eating acid-your brain still works eventhough you feel fucked. With acid, your just fucked

  • Yeah, but with acid you get stupid in technicolor!

  • True, but you see I'm color blind. I see color but I see it the wrong way. Maybe if I ate acid I'd see color correctly. But don't you eat acid so you see colors differently? This is all very confusing....

  • Not that I've done it in a very very long time, but the colors (for me) were more intense, brighter. Other people had walls melting and table lamps talking to them, so acid isn't necessarily recommended...

  • Take note of the lyrics:

    When the truth gets buried deep

    Beneath the thousand years of sleep

    Time demands a turn-around

    And once again the truth is found

    Awakening the Hurdy Gurdy Man

    Who comes singing songs of love

    That passage could suggest the second coming of Christ. The Hurdy Gurdy Man is Christ.

  • ******* ******* *******

  • @NEDEERC

    the Hurdy gurdy is a wild sound, a constant deep viola

  • @NEDEERC

    I can't make out the first word, but are the second two "the Beatles"?

  • It could suggest what you say. Unfortunately, it isn't in the song.

  • @MisterJimmy100 Cheers Man... Got the lyrics right!

    However, Christ isn't one man alone. Christ is an energy where every beloving belovers belong. As we're all One, we take part in the second coming of Christ, hence making the age of Aquarius humanity's golden age. Let there be peace on earth!

  • @MisterJimmy100 my thought is that we awaken to the awareness that the second coming...is that Christ lives within us...each and every one of us...that we are here to express all that is beautiful within us....

  • @MisterJimmy100 Actually, it's about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

  • @musicmovie240

    its actually about a guy called mac macleod

  • the literary respects of this song is so far beyond the psychedelic perpetual rebirth of all we were and all we will be but outward unselfishness of dedication of the overcoming of failure and tthe memory of those who would have told their story of the life of death. LIVE FREE LIVE FOREVER

  • or at least smoke j...killer song tho.

  • I got to remember to drop some acid before I listen to this song next time!

  • This is about Yashua Messiah

  • Loved the music

  • jimmy page did the lead gutair in this song two of favorite people of all time in one song makes it so much better and i think bonzo did te drums

  • Yes,

    Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham all played together on this song.

    Very cool "pre-Led Zeppelin" song.

    Another interesting fact: John Paul Jones was a regular session player for Donovan, in the mid 1960's. He played guitar, bass & some percussion, on most of Donovan's hits.

  • according to John Paul Jones Jimmy Page and John Bonham didn't do this song. They did work on the album but not his song. Donovan - Acoustic guitar

    John Paul Jones - Arrangement, musical director and bass guitar

    Alan Parker - Electric guitar

    Clem Cattini - Drums

    but than again that is the internet and a interview for you.

  • Notice how the guitar break in HURDY GURDY prefigures heavy metal. If Pagey didn't play on this song he certainly influenced the production.

  • @angel4everable

    Jimmy Page has often been credited as playing electric guitar on the track but Alan Parker has been named by Page, Jones and Cattini. Donovan contends that it is indeed Jimmy Page on guitar.

  • if my memory serves me correctly, this song is one that Donovan was struggling with and was co-written by George Harrison. This was about the time the Beatles, Donovan and others were on their trip to India with Mahareshi Mahesh Yogi.

  • This is correct. Harrison's vers was left out but sometime Donovan sings it in concert. I heard this from Donovan's mouth himself-according to him, the hurdy girdy men are those enlightened my eastern meditation trying to wake up those who listen to their songs (like Donovan & Harrison). Althought he did not write it for christianity, he's ok with it being Christ if it pulls you away from the "Material World".

    P.S.-Donovan lives in a 12 room, 3 bathroom mantion....Ya right!

  • unlike the average rich person living in mansions,Donavan also lived rough ( or homeless)many many times before he hit the big time.now please go find a dictionary young enlightened chap`

  • @5inthehole Yea,as opposed to what other celebrity???

  • @5inthehole

    I thought it refers to the hurdy gurdy, which is a folk insturment found throughout Europe. It looks like a lute but makes a sound similar to a set of bagpipes. "Hurdy gurdy man" conjures, for me at least, the image of a downtrodden, world-weary beggar with a hurdy gurdy, a personification of fate, fortune, eternity, and life itself. Donovan's song fits that image, as does Schubert's "Der Leierman"— German for "The Hurdy Gurdy Man."

  • What is the hidden message? The monkey in the Fez?

  • I reached for this tune on one of my dads 60s cd compilations when i was 16/17.

    Matchstick Men by Quo, Venus in Furs, Sgt Peppers..................

    But got my own music interests with Brit Pop as I got older.

  • This is a true classic.

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  • I know John Paul Jones played bass for sure on this song. I think Donovan is right that Page played and that Page is deferring credit to disassociate himself from the Folk sound and keep his tough guy image.

    Great Choice for the Zodiac movie!

  • John Paul Jones took credit for this song plus a couple of others. He arranged a few songs for Donovan. Also Jimmy Page and John Bonham were on the track.

  • psicodelica

  • He's The Zodiac!

  • songs in the old days used to really mean something. not like nowadays..you dont know what they're on about.

  • very, very true.

  • This is not hidden its quite open its about peace and love to replace our hateful world good for you donovan.

  • Actually, Donovan is singing about a spiritual teacher, Meher Baba, who was famous in the'60s when this song came out. Meher Baba had a handlebar mustache, and looked like the image of a hurdy gurdy man. He was an originator of the quote, "Don't Worry, Be Happy."

  • Is he singing "Hurdy gurdy hurdy gurdy hurdy gurdy" ?

  • Why do we always look for hidden messages and meanings?

    He's dreaming of a world of love to replace the wars and hate that was so rife in his world in the 60's and still is today. It's not hidden, it's quite open in the words.

  • A Hurdy Gurdy is a Mediaeval instrument. Before Television, Radio and Press were invented, the 'Hurdy Gurdy Man' was a minstrel with one of these instruments that would travel from town to town singing, and that was how people that lived in these towns would hear about news from around the country.

    Donovan is singing about himself as the 'Hurdy Gurdy Man', as a bringer of news, news about the new world Donovan and the rest of the hippie movement wanted to create.

  • Ever since i saw Zodiac ive been curious on this song.

    Now i love this song, so great, so cool, so awesowe!

  • Ha! Me too! I love that movie

  • cute singer

  • Im not so old, but , when i listen this song in the movie zodiac, i love it....

  • Yes, the message is LOVE!

  • hiden, like those bible messages - made up sit more like!

  • Jimmy Page actually did the explosive guitar solo in the middle of the song. When I saw Zepplin in 77' they played this using sub-sonic sound. The entire set just resonated thru the body. No drugs involved.

  • Has it ever been concluded who played on this song? I thought John Paul Jones said that Alan Parker played guitar while Donovan contends it was Page. Nevertheless, Clem is excellent on the drums as usual

  • i have this song on my computer and i've been trying to find the name of it for over a year! thanks for the vid!!!!!

  • For a year? Why didn't you just type in the lyrics into Google?

  • lol...LSD didnt "warp" manson....he's life experience warped him, millions of people took/take LSD often and in high dosages...me being one of them..proudly...it doesnt "warp" you...if you dont know much about the drug LSD, or have taken it personally and are experienced....SHUT THE FUCK UP. and go watch ur 60's anti-countercoulture government propaganda films. did I mention...SHUT THE FUCKKKK UP? fucking idiot.

  • evry anty drug message gets shouted out: evry pro drug message gets nulified in the main streem. listen to Bill Hiks!

  • Doesn't seem to make you smarter.

  • The echoe is done without any effects ... and that is realy amazing

  • When the truth gets buried deep

    Beneath the thousand years of sleep

    Time demands a turn-around

    And once again the truth is found

    Awakening the Hurdy Gurdy Man

    Who comes singing songs of love.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~­~

    Donovan said the Hurdy Gurdy Man is the one who re-awakens this knowledge, and in this case is Maharishi, though there have been others as well.

  • I can´t  decrypt the hidden message but, what the hell..?..GREAT SONG!

  • I'll bet you I was the favorite song of the Zodic Killer or Charles Manson