Goodge Street Station is a Tube stop in the Fitzrovia district of London where Donovan would get hashish. The song takes us on a journey where he makes the score, smokes it, and goes on a mind-expanding trip where in the end, there is love. The song is one of the first to explicitly mention the drug, as Donovan sings: "Violent hash-smoker shook a chocolate machine."
Even casual marijuana use was seen as dangerous and nefarious among much of the British population in 1965, when the Dangerous Drugs Act was passed, emboldening police to go after offenders. Thanks in part to this song, Donovan became a target, and in 1966 he was the first rocker to go down in a series of raids that also nabbed members of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones. In our interview with Donovan, he said, "I was the first to actually mention it in a song, and that's why I would be the first to be busted in London."
One of Donovan's earliest recordings, this song found him blending a variety of musical styles, which became his imprint. Elements of folk, jazz, classical and blues music come together on this track.
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