1966Released
4:53

Did You Know?

Interesting facts and trivia about Season of the Witch. By Songfacts®.

One of the first songs to fit the "psychedelic" genre, Donovan recorded "Season Of The Witch" in May 1966, shortly before his highly publicized arrest for possession of marijuana.

The genesis of this song goes back to an evening at folk music notable Bert Jansch's house in north London, when fellow acoustic master John Renbourn showed Donovan a D ninth chord. From that Donovan built up a riff that, according to the memories of those present, he then played solidly for the next seven hours. "There was a feeling, even then, that all was not perfect in the Garden of Eden," he said of the song in an interview with Mojo magazine June 2011. "Dealers were moving into bohemia and hard drugs were on the fringes. The song was also prophetic. It was about the bust, although of course I couldn't know that then."

During Led Zeppelin's soundchecks, they often warmed up by playing this. The song allows for lots of jamming when played live, which makes it a popular cover for many bands.

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Song Analysis

Key, BPM (tempo) and time signature of Season of the Witch.
DKey
MajorMode
4/4Time Signature
100BPM

Album

The album Season of the Witch is released on.

Released By

The record label that has released Season of the Witch.
Epic
Originally Released 1966 Sony Music Entertainment Inc.

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