Magic Dragon – The Idiots
The Idiots
Warning: this song is not ‘Puff The Magic Dragon’. However it is a trippy little ditty that is somewhat reminiscent of some of the Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd songs (‘The Gnome’ for example). It has a strange childish feel to it with the subject matter being the stuff of kid’s books, and there is an innocent piano riff which could almost be the soundtrack to a nursery rhyme.
Those of you who are familiar with The Idiots only SA Top 20 hit, ‘In The Park’ may find ‘Magic Dragon’ a little surprising as the former is a breezy poppy number, but it does have a hint of what the latter delivers in that there is a brief organ interlude that wonders to the border of the world of pop and gazes at the land of psychdelia. On ‘Magic Dragon’ the Idiots pack their bags and cross that line.
The singer invites you to ‘climb upon my magic dragon/trip along in space’ and the sounds are ethereal and otherworldly and promise a strange journey. But it’s a ride worth taking. Don’t worry it’s only a 2 minute 11 second trip so you won’t get too much motion sickness from the weirdness of the song, but you should have a little smile on your dial when it’s over. The song originally appeared on the b-side of their single ‘Toyland’.
Where to find it:
Astral Daze – Various Artists, RetroFresh, (2005), FRESHCD148
Video:
1001 South African Songs You Must Hear Before You Go Deaf 
You can here it here: https://soundcloud.com/freshmusic/the-idiots-magic-dragon