Crane found himself in America in 1968 on his first American Tour supporting The Crazy World of Arthur Brown's "Fire" single and "Fire" album which topped the USA charts. The single was number one in England and Europe, and the album top five. The band headlined at that year's Reading Festival. In 1969 they returned to America playing Fillmore East and Madison Square Garden. By the end of the year and after a third U.S. tour, various problems had set in. Crane lived in New York for three months and finally returned to England with Palmer. During 1970 they formed Atomic Rooster as decided in New York, and the band's first gig was headlining at the Lyceum, London, with Deep Purple as support. The first Atomic Roster single was "Friday the 13th", and the first album wasAtomic Ro-o-oster.
In 1971 John Du Cann (born John Cann, 1950 – 22 September 2011) joined Atomic Rooster and added guitar to the American version of Atomic Ro-O-oster. Palmer left to join ELP and Paul Hammond joined the band as drummer. That year saw the band's first hit single "Tomorrow Night", and their first top-ten album Death Walks behind You, followed by a second hit single "Devil's Answer". The band also played the Reading Festival.
In 1972 Pete French joined the band on vocals and they played the Oval with The Who headlining. A third album was released, In Hearing of... This was the year of Atomic Rooster’s first U.S. tour, playing the Troubadour, L.A. and Fillmore East, N.Y. Du Cann and Hammond left the band to form Hard Stuff with Johnny Gustaveston, and Ric Parnell and Steve Bolton joined. French left to join Cactus with Carl Minnaplice, replaced in Atomic Rooster by Chris Farlowe .The band then went on to release their fourth album, Made in England, and their first compilation was released, Atomic Rooster Assortment. The second tour took in the L.A. Amphitheatre, the Texas 'Rose Bowl', and the Dusseldorf 'Rock Festival' with Deep Purple and Free. A third single was released, "Stand By Me".
In 1974 the fifth Atomic Rooster album was released, Nice & Greasy, and a second compilation, Home to Roost. The band left Gaff Management and toured Spain, Italy, Germany, Holland, and Portugal. In 1975, after a tour of Belgium, France, Italy, and Spain, Crane stopped touring and took the band off the road.
1980 saw the reforming of Atomic Rooster, and Crane working again with DuCann. Finally came an EMI deal, a secret warm-up tour, and the release of a new album Atomic Rooster and a single "Do You Know Who's Looking for You"; Preston Heyman did the honours on drums, but by the time of the 1981 three-month tour of the U.K., Paul Hammond was back on drums. This year, saw the release of the first two Atomic Rooster 12" singles, "Play It Again" and "End of the Day". The band played the Reading Festival; with DuCann mysteriously AWOL, Big John McCoy stepped in on bass. DuCann had decided to retire again, and subsequent tours of Germany and Italy were with Bernie Torme on guitar.
1983 saw a new style of Atomic Rooster album, Headline News, with a 12" single "Land of Freedom", featuring guitarists David Gilmour of Pink Floyd, Torme, and John Mizarolli. Torme subsequently toured with the band to Germany and Italy.
In 1984, Crane disbanded Atomic Rooster.
Close Your Eyes
Atomic Rooster Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Close your eyes clear your mind come on trust in me
You're riding down the highway, you ain't got no highway shoes
But if you're born with nothing child how can you ever, ever lose
Close your eyes
Don'tcha know, Can'tcha see, You'll be free - It's alright
Don'tcha know, Can'tcha see. You'll be free - It's alright
Let it go, Then you'll know, You can see
You'll be free - you'll be free - you'll be free
Close your eyes
This goodbye to the things you thought you had
You won't care when you realize that life's just a dream,
Life is a dream that's true
The lyrics to the song "Close Your Eyes" by Atomic Rooster is a call to let go of all worldly thoughts and clear one's mind to find true freedom. The first two lines of the song suggest that if we can close our eyes and clear our minds, we will find ourselves free. This freedom is related to the idea of not being bound by the physical reality or material possessions as represented by the line "you're riding down the highway, you ain't got no highway shoes." The lyrics then challenge the notion of losing, stating that if we were born with nothing, we cannot lose anything, and therefore, we are always winning.
The chorus of the song reiterates the idea of finding freedom by letting go of all worldly burdens and trusting in the singer's words. The phrase "Don'tcha know, Can'tcha see, You'll be free - It's alright," suggests that the listener only needs to trust in the message, and freedom will be theirs. In the next line, the song calls upon the listener to let go of all things and realize that life is just a dream. The line "This goodbye to the things you thought you had" suggests that one must overcome attachment to material possessions to be truly free.
The song is a reminder to its listeners to free themselves from attachments to material possessions and find true freedom. The message is delivered through a soothing melody with hints of psychedelic rock. The song seemed to have had a spiritual influence that defined Atomic Rooster's later years.
Line by Line Meaning
Close your eyes clear your mind and you'll find you're free
By clearing your mind, you will find the freedom you are seeking.
Close your eyes clear your mind come on trust in me
Trust me, and let the tranquility wash over you.
You're riding down the highway, you ain't got no highway shoes
You're going through life unprepared for whatever comes your way.
But if you're born with nothing child how can you ever, ever lose
When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose, so you can never lose.
This goodbye to the things you thought you had
Saying goodbye to the materialistic things in life that don't matter.
You won't care when you realize that life's just a dream,
When you realize that life is fleeting, material possessions lose their value.
Don'tcha know, Can'tcha see, You'll be free - It's alright
You will be free, and everything will be okay.
Let it go, Then you'll know, You can see
Only by letting go of your attachments can you truly see things clearly.
You'll be free - you'll be free - you'll be free
You will achieve a sense of liberation and transcendence over earthly desires.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: VINCENT CRANE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Luciano F.
some people told me that this band was not special, but I care because Carl Palmer former band and their product is kind of fascinating.
I say very well!
Gary M
Close Your Eyes has the most prominent use of the Farfisa Professional Piano to provide the bass line, which it does on most of In Hearing Of.