Marc had played guitar since the age of 9, but started to pursue music more seriously around 1964, when he became Toby Tyler, covering songs by Bob Dylan, and Dion.
(A track recorded around this time as Mark Feld, "All At Once" has recently been discovered will be released soon.) In his teen years, Marc became known as one of the first "mods". This led him to a brief stint as a model, and he chose to leave school when he was 14 years old. He also played guitar in a band called John's Children. Marc was needed for this group as a 'Pete Townshend' figure, but after 3 months, he left the band.
Together with Steve Peregrin Took, he formed his own duo Tyrannosaurus Rex, which quickly gained a large underground following. After 3 successful albums, Steve Peregrin Took's drug habits and suggestion of doing some of his own songs was enough for Marc to kick him out of the duo. Mickey Finn quickly replaced Steve, and the new duo recorded the album A Beard Of Stars, with Marc replacing Steve's backing vocals on the tracks they already began recording.
On Marc's second album with Finn, he decided to shorten the name of the band to T. Rex, and found fame and chart succes in 1970 with Ride a White Swan.
Following that success, Marc wrote several more top 10 hits and albums, Electric Warrior(1971), The Slider (1972), Tanx(1973), Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow Or a Creamed Cage In August)(1974), Bolan's Zip-Gun(1975), Futuristic Dragon(1976) and the final album
Dandy In the Underworld(1977).
Marc Bolan tried to make it clear during his lifetime that he was NOT to be grouped in the lot called Glam Rock. In 1973, he appeared under the headline "Glam Rock Is Dead: Says Marc" - he felt he was not being treated seriously as an artist, so with Zinc Alloy onward, he moved into a Rock & Soul sound, radically different than what was the musical trend at the time. Many of Marc's fans stayed behind with the Glam movement, but Marc pursued further into less commercial music adventures, with the help of his soul-singer girlfriend, Gloria Jones. Together they had a son, Rolan Bolan, in 1975.
Tragically, Marc died in a car crash on 16 September 1977 in a purple Mini driven by Gloria Jones.
Salamanda Palaganda
Marc Bolan Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Bridled with an orchid ribbon
His curved brow in Scarlatti fashion
Boots that ride the night sky eagle
An old crone squirms upon a cushion
Made from Madras silk and satin
Her steel eyes hold a scimitar passion
For the skull hewn in Scarlatti fashion.
Slaughtered a Malayan sun bear
Night stood erect with brozen haunches
Zapped the seer and gave the bear back to us
Salamanda Palaganda Oh Palamino Blue
Salamanda Palaganda June's Buffalo too In the Parisian zoo.
The lyrics of Marc Bolan's "Salamanda Palaganda" are non-linear and cryptic, but suggest a surreal tableau of fantastical and grotesque imagery. The singer mentions a small girl with a smiling gibbon, as well as an old crone with steel eyes and a passion for a skull hewn in Scarlatti fashion (likely a reference to the 18th-century Italian composer Domenico Scarlatti). The singer also mentions boots that ride the night sky eagle, indicating a sense of flight or transcendence. Additionally, there is a cobra seer who has slaughtered a Malayan sun bear, and the night stood erect with bronze haunches, which may suggest the personification of time or some other cosmic force.
Line by Line Meaning
Small girl with the smiling 'gibbon
A young girl with a happy and cheerful demeanor, who also has a pet monkey with a grin
Bridled with an orchid ribbon
The monkey is adorned with a decorative flower ribbon
His curved brow in Scarlatti fashion
The monkey's forehead has a distinctive shape that resembles the classical music composer Scarlatti
Boots that ride the night sky eagle
The girl wears boots that allow her to soar through the air on an eagle during the night
An old crone squirms upon a cushion
An elderly woman writhes in discomfort while resting on a soft cushion
Made from Madras silk and satin
The cushion is crafted from luxurious fabrics like silk and satin that come from Madras, India
Her steel eyes hold a scimitar passion
The old woman's sharp gaze holds a fierce and intense desire, like that of a scimitar weapon
For the skull hewn in Scarlatti fashion.
The woman's desire is focused on a skull that has been carved or shaped in the style of Scarlatti
A cobra seer with the punctured ear
A prophetic snake with a damaged earring
Slaughtered a Malayan sun bear
The cobra killed a type of bear found in the Malay Peninsula
Night stood erect with brozen haunches
The evening took on a human-like form with muscular legs made of bronze
Zapped the seer and gave the bear back to us
The night creature zapped the snake with some kind of energy, then returned the dead bear to the human world
Salamanda Palaganda Oh Palamino Blue
A nonsense phrase that serves as a catchy refrain in the song
Salamanda Palaganda June's Buffalo too In the Parisian zoo.
More nonsense words and phrases that are sung in the chorus, including the name of a buffalo named June who is supposedly in a zoo in Paris
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: MARC BOLAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@PoteDaGanancia
Small girl with the smiling 'gibbon
Bridled with an orchid ribbon
His curved brow in Scarlatti fashion
Boots that ride the night sky eagle
An old crone squirms upon a cushion
Made from Madras silk and satin
Her steel eyes hold a scimitar passion
For the skull hewn in Scarlatti fashion.
A cobra seer with the punctured ear
Slaughtered a Malayan sun bear
Night stood erect with brozen haunches
Zapped the seer and gave the bear back to us
Salamanda Palaganda Oh Palamino Blue
Salamanda Palaganda June's Buffalo too In the Parisian zoo
@MiaPaboplanesSantos
Like all Tyrannosaurus Rex's songs,this tune makes me feel amazed and out of this planet. Steve rules! The way he plays the bongos is so trippy!
@abigailgodfrey4778
Awesomeness
@PoteDaGanancia
Small girl with the smiling 'gibbon
Bridled with an orchid ribbon
His curved brow in Scarlatti fashion
Boots that ride the night sky eagle
An old crone squirms upon a cushion
Made from Madras silk and satin
Her steel eyes hold a scimitar passion
For the skull hewn in Scarlatti fashion.
A cobra seer with the punctured ear
Slaughtered a Malayan sun bear
Night stood erect with brozen haunches
Zapped the seer and gave the bear back to us
Salamanda Palaganda Oh Palamino Blue
Salamanda Palaganda June's Buffalo too In the Parisian zoo
@blakemiller1483
Wow this song! What a truly unique sound Mark Bolan cultivated. Its kind of astonishingly catchy.
@sDude-ki3nh
My mom turned me on to T-rex in the 1970s. I hope she is partying with Marc Bolan now. I miss you mom. :-(
@Anfstunes
I hope you sense that your mum lives on in your heart, and this music is your way to reconnect with the good memories you shared together. One day, you will be reunited.
@xochitlcruz1400
Love them since ever and forever.
@philnoble2218
One of my All time favourite songs. Conjours up such strange imagery in my mind.
(and I got the original Regal Zonophone 7" single 😁, The flipside of One Inch Rock)
Should have been the other way around imo 😊
@professorpopkiss
Blue label
@abigailgodfrey4778
Awesomeness personified... They were more than just metal guru