The First Edition signed with Reprise Records and recorded the pop-psychedelic single "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)". Within a year, the group was billed as "Kenny Rogers and the First Edition" and in the summer of 1969, they once again hit the charts with "Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town" (US #6, UK #1).
Just Dropped In
The First Edition Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I woke up this mornin' with the sundown shinin' in
I found my mind in a brown paper bag within
I tripped on a cloud and fell-a eight miles high
I tore my mind on a jagged sky
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
I pushed my soul in a deep dark hole and then I followed it in
I watched myself crawlin' out as I was a-crawlin' in
I got up so tight I couldn't unwind
I saw so much I broke my mind
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
(Yeah, yeah, oh-yeah, what condition my condition was in)
Someone painted "April Fool" in big black letters on a "Dead End" sign
I had my foot on the gas as I left the road and blew out my mind
Eight miles outta Memphis and I got no spare
Eight miles straight up downtown somewhere
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
I said I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
Yeah yeah oh-yeah
The First Edition's song "Just Dropped In" is a psychedelic rock song from 1967 that explores a journey through an altered state of consciousness. The lyrics describe waking up to sunshine and finding the mind in a brown paper bag, symbolizing a loss of control or sanity. The next part of the journey involves tripping on a cloud, climbing into a deep dark hole and seeing too much, leading to a broken mind. The song ends with a reference to a "Dead End" sign and blowing out the mind, creating a sense of recklessness and danger.
The song's lyrics suggest an exploration of drug-induced altered states of consciousness, with references to hallucinations and distorted realities. The recurring line "yeah, yeah, oh-yeah" highlights the confusion and disorientation that comes with such experiences. The use of vivid metaphors and imagery, such as tripping on a cloud and climbing into a deep dark hole, reinforces the sense of confusion and disorientation.
Line by Line Meaning
I woke up this mornin' with the sundown shinin' in
I woke up early in the morning when the sun had just risen.
I found my mind in a brown paper bag within
My mental state was like that of a person who is intoxicated or disoriented.
I tripped on a cloud and fell-a eight miles high
I felt like I was in an altered state or under the influence of drugs.
I tore my mind on a jagged sky
I experienced an intense mental breakdown that was triggered by my drug-induced state.
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
I came to check on my mental state to assess how much damage I have caused to it by consuming drugs.
I pushed my soul in a deep dark hole and then I followed it in
I intentionally put myself in a dark and negative state of mind, and then I willingly followed it.
I watched myself crawlin' out as I was a-crawlin' in
I saw myself struggling to get out of the negative state of mind that I had entered.
I got up so tight I couldn't unwind
I became so tense and anxious that I was unable to relax.
I saw so much I broke my mind
I saw and experienced things that were beyond my mental capacity to handle, which caused me to break down mentally.
Someone painted 'April Fool' in big black letters on a 'Dead End' sign
Someone played a cruel joke on me by painting the words 'April Fool' on a sign that meant nothing but a dead end.
I had my foot on the gas as I left the road and blew out my mind
I was reckless and careless, driving at high speed without caring about the consequences, which resulted in me completely losing control over my mental state.
Eight miles outta Memphis and I got no spare
I found myself stranded and helpless, far away from anyone who could help me, with no backup plan or support.
Eight miles straight up downtown somewhere
I was lost and disconnected from everyone and everything, both geographically and mentally.
I said I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
I am admitting that I had made a mistake by not taking good care of my mental state and that I am taking steps to rectify it by seeking help and support.
Yeah yeah oh-yeah
These words are just sounds used to add emphasis and rhythm to the song.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: MICKEY NEWBURY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@gerrym.9354
I was born in 1963.
My dad was kind of a cool guy, though I did not understand that at the time.
During my whole "aware" childhood, I used to watch, along with F-Troop, Batman, Get Smart, and Laugh-In, in the 60's, the incessant non-stop violence of the very visual, though, black-and-white, news from Vietnam.
Every freaking night of my aware childhood, as a kid, I'm watching disgusting, mind-numbing Vietnam atrocities. That's all I remembered from the time I was born, war and 1960's comedies.
And, as I watched those obscene scenes unfold every evening between 6 and 630pm, I'm gettin scared, oh so scared, crazy crawl under my bed scared, an irrational mind-numbing scared only a child in wartime could know, an overwhelming dread in the knowledge that I'm in no way in control of the evil that's unfolding all around me, and that I might one day unwillingly be pulled into.
It messes with your mind.
I'm hearin' that there's guerrilla warfare, people being killed. I'm a six-year-old looking and listening to this, wondering why gorillas are even involved with humans fighting. What the heck is going on? Why?
I asked my dad, a somewhat Archie Bunker-type, yet with a softer heart, a staunch conservative, one who, up until that time, had always seemed to appear all for that war, "Daddy, am I going to have to go there?"
And, in one of the most life-changing, burdening-lifting, un-Nixon-supporting, un-conservative things that I ever remember him muttering while he was alive, he assured me by saying, "You're not going there, I promise."
And those six words, probably words in the ensuing years he did not even remember ever muttering, put my young mind at enormous ease, lifting an unbreathable weight from my ignorant young shoulders.
Though I would not know it until years later, by that time, most older generation Americans realized the reasoning for that war for the sham that it was (though I mean zero disrespect for those unfortunate souls born at the wrong time and caught up in it).
For those still wavering, Walter Cronkite, America's trusted newsman, gave them the balls they needed to reject both the war, and the government's spin that things were going hunky-dory.
Years later I told my Dad how much peace of mind he gave me that day when he vowed I was not going to be going to Vietnam. He told me, though, to be honest, I am paraphrasing, as the passage of time savages the exact phraseology but, to the best of my recollection something akin to, "I believed what I was being told. I believed the government. I watched those long-haired hippies protesting things and I hated them for being so un-American. It took a long time for me to wrap my head around but, those long-haired freaks were right. This whole thing was wrong".
That was the day Dad came completely clean.
It takes a real man to admit he was blindingly led down a dark evil road, and an even BIGGER man to turn around and walk it back.
Thank you to my Dad, and the millions and millions of other gutsy men and women that swallowed their pride, admitted they might be wrong, agreed with those they most did not want to agree with, and walked it back, because they knew it was the right and decent thing to do.
That reversal takes true courage.
@clintstewart5545
To see what condition my condition was in)
I woke up this mornin' with the sundown shinin' in
I found my mind in a brown paper bag within
I tripped on a cloud and fell-a eight miles high
I tore my mind on a jagged sky
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
I pushed my soul in a deep dark hole and then i followed it in
I watched myself crawlin' out as i was a-crawlin' in
I got up so tight i couldn't unwind
I saw so much i broke my mind
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
Someone painted "april fool" in big black letters on a "dead end" sign
I had my foot on the gas as i left the road and blew out my mind
Eight miles outta memphis and i got no spare
Eight miles straight up downtown somewhere
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
I said i just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
Yeah yeah oh-yeah
@smokinjz
(Yeah, yeah, oh yeah, what condition my condition was in)
I woke up this mornin' with the sundown shinin' in
I found my mind in a brown paper bag within
I tripped on a cloud and fell-a eight miles high
I tore my mind on a jagged sky
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
(Yeah, yeah, oh-yeah, what condition my condition was in)
I pushed my soul in a deep dark hole and then I followed it in
I watched myself crawlin' out as I was a-crawlin' in
I got up so tight I couldn't unwind
I saw so much I broke my mind
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
(Yeah, yeah, oh-yeah, what condition my condition was in)
Someone painted "April Fool" in big black letters on a "Dead End" sign
I had my foot on the gas as I left the road and blew out my mind
Eight miles out of Memphis and I got no spare
Eight miles straight up downtown somewhere
I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
I said I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in
Yeah
Yeah
Oh yeah
@OllieOverTheMoon
@tinfoil magnolia - as you know, it WAS the best kept secret in the music industry for decades... until Tommy Tedesco's son Denny Tedesco produced a documentary showing the world the real 'unsung' stars behind the big hits of the 60s and early 70's - "The Wrecking Crew" documentary : "There was only One Band behind them all".
Preview here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX5BCgmr7tg
Website - http://www.magpictures.com/thewreckingcrew/
The doc is available on DVD/BluRay ; might still be on Netflix. Also a book by the same name authored by Kent Hartman. Both the documentary and book were the talk of the music industry, and music lovers, when released in 2015. The film was also broadcast on cable tv at the time. It got a LOT of media publicity. There are still many online articles to be found.
So with that info handy, perhaps you can steer some peeps in the right direction since they're off in their own worlds... wait til their minds are blown that Glen Campbell was not only a touring Beach Boy, but played on the entire Pet Sounds album too! (and on Sinatra's Strangers in the Night !!) ... etc etc etc ,,, even the WC were in awe of him! :)
Thank goodness there are plenty of music lovers like us who know the truth and can finally give these genius musicians the respect they deserve, though sadly most have recently passed on. But their talents were incredible. Their synergy was amazing. And their stories fascinating. There will never be a group of groundbreaking talents like them again. They changed the entire musical landscape!
About those whom you say don't want to know the truth - how pathetic: Ignorance is not bliss. Merely foolish ignorance. I just don't understand people who deliberately turn their backs on hard facts. Hope they don't have a driver's licence or vote - then they'd be dangerous.
cheers! from one WC fan to another!! :)
@eckowezen
This song really ties the movie together, man
@user-fk5rf6zb8w
Shut the fuck up donnie
😆
@ApplesauceNinja
Well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
@standymon4990
Fuckin A it does....
@johncaudle1747
This song makes me wanna throw a bag of dirty clothes off the side of a bridge
@jhitt79
@@johncaudle1747 “dirty undies”
@golden.lights.twinkle2329
Psychedelic masterpiece! 1967 was the zenith of musical creativity. This is a prime example.
@BlackDoveNYC
More like bubblegum psychedelica. It was much more pop accessible than I think the real stuff.
@circusitch
I remember once a disc jockey on a rock station saying this would be the only Kenny Rogers song he would ever play.
@ianlipscombe6924
Bit harsh:Ruby dont take your love to town was great but his solo stuff was dire MOR crap