Traffic reached a much wider audience when, on the dissolution of Cream, two thirds of that band, one third being Eric Clapton, joined Steve Winwood (during a temporary Traffic disbanding) to form Blind Faith, which also included future Traffic member and sometime Family man, Ric Grech.
In 1970, after the disbanding of Blind Faith, Winwood set about recording a solo album. After Chris Wood and Jim Capaldi became involved, the decision was taken to release this album (eventually what would become John Barleycorn Must Die) under the Traffic name, despite the absence of Dave Mason.
Around 1971, Mason left for good (having been in and out of the band from the beginning), and the the band experienced a variety of personnel changes. The resulting band added some jazzy elements to their style, pioneering the jazz-rock genre, and the compositions tended to stretch out over longer lengths. With their albums The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys (1971) and Shootout at the Fantasy Factory (1973) their popularity in the US grew. After two more albums, personnel problems resulted in the band calling it quits (but for a brief reunion in 1994 without Wood, who had died in 1983). Winwood, Mason, Capaldi, and Wood all pursued solo careers, with Winwood garnering the most success.
There are/were other artists with the same name:
*2) Traffic is also a pop-rock band from Estonia.
3) Traffic is an upcoming rapper from Los Angeles.
2) The Estonian poprock band Traffic came together in 2006 and consists of five members: Silver Laas - Vocals, Stig Rästa - Guitars, Robert Vaigla - Guitars, Tõnis Kivisild - Bass, Ivo Priilinn - Drums. The band has been to Eesti Laul several times, trying to get to the semi-finals of Eurovision. In 2009 they ended up in the 2nd place, in 2014 in the 3rd place.
Traffic has two studio albums. Some of their most popular singles are "Für Elise", "See Päev", "Kesköödisko", "Päevast Päeva", "Elekter" and "Meie laul".
3) Darrail Cail, better known as Traffic, is a rapper from Los Angeles, CA. He first received major mainstream attention in the music industry when he was featured on “Tookie Knows II” from ScHoolboy Q’s fourth LP Blank Face. He is one of Schoolboy’s childhood friends.
4) The Spectes, a band that eventually became Status Quo discovered psychedelia in 1967 and named themselves Traffic, but were soon forced to change it to Traffic Jam to avoid confusion with Steve Winwood's Traffic, following an argument over who had registered the name first. Shortly after Rick Parfitt's recruitment, in August 1967, the band officially became The Status Quo
Pearly Queen
Traffic Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And she could drink more wine than I'd ever seen
She had some gypsies' blood flowing through her feet
And when the time was right she said that I would meet
My destiny
I traveled round the world to find the sun
I couldn't stop myself from having fun
And she made me forget this troubled world
We're living in
I had a strange dream. In my hair
I saw a pearly queen lying there
And all around her feet flowers bloomed
But they were made of silk and sequins two by two
traffic's Pearly Queen is a song that describes the life adventures of the singer. The song begins with the singer buying a sequined suit from a lady known as a pearly queen. She is someone who can drink more wine than the singer had ever seen, and she claims to have gypsies' blood in her feet. The pearly queen believes the singer will meet his destiny at a particular time. The following lines describe the singer's desire to travel worldwide continually. He finds himself having fun traveling until he meets an Indian girl, who makes him forget the troubled world they are living in.
Towards the end of the song, the singer describes a strange dream he once had where a pearly queen lies in his hair, and around her feet, they are blooming flowers made of silk and sequins two by two. The song is all but a tale of the singer's interest in adventure, travelling worldwide and having fun. The pearly queen acts metaphorically as a symbol of mystery, and her prediction about the singer meeting his destiny adds weight to the lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
I bought a sequined suit from a pearly queen
I acquired a flashy and gaudy outfit from a woman who is known for her ostentatious wardrobe
And she could drink more wine than I'd ever seen
She had an exceptional capacity for drinking wine, more than anything I had witnessed before
She had some gypsies' blood flowing through her feet
She had a free-spirited and bohemian nature due to her ancestral background
And when the time was right she said that I would meet my destiny
She prophesied that I will come across something or someone that will shape up my future, when the right moment comes
I traveled round the world to find the sun
I voyaged around the globe in search of warmth, light, and positive energy
I couldn't stop myself from having fun
I found it hard to resist indulging in pleasurable activities and having a good time
And then one day I met an Indian girl
Finally, I encountered a woman from India
And she made me forget this troubled world we're living in
She was so captivating and enchanting that I forgot about all the problems in this chaotic world temporarily
I had a strange dream. In my hair
I experienced an unusual and surreal dream. In my head
I saw a pearly queen lying there
I visualized the woman who sold me the sequined suit lying there in my dream, with all her grandeur and flamboyance
And all around her feet flowers bloomed
There were abundant flowers that grew and blossomed around her feet in my dream
But they were made of silk and sequins two by two
However, those flowers weren't natural, but rather artificial ones made of fabric and decorated with sequins
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: STEVE WINWOOD, JIM CAPALDI
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind