Greek Mythology and Hippie Idealism: The Story Behind “Some Velvet Morning” by Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra

From the primary swell of the strings, there’s something instantly completely different about this slice of psychedelic pop masterpiece. The swirling orchestration is like nothing else occurring on pop radio on the time. This was the tip of 1967, and the wave of the Summer of Love was simply subsiding. This ethereal journey of a music employs components of Greek mythology, hard-edged realism, hippie idealism, and a mix of time signatures to take us on a cosmic trip lasting three minutes and 40 seconds. Let’s check out the story behind “Some Velvet Morning” by Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra.

Some velvet mornin’ once I’m straight
I’m gonna open up your gate
And possibly let you know ’bout Phaedra
And how she gave me life
And how she made it finish
Some velvet mornin’ once I’m straight

The Orchestration

Longtime Hazlewood collaborator Billy Strange organized and carried out the luxurious orchestra, which was comprised of members of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Hazlewood instructed composer Joe McGinty in 1998, “I made them arise. No string participant likes to face as much as play ’trigger he thinks he’s taking part in fiddle if he does that. I’d say, ‘This is a stand-up half.’ They’d be, ‘Oh, Lee, we don’t wanna stand.’ ‘This is a stand-up half. It’s out of sight. It’s for canine and me. So guys, arise and undergo this a few occasions.’ And a whole lot of occasions, I’d have them arise and undergo it twice, and file, and never inform ’em. So I’d have two tracks of them put collectively. And they’d be simply that a lot completely different, simply an nth off. And I at all times thought that little nth made an attention-grabbing sound.”

Flowers rising on a hill, dragonflies and daffodils
Learn from us very a lot, have a look at us, however don’t contact
Phaedra is my identify

A Song Written Out of Spite

In 1999, Hazlewood instructed Record Collector journal: “I had issues with individuals telling me, ‘I actually just like the music you wrote, Lee, you’ll be able to actually dance to it.’ I don’t like individuals dancing to my music. I used to be being very opposite. The subsequent factor I sat down to jot down occurred to be that music, and I’m going, ‘Dance to this, sons of bitches.”

They might not have danced to it, however they did purchase it. The music peaked at No. 26 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Some velvet mornin’ once I’m straight
I’m gonna open up your gate
And possibly let you know ’bout Phaedra
And how she gave me life
And how she made it finish
Some velvet mornin’ once I’m straight

Beauty and the Beast

In Greek mythology, Phaedra was the daughter of Minos and Pasiphaë and the spouse of Theseus. She fell in love together with her stepson Hippolytus. After he rejected her advances, she accused him of tried rape, inflicting Theseus to induce Poseidon to kill him. The tragic determine then killed herself.

In 1999, Sinatra instructed Mojo journal: “Lee at all times had some sort of underlying message in his songs. I assume it’s partly what he used to name ‘magnificence and the beast,’ the younger lady and the older man, that fantasy. We didn’t have an affair, we didn’t have a bodily relationship, and but we created one thing that indicated that we did, and I assume individuals thought that was attention-grabbing as a result of we had been so completely different in age.”

Flowers are the issues we all know, secrets and techniques are the issues we develop
Learn from us very a lot, have a look at us, however don’t contact
Phaedra is my identify

Different Time Signatures

The music was recorded in a three-hour session in December 1967 at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles. The male part is sung in 4/4 time, whereas the feminine half is in 3/4. As the music switches forwards and backwards, it builds as much as a mashup of alternating strains and time signatures. Hazlewood pushed the session musicians to carry out it reside moderately than utilizing studio trickery after the actual fact to splice the components.

He instructed McGinty: “When I wrote it, I did it only for pure orneriness of the musicians, greater than the rest. I stated, ‘You see the ending right here, it goes 4/4 into 3/4. Don’t fear about it as a result of I can lower it collectively. We’ll do all of the 4/4, then we’ll do the three/4.’ Well, about half of them stood up very, very insulted. They actually got here down on me heavy—’Who do you assume we’re?’ and so they weren’t blissful. They simply arrange and performed proper by it. And I’m going, ‘OK, all proper good asses, then we’ll do it your means.’ Which I assumed would possibly occur. I obtained a whole lot of good music by pushing guys and doing stuff like that. I feel a few of them knew it, those that had been round me. Some of them actually obtained a bit of bit insulted that I’d counsel that I’d have to chop collectively one thing so simple as that. But I’d say, ‘Well, you by no means know.’”

Some velvet mornin’ once I’m straight
Flowers rising on a hill
I’m gonna open up your gate
dragonflies and daffodils
And possibly let you know ’bout Phaedra
Learn from us very a lot
And how she gave me life
have a look at us, however don’t contact
And how she made it finish

Nobody’s Figured It Out Yet

“Some Velvet Morning” can be the final Top 40 look for both artist on the Billboard Hot 100. The music earned the highest spot on The Daily Telegraph‘s listing of the 50 Best Duets Ever. In 2021, Sinatra instructed Uncut journal: “Even although it was years and years later, it’s nonetheless good to be appreciated. And for that file particularly, no one’s figured that music out but. And I nonetheless don’t know what it means.”

Hazlewood instructed Mojo journal, “Most of our duets aren’t double that means. They’re kinda triple that means. If you’re some Santa Monica doper sitting on the road, then it’s a dope music. If you’re just a few little harmless lady sitting in Nebraska, it’s only a music. And then, for those who’re actually a Nancy and Lee fan, it means a whole lot of different issues, too. It’s every little thing mixed.”

When you buy by hyperlinks on our web site, we might earn an affiliate fee.

Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images