"Visions of Paradise" is a 1968 song by the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band

the Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The group came to ...

. First released on their album ''

In Search of the Lost Chord ''In Search of the Lost Chord'' is the third album by The Moody Blues, released in July 1968 on the Deram label. Content ''In Search of the Lost Chord'' is a concept album around a broad theme of quest and discovery, including world explorati ...

'', it was written jointly by band members

Justin Hayward David Justin Hayward (born 14 October 1946) is an English musician best known as the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the rock band the Moody Blues. Hayward became the group's principal lead guitarist and vocalist over the 1967–1974 ...

and

Ray Thomas Raymond Thomas (29 December 1941 – 4 January 2018) was an English multi-instrumentalist, flautist, singer, founding member and composer in the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. His flute solo on the band's 1967 hit single "Night ...

, and was the first of many collaborations between them. The song is primarily led by Justin Hayward's voice and Ray Thomas's flute, with the lyrics describing the writer's perception of

paradise In religion, paradise is a place of exceptional happiness and delight. Paradisiacal notions are often laden with pastoral imagery, and may be cosmogonical or eschatological or both, often compared to the miseries of human civilization: in paradis ...

. The song has been described as ".. little else than Thomas’s flute riff and Hayward’s softly picked acoustic. Apparently resuming the drug-trip theme, this song may be even further "out there" than "The Best Way to Travel" with a surreal perception of paradise." Regarding the song, Hayward has explained:

You have to start with the Mellotron that Mike Pinder was playing. The way he got that sound was by bouncing between machines. We were only on 4-track machines, going up to 8-track for Lost Chord, so he would bounce the whole thing across many times to get that layered sound. That would be very time consuming for him and Derek Varnals, the engineer. They would work on it together. Meanwhile, other guys were writing in the studio going mitates a high-pitched, wavering Mellotronthrough a progression of chords. So Ray and I found this broom cupboard that was attached to the studio. I’d go there with my acoustic guitar and flute, and we would write those things. It had a sound-proofed door so that the cleaners didn’t disturb us. It also had an entrance from the corridor that was also sound-proofed. It was a sealed little place. Everything that we wrote together – including Visions of Paradise – all of those things were written there.

In 2008 the band issued a "instrumental sitar mix" of the track as a bonus on their 2008 CD remastered reissue.

Personnel

– lead vocals, 6 and 12-string acoustic guitars,

sitar The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form in ...

* John Lodge – bass guitar, cello *

Mike Pinder Michael Thomas Pinder (born 27 December 1941) is an English rock musician, and is a founding member and original keyboard player of the British rock group the Moody Blues. He left the group following the recording of the band's ninth album ''O ...

–

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. A ...

, tambura *

–

alto flute The alto flute is an instrument in the Western concert flute family, the second-highest member below the standard C flute after the uncommon flûte d'amour. It is the third most common member of its family after the standard C flute and the ...

, oboe *

Graeme Edge Graeme Charles Edge (30 March 1941 – 11 November 2021) was an English musician, songwriter and poet, best known as the co-founder and drummer of the English band the Moody Blues. In addition to his work with the Moody Blues, Edge worked as t ...

– percussion

References

External links

* {{Moody Blues The Moody Blues songs 1968 songs Songs written by Justin Hayward Songs written by Ray Thomas