Magic Carpet Ride

"Magic Carpet Ride" may also refer to a dance song by Mighty Dub Katz

"Magic Carpet Ride" is a rock song written by John Kay and Rushton Moreve from the band Steppenwolf. The song was initially released on the album Steppenwolf the Second. It was the lead single from that album, peaking at #3 in the US, and becoming the band's second-biggest hit, surpassed only by "Born to Be Wild".

The single version differs noticeably from the album version with a different vocal take by Kay used for the first verse of the song and differing instrumental balances. The single version is also much shorter than the album version, with a running time of 2 minutes and 55 seconds (the album version is 4 minutes and 25 seconds long).

Lead singer John Kay wrote the song; the lyrics "I like to dream, right between my sound machine," came from his inspiration from listening to a hi-fi home stereo system he bought with royalties from his first album. ^[1] It's likely that the lyrics "On a cloud of sound" and "let the sound take you away", perhaps the whole song, were also from similar inspiration.

In popular culture

Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (March 2009)

"Magic Carpet Ride" is one of Steppenwolf's most famous songs, having been used in numerous locations.

• Zefram Cochrane plays the song during Earth's very first warp flight sequence, with his pioneering Starship / Warp Ship The Phoenix, in the film Star Trek: First Contact, saying "We can't leave without it!".
• It can be heard playing in the background in a scene from the film Apollo 13 when Jack Swigert (played by Kevin Bacon) learns he has been bumped up to the prime crew of the historic flight.
• It is heard in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me in the scene where Austin travels to 1969.
• It is used in the 2001 movie Jay and Silent Bob Strikes Back in a scene in which Jay and Silent Bob are picked up by, pass out in, and dream about themselves getting high with the cast of Scooby-Doo in the Mystery Machine.
• It is featured in the 2004 movie Team America: World Police in a scene in which the team is celebrating a successful operation by holding a party at their headquarters.
• It is heard in The Simpsons episode "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot"
• It was used in the film Sahara during the scene in which Dirk Pitt and Al Giordino use the wings and wheels of a crashed plane to create a makeshift Skate Sail.
• The song inspired a popular San Francisco tourist attraction called the "Studio 39 Magic Carpet Ride". The ride features a carpet on a swivelling platform in a green room. Customers are encouraged to try the "free ride" by sitting on the carpet while performing gestures at the command of the "director". The combination of the moving platform, gestures and green screen technology produce the end result of a 2-minute video of the customer flying over San Francisco on a "magic carpet". The video also features prerecorded sound effects and the Steppenwolf song as the score. Customers are encouraged to purchase the DVD anywhere from $20 to $50. Studio 39 was started near (and later at) Pier 39 in the early 2000s. Four other Magic Carpet Rides were started in Las Vegas. The original Pier 39 location closed in early 2007, along with at least one Las Vegas location. Rumored explanations for the closings of the Studio 39 (a private, non-union business) range from theft to corporate mismanagement.
• Steppenwolf's version is included in the films Purple Haze and Casualties of War.
• It was featured in the 2002 racing game NASCAR Thunder 2003.
• A slightly remixed version of the song was featured in the film Go, during a scene in which several characters are chased by mobsters through the streets of Las Vegas.
• The band Mister Jones also use a sample of it in their song, "Uncle Bill's ride" that is featured in the film, "Never Been Kissed"
• A cover version was played on the Super Mario Bros Super Show episode Mario's Magic Carpet, during the scene where Mario, Luigi, Toad, and a Genie are chasing King Koopa in a Magic Carpet.

Covers

The band KSM covered "Magic Carpet Ride" for the soundtrack Wizards of Waverly Place.

Mother's Finest recorded an up-tempo Funk-Rock version of Magic Carpet Ride on their 1979 Live album.

Pop artist Myra recorded a cover of the song with a Latin twist for the album "La Vida Mickey."

References

External links

• Magic Carpet Lyrics