Donovan quite rightly had a sudden craze with this easygoing psychedelic paean to Saffron, among other things. He says, "'Mellow Yellow' was a jazz groove that I learned, the feel of the groove, in Preservation Hall in New Orleans one month, early in my career, it must have been early ’66. And I came back to London and I just used to sing this thing in parties, and my producer Mickey Most said, 'ahh that’s it, that’s the next single.' I said, 'what, this?' He said, 'yeah.' And so it was. And to be mellow and to feel mellow was the cool groove of 'Mellow Yellow'. And the greatest accolade I got was from Dr. John, who said, 'Yeah man!'"
The Beatlesque sound was a nod to the Fab Four and their song 'Yellow Submarine', to which Donovan had contributed lyrics. Paul McCartney apparently was present during the sessions and can be heard among the shouts at the end of the song. There has been considerable speculation on the meaning of the lyrics. One urban legend is that you can get high from smoking banana peels. Another suggestion is that the titular phrase comes from James Joyce's 'Ulysses'. Some think the song is about liver disease. Donovan explains what the song is about: "Quite a few things. Being mellow, laid-back, chilled out. 'They call me Mellow Yellow, I'm the guy who can calm you down.' Lennon and I used to look in the back of newspapers and pull out funny things and they'd end up in songs. So it's about being cool, laid-back, and also the electrical bananas that were appearing on the scene - which were ladies vibrators." The line "mad about fourteen" refers to fourteen year old girls, who comprised the bulk of his fans. The song reached number eight in the UK and number two in the US.
https://donovan.ie/
https://donovan.ie/
I'm just mad about Saffron,
A-Saffron's mad about me.
I'm a-just mad about Saffron,
She's just mad about me.
They call me mellow yellow.
They call me mellow yellow.
They call me mellow yellow.
I'm just mad about Fourteen,
A-Fourteen's mad about me.
I'm a-just a-mad about a-Fourteen,
She's just mad about me.
They call me mellow yellow.
They call me mellow yellow.
They call me mellow yellow.
Born high forever to fly,
Wind-a velocity nil.
Born high forever to fly,
If you want your cup I will fill.
They call me mellow yellow.
They call me mellow yellow.
They call me mellow yellow.
He's so mellow, mellow fellow.
Electrical banana
Is gonna be a sudden craze.
Electrical banana
Is bound to be the very next phase.
They call it mellow yellow.
They call me mellow yellow.
They call me mellow yellow.
You, ah, Saffron, yeah,
I'm just mad about her.
I'm a-just a-mad about a-Saffron,
She's just mad about me.
They call me mellow yellow.
They call me mellow yellow.
They call me mellow yellow.
Oh so mellow, oh so mellow, oh so mellow.
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