This is a story about “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”, a truly classic song, and the folklore around the mysterious meaning of the song. Simply put the words “In A Gadda Da Vida” were intended to be “In the Garden of Eden” however the true translation of “Vida” is “Life” putting the mistaken translation to “In the Garden of Life”. That is an important distinction that will accompany this story about the song’s true meaning.
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida – What it Means
The song was written by Doug Ingle the organist and part time vocalist of Iron Butterfly and released by the group in 1968. It is generally agreed that the song was meant to be “In the Garden of Eden”, but that when Ingle asked fellow bandmate Ron Bushy to write down the lyrics during a heavy drinking session, the words got crossed to “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” which stuck. Wikipedia reports that Ingle intended this to be a love song imaging Adam and Eve walking in the Garden of Eden.
The website SongFacts.com provides the following story of why the altered title stuck:
“The title was supposed to be “In The Garden Of Eden.” Drummer Ron Bushy wrote it down as “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” because he couldn’t understand what vocalist Doug Ingle was singing. Their record company was OK with the title because it sounds exotic and Eastern spirituality was big at the time, with The Beatles going to India and The Rolling Stones experimenting with Indian instruments.”
The song’s meaning and story were passed to me a bit differently. Like other rock folklore, this song’s story is fascinating and the music’s orientation to the story I was told is eerie.
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida – A Song About Being Buried Alive
So why are we writing about an Acid Rock song on Modern Dad Survival. Well this bit of rock folklore was passed down to me by my Dad and his friend group. They were all in college in the early 1970’s so they lived during the peak of rock-and-roll greatness. They introduced me to In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida in the early 1990’s, always in the full-length version (17 minutes long) while they would play darts in our basement and mix in a few beers.
The story they told me was that the song was about a married couple where the Wife was having an affair unbeknownst to her Husband. In order to get her Husband out of the picture, she laced one of his drinks with drugs and proceeded to bury him alive. The Husband then wakes up underground in a box (coffin) and the song details his struggle to escape and his eventual death. This may not be obvious if you simply listen to the song without the details, so let’s walk step-by-step through how this story aligns with the music.
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida – A Song About Being Buried Alive – Story Detail
The following will walk you through the 17-minute-long song and provide the sync up to the story in a beat-by-beat fashion. Since the majority of this song is an instrumental, much of the story is told through the music (verse the lyrics). Not many bands put out 17+ minute long songs, so there had to be a greater motive to their madness! Open your minds and enjoy.
The song can be played using the YouTube link below and the below commentary will take you step-by-step through the story and call out events at different time intervals during the song.
IRON BUTTERFLY – IN A GADDA DA VIDA – 1968 (ORIGINAL FULL VERSION) CD SOUND & 3D VIDEO
Lyrics in Blue
Commentary in Bolded Black
The song opens with what sounds like a church organ kicking into the riff of the song which is then supported by the bass, drums and electric guitar.
-The story goes, that the Wife is asking her Husband to trust her and come with her which you will see in the opening lyrics. The Husband trusts his wife so he has no trepidation about taking the drink she provides which is laced with drugs. As he follows her, the drugs start to kick in and he begins to slip out of consciousness. Eventually, the Husband fully loses consciousness and the singer announces, “It’s Over”. The Husband slips into a dream state as the instrumental begins and his effort to escape starts shortly after. Enjoy!
-The opening lyrics start at the 25 second mark and conclude at the 2:10 mark.
In a gadda da vida, honey
Don’t you know that I love you
In a gadda da vida, baby
Don’t you know that I’ll always be true
Oh, won’t you come with me
And take my haaaaaaand
Oh, won’t you come with me
And walk this laaaaaand
Please take my haaaaand
(Let me tell you baby)
In a gadda da vida, honey
Don’t you know that I’m lovin’ you
In a gadda da vida, baby
Don’t you know that I’ll always be true
Oh, won’t you come with me
And take my haaaaaand
Oh, won’t you come with me
And walk this laaaaaand
Please take my hand
(It’s over hup)
(Alright America hup)
(Long instrumental)
-At the 2:04 mark you hear the singer say, “It’s over”, this is when drugs have completely kicked in and the Husband has lost consciousness.
-From 2:04 until 3:27 the riff remains, and the organ becomes central to the music. This represents the Husband entering a dream state. At this same time his Wife (and her help, which we assume is a lover) is loading the man into a wooden box or coffin and moving him to a pre dug grave.
-3:27 kicks off a psychedelic guitar jam that supports the Husband’s dream state and goes until the 4:40 mark. At 4:40, the guitar tune changes to a grittier sound showing a shift in the dream state. This change signals the struggle the Husband is enduring to wake up.
-6:07 the guitar stops and the organ and bass fade by 6:24. This leaves the drums for the next few minutes, and this is key to the story as the Husband is about to wake cramped in complete darkness.
-6:24 the drummer holds a beat that will linger in the background of the drum solo. This beat is the Man’s heartbeat as he has awakens to find himself in the dark in a tight space. The heartbeat will remain a part of the song in the background until near the end.
-At the 6:31 mark the Husband begins to beat on the walls that confine him. The drums support this and for the next few minutes the beats are both soft and loud as the Husband tries to determine where is and free himself from the coffin. The bass drum continues to hold his heartbeat in the background while he is whaling away at the walls of the coffin.
-7:33 marks the knocking (drums) slowing and goes near faint, but you can still hear the heartbeat. The Man then picks up the beating again as he realizes if he does not get out soon, this will mean his end.
-At 8:52 the knocking again trails off, but the heartbeat remains.
-At 9:09 the organ is reintroduced signaling the Husband’s life begin to slip away if he is unable to free himself from the coffin. The knocking becomes more rhythmic as the Man is in and out of consciousness due to lack of oxygen…but his (bass drum) heartbeat remains.
-The eerie church organ is central from 9:09 to 10:50 and the sound is like what may be heard at a Catholic Church (or funeral). But just wait as things are starting to get real crazy.
-At the 10:51 mark you hear a faint gasp of breath (guitar). You will hear the Husband gasping for breath several more times and they sound very realistic (this is what seals the deal on the story for me).
-10:54 Gasp
-10:58 Gasp
-11:01 Big Gasp
-11:05 Clear Gasp of breath
-11:07 Gasp
-11:10 Gasp
-11: 12 Gasp
-11:14 Gasp
-11:17 Gasp
-11:24 The Church Organ returns to prominence as he is losing oxygen and fading to the afterlife.
-12:23 The Organ moves from a Church sound back to the main riff of the song.
-At 12:37 the Husband is making a last ditch effort to get out of the coffin. He is going to bang on the walls, kick, scream and do everything in his power to break out. The music goes hard to support this and for the next few minutes you will hear the man struggle to break out.
-13:03 you hear the Husband banging on the walls in a desperate manner (all instruments fall off except the drums).
-13:11 the guitar comes back in to signal the desperation of the moment and at 13:26 the organ is back in signaling the near end of his life.
-14:02 Big Gasp
-14:04 to 14:38 Big Gasps for air and clear struggle to get a breath (supported by the guitar).
-15:18 the Husband is moving from this world to the next. He then hears God talking to him using the some of the same words his Wife used to lure him away (lyrics return).
-Remember that the heartbeat of the bass drum remains.
-Key here is the lyrics. God is asking the Husband to come with him and take his hand. He is using the same words as the Wife, showing the very distinct line between the failing love of humans and the perfect love from God. The Husband is transitioning from life to afterlife.
(Three, Four hup)
In a gadda da vida, honey
Don’t you know that I’m lovin’ you
In a gadda da vida, baby
Don’t you know that I’ll always be true
Oh, won’t you come with me
And take my haaaaaand
Oh, won’t you come with me
And walk this laaaaaand
Please take my haaaaaand
-16:51 all instruments stop including the drums (heartbeat is gone) and the organ is now central building to a tune that sounds like a hospital patient flatlining (16:56) and marking the end of the Man’s life.
Other Rock Folklore
Phil Collins – “In the Air Tonight” Drowning Story
One of the most famous pieces of rock folklore is Phil Collins “In the Air Tonight”. The classic song has two tempos that are divided by a short drum solo that is the song’s calling card. As this article in The Sound outlines there is a common thought that the song is about a person watching another person drowning but refusing to help (leading to their death). Collins has rebuked this interpretation, stating it was about a difficult time in his life post-divorce, but the lyrics make you wonder. Even if the folklore is not true (not Collins intent) it certainly draws interest in the music.
Eagels – “Hotel California” linked to the Book “Lord of the Flies”
This rock folklore is also from my youth. This story came from a very creative high school English teacher and works to link the similarities between the Eagles 1977 classic “Hotel California” and the 1954 William Golding novel “Lord of the Flies.” The linkage takes some creative thinking. If you would like to read the story you can find the details on the MDS article about if “Hotel California” is based on the book “Lord of the Flies”.
Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon Album and The Wizard of Oz
The phenomenon is now known as “Dark Side of the Rainbow”. This is the unapparelled experience of the journey you go on when you start Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon exactly on the 3rd MGM Lion’s roar at the beginning of The Wizard of Oz movie. The album will play through several times (you must put it on repeat) and there are uncanny alignments even on the albums third time through.
Dark Side of the Rainbow is well documented on Far Out Magazines website. Here are some of the crazy ways the two pieces sync up as detailed in the Far Out Magazine article:
“There are a number of moments that work effortlessly with one another. Whether it is Dorothy starting to run after the line in ‘Time’ that reads “no one told you where to run”, or when David Gilmour sings the line “home, home again” as part of ‘Breathe’ as the fortune teller is advising Dorothy to return to Kansas. They don’t stop there either.
As ‘Brain Damage’ starts on the record, Dorothy meets the Scarecrow and he begins singing ‘If Only I Had A Brain’, dancing along the Yellow Brick Road as Roger Waters sings “got to keep the loonies on the path”—but the strangest parts are yet to come.
‘The Great Gig in the Sky’ begins to whirl away as the tornado hits Dorothy. What’s more, as she opens up the door to the Technicolor dream of the Munchkinland, the film’s second act, the original LP’s second side begins and ‘Money’ effortlessly soundtracks the events. The final crescendo comes as the final heartbeats of The Dark Side of the Moon ring out, Dorothy puts her ear to the Tin Man’s chest.”
Although these synchronicities are uncanny, members of Pink Floyd have stated that this was unintentional. The technology required to execute this was primitive at the time and it would have been near impossible to make this align. That said, it is quite the experience if you have never gone on this journey.
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida in Pop Culture
In the Simpson’s Episode in Season 7 where Bart cleverly switches out the church music for “In the Garden of Eden” written by I. Ron Butterfly (well done Bart!). The organist passes out after playing the 17-minute-long song.
The song has crossed musical genres as well. It has been sampled or remade by several rock acts, but its most successful sampling came in Hip-Hop. Nas breathed life in the song when he sampled it in his 2006 hit “Hip-Hop is Dead”.
In-Gadda-Da-Vida Meaning to You
Music is a feeling. It exults emotions and links those emotions to our memories. Music can take you back to another time and bring out all kinds of feelings. Songs certainly mean different things to different people. The folklore around In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida, whether true or not, brings me back to my youth. As I am now a dad, I hope my kids look back on their youth and can tie songs to fun memories we have had. Hopefully my kids’ memories won’t be about a song reenacting a person being buried alive, but I guess it is what got me here!
We would love to hear your take on this and any other musical folklore you would like to share in the comments. If you are looking to get your young kids into music that you like and they are not ready for Iron Butterfly yet, read our article about kids and the Beatles. Happy listening!