Stoned Soul Picnic

About Stoned Soul Picnic

"Stoned Soul Picnic" is a 1968 song by Laura Nyro. The best-known version of the song was recorded by The 5th Dimension, and was the first single released from their album of the same title. It was the most successful single from that album, reaching No. 3 on the U. S. Pop chart and No. 2 on the Billboard R&B chart. It became a platinum record. The song was composed and recorded by Nyro for her album Eli and the Thirteenth Confession, released in March 1968. According to Marilyn McCoo, it was producer Bones Howe who suggested that it would be a good song for the 5th Dimension to cover. The group would go on to record several more hits with Nyro songs, including "Sweet Blindness", "Wedding Bell Blues", "Blowin' Away", and "Save the Country". An instrumental version was recorded by jazz vibraphonist Roy Ayers and became the title track to his 1968 album. The word surry, used frequently in the lyric (e.g. "Surry down to a stoned soul picnic"), is a neologism by Nyro; its meaning is unclear. The verb surry is spelled differently from the noun surrey (an old-time carriage). When asked by producer Charlie Calello what the word meant, Nyro told him, "Oh, it's just a nice word." One possible meaning is that surry is a shortening of "let's hurry." more »