5D (Fifth Dimension)
Encyclopedia
"5D" is a song by the American rock
band
The Byrds
, written by band member Jim McGuinn
. It was released as a single
on June 13, 1966 and reached #44 on the Billboard Hot 100
but failed to chart in the United Kingdom. The song was also included on the band's third album, Fifth Dimension
, released on July 18, 1966. "5D (Fifth Dimension)" followed the release of the band's influential "Eight Miles High
" single and arguably took The Byrds' psychedelic
experimentation to even further extremes than their previous single had.
According to McGuinn, the song's lyrics were an attempt to explain Einstein
's theory of relativity
and were directly inspired by the book 1-2-3-4, More, More, More, More by Don Landis. In a 1966 interview with Hit Parader
magazine the guitarist stated "It's sort of weird but...what I'm talking about is the whole universe, the fifth dimension, which is height, width, depth, time and something else. But there definitely are more dimensions than five. It's infinite. The fifth dimension is the threshold of scientific knowledge." Talking to Michael Ross of Creem
magazine in 1970, McGuinn further explained the song's meaning: "'5D' was an ethereal trip into metaphysics, into an almost Moslem
submission to an Allah
, an almighty spirit, free-floating, the fifth dimension being the 'mesh' which Einstein theorized about. He proved theoretically - but I choose to believe it."
The song's abstract lyrics were largely interpreted by the band's audience as being about an LSD trip
, much to McGuinn's dismay. The notion that the song was about drugs
was given further credence when it was singled out, within a month of its release, by Variety
magazine as one of a recent spate of pop
songs containing references to illegal drug use. As a result of these allegations, the song was banned by some radio stations in the U.S.
The master recording
of "5D (Fifth Dimension)" was taped
on May 24 and 25, 1966, during sessions
for the Fifth Dimension album, with Allen Stanton serving as producer
. The song features the Bach
-influenced organ
and electric piano
playing of Los Angeles composer
, arranger
, producer
, and session musician
Van Dyke Parks
. "5D (Fifth Dimension)" was a favorite of The Byrds' bass player
, Chris Hillman
, who described it as "one of the greatest songs McGuinn has ever written."
Following its release, the song was performed sporadically during The Byrds' 1966 live concerts
but was abandoned for the rest of the group's lifespan. However, the song is frequently performed by McGuinn during his solo concerts and consequently appears on his 2007 live album
, Live From Spain. In addition to its appearance on the Fifth Dimension album, "5D (Fifth Dimension)" also appears on several Byrds' compilations
, including The Byrds' Greatest Hits
, History of The Byrds
, The Original Singles: 1965–1967, Volume 1
, The Byrds, The Very Best of The Byrds
, The Essential Byrds
, and There Is a Season
.
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
band
Musical ensemble
A musical ensemble is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles...
The Byrds
The Byrds
The Byrds were an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles, California in 1964. The band underwent multiple line-up changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn remaining the sole consistent member until the group disbanded in 1973...
, written by band member Jim McGuinn
Roger McGuinn
James Roger McGuinn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for being the lead singer and lead guitarist on many of The Byrds' records...
. It was released as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
on June 13, 1966 and reached #44 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
but failed to chart in the United Kingdom. The song was also included on the band's third album, Fifth Dimension
Fifth Dimension (album)
Fifth Dimension is the third album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in July 1966 on Columbia Records . Most of the album was recorded following the February 1966 departure of the band's principal songwriter Gene Clark...
, released on July 18, 1966. "5D (Fifth Dimension)" followed the release of the band's influential "Eight Miles High
Eight Miles High
"Eight Miles High" is a song by the American rock band The Byrds, written by Gene Clark, Jim McGuinn, and David Crosby and first released as a single on March 14, 1966 . The single managed to reach the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot 100 and the Top 30 of the UK Singles Chart...
" single and arguably took The Byrds' psychedelic
Psychedelic rock
Psychedelic rock is a style of rock music that is inspired or influenced by psychedelic culture and attempts to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues rock bands in United States and the United Kingdom...
experimentation to even further extremes than their previous single had.
According to McGuinn, the song's lyrics were an attempt to explain Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
's theory of relativity
Special relativity
Special relativity is the physical theory of measurement in an inertial frame of reference proposed in 1905 by Albert Einstein in the paper "On the Electrodynamics of Moving Bodies".It generalizes Galileo's...
and were directly inspired by the book 1-2-3-4, More, More, More, More by Don Landis. In a 1966 interview with Hit Parader
Hit Parader
Hit Parader is an American music magazine focusing on the genres of hard rock, pop, and heavy metal.The magazine was originally started as a pop song lyric magazine by Charlton Publications in 1942. Charlton sold off the magazine before the company went under in 1991...
magazine the guitarist stated "It's sort of weird but...what I'm talking about is the whole universe, the fifth dimension, which is height, width, depth, time and something else. But there definitely are more dimensions than five. It's infinite. The fifth dimension is the threshold of scientific knowledge." Talking to Michael Ross of Creem
Creem
Creem , "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine," was a monthly rock 'n' roll publication first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. It suspended production in 1989 but received a short-lived renaissance in the early 1990s as a glossy tabloid...
magazine in 1970, McGuinn further explained the song's meaning: "'5D' was an ethereal trip into metaphysics, into an almost Moslem
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
submission to an Allah
Allah
Allah is a word for God used in the context of Islam. In Arabic, the word means simply "God". It is used primarily by Muslims and Bahá'ís, and often, albeit not exclusively, used by Arabic-speaking Eastern Catholic Christians, Maltese Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Christians, Mizrahi Jews and...
, an almighty spirit, free-floating, the fifth dimension being the 'mesh' which Einstein theorized about. He proved theoretically - but I choose to believe it."
The song's abstract lyrics were largely interpreted by the band's audience as being about an LSD trip
Psychedelic experience
The term "psychedelic experience" is vague – characterized by polyvalence or ambiguity due to its nature – however in modern psychopharmacological science as well as philosophical, psychological, neurological, spiritual-religious and most other ideological discourses it is understood as an altered...
, much to McGuinn's dismay. The notion that the song was about drugs
Psychedelic drug
A psychedelic substance is a psychoactive drug whose primary action is to alter cognition and perception. Psychedelics are part of a wider class of psychoactive drugs known as hallucinogens, a class that also includes related substances such as dissociatives and deliriants...
was given further credence when it was singled out, within a month of its release, by Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
magazine as one of a recent spate of pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
songs containing references to illegal drug use. As a result of these allegations, the song was banned by some radio stations in the U.S.
The master recording
Master recording
A multitrack recording master tape, disk or computer files on which productions are developed for later mixing, is known as the multi-track master, while the tape, disk or computer files holding a mix is called a mixed master.It is standard practice to make a copy of a master recording, known as...
of "5D (Fifth Dimension)" was taped
Magnetic tape sound recording
The use of magnetic tape for sound recording originated around 1930. Magnetizable tape revolutionized both the radio broadcast and music recording industries. It did this by giving artists and producers the power to record and re-record audio with minimal loss in quality as well as edit and...
on May 24 and 25, 1966, during sessions
Studio recording
The term studio recording means any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance.-Studio cast recordings:...
for the Fifth Dimension album, with Allen Stanton serving as producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
. The song features the Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
-influenced organ
Electronic organ
An electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds....
and electric piano
Electric piano
An electric piano is an electric musical instrument.Electric pianos produce sounds mechanically and the sounds are turned into electrical signals by pickups. Unlike a synthesizer, the electric piano is not an electronic instrument, but electro-mechanical. The earliest electric pianos were invented...
playing of Los Angeles composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, arranger
Arrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
, producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, and session musician
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
Van Dyke Parks
Van Dyke Parks
Van Dyke Parks is an American composer, arranger, producer, musician, singer, author and actor. Parks is perhaps best known for his contributions as a lyricist on the Beach Boys album Smile....
. "5D (Fifth Dimension)" was a favorite of The Byrds' bass player
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
, Chris Hillman
Chris Hillman
Christopher Hillman was one of the original members of The Byrds which in 1965 included Roger McGuinn, Gene Clark, David Crosby, and Michael Clarke....
, who described it as "one of the greatest songs McGuinn has ever written."
Following its release, the song was performed sporadically during The Byrds' 1966 live concerts
Rock concert
The term rock concert refers to a musical performance in the style of any one of many genres inspired by "rock and roll" music. While a variety of vocal and instrumental styles can constitute a rock concert, this phenomenon is typically characterized by bands playing at least one electric guitar,...
but was abandoned for the rest of the group's lifespan. However, the song is frequently performed by McGuinn during his solo concerts and consequently appears on his 2007 live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
, Live From Spain. In addition to its appearance on the Fifth Dimension album, "5D (Fifth Dimension)" also appears on several Byrds' compilations
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
, including The Byrds' Greatest Hits
The Byrds' Greatest Hits
The Byrds' Greatest Hits is the first greatest hits album by the American rock band The Byrds and was released in August 1967 on Columbia Records . It is the top-selling album in The Byrds' catalogue and reached #6 on the Billboard Top LPs chart but failed to break into the UK Albums Chart...
, History of The Byrds
History of The Byrds
History of The Byrds is a budget priced, double album compilation by the American rock band The Byrds and was released on May 18, 1973 by CBS Records . The compilation was released exclusively in Europe and the UK, peaking at #47 on the UK Albums Chart, but it was also available in the United...
, The Original Singles: 1965–1967, Volume 1
The Original Singles: 1965–1967, Volume 1
The Original Singles: 1965–1967, Volume 1 is a compilation album by American rock 'n' roll band The Byrds. Originally released in 1980, it offered, for the first time, all of the mono single versions of the Byrds' singles released between 1965 and early 1967...
, The Byrds, The Very Best of The Byrds
The Very Best of The Byrds
The Very Best of The Byrds is a compilation album by the American rock band The Byrds, released by Columbia Records in 1997. Initially the compilation was only released in Europe but as of 2006, the album has seen some release in the U.S...
, The Essential Byrds
The Essential Byrds
-Disc one:#"Mr. Tambourine Man" – 2:31#"I'll Feel a Whole Lot Better" – 2:32#"All I Really Want to Do" – 2:04#"Chimes of Freedom" – 3:51...
, and There Is a Season
There Is a Season
There Is a Season is a four-CD box set by the American rock band The Byrds that was released on September 26, 2006 by Columbia/Legacy. It comprises 99 tracks and includes material from every one of the band's twelve studio albums, presented in roughly chronological order...
.