Jefferson Airplane — Martha
Album: After Bathing at Baxter'sAvg rating:
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Total ratings: 449
Length: 3:27
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Martha she listens for the ticking of my footsteps, patiently
She sifts the hairy air that's worn and wood-swept, pleasantly
She does as she pleases, she listens for me
Martha she calls to me from a feather in the meadow, "Fly to me"
You can dance and sing and walk with me
And dreams will fade and shadows grow in weed
She does as she pleases, she waits there for me
She does as she pleases, her heels rise for me
My love she talks to winking windows as she murmurs to her feet, thoughtly
She separates in laughter to my side, caught for me
She does as she pleases, she waits there for me
She does as she pleases, her heels rise for me
Martha she keeps her heart in a broken clock and it's waiting there for me
She weeds apart through a token lock; What a great thing to be free
She weeps time, starts unspoken, but when the gate swings there she'll be,
There she'll be: in green sun, on blue earth under warm running shower.
She sifts the hairy air that's worn and wood-swept, pleasantly
She does as she pleases, she listens for me
Martha she calls to me from a feather in the meadow, "Fly to me"
You can dance and sing and walk with me
And dreams will fade and shadows grow in weed
She does as she pleases, she waits there for me
She does as she pleases, her heels rise for me
My love she talks to winking windows as she murmurs to her feet, thoughtly
She separates in laughter to my side, caught for me
She does as she pleases, she waits there for me
She does as she pleases, her heels rise for me
Martha she keeps her heart in a broken clock and it's waiting there for me
She weeds apart through a token lock; What a great thing to be free
She weeps time, starts unspoken, but when the gate swings there she'll be,
There she'll be: in green sun, on blue earth under warm running shower.
Comments (116)add comment
Thank you Bill!
Just stop.......Please.
the negative comments here remind of the same back in 1967
loved this album back then and the critics in 1967 only made me love it more
loved this album back then and the critics in 1967 only made me love it more
I met Paul K. at a gig at the Van Dyke in Schenectady, NY about 10 years ago. Marty wasn't there that night, so to compensate Paul said those who'd like a board copy of the night's show can sign up afterwords and they'd send every person CD's of it. Didn't think they'd actually do it but a couple of months later the recordings arrived in the mail with Pauls' autograph.
I'd shook his hand while they were packing up, told him I'd enjoyed the show. Very cool guy, no attitude then as he'd had a slight reputation for in the past at least with industry types (rightly so IMO).
Chris Squire a few months ago, then Bowie, and now another one-of-a-kind original gone.
I'd shook his hand while they were packing up, told him I'd enjoyed the show. Very cool guy, no attitude then as he'd had a slight reputation for in the past at least with industry types (rightly so IMO).
Chris Squire a few months ago, then Bowie, and now another one-of-a-kind original gone.
It's simple
I love Jeffereson Airplane's radio hits and even enjoyed a few of their album tracks.
I love hearing non-radio album tracks - those I am familiar with - and those RP introduces me to.
But this song — NO.
I love Jeffereson Airplane's radio hits and even enjoyed a few of their album tracks.
I love hearing non-radio album tracks - those I am familiar with - and those RP introduces me to.
But this song — NO.
Lakeview wrote:
Being there doesn't mean that it's good music. Since when does context mean quality?
Music "quality" is a subjective evaluation and context has a great thing to do with one's personal tastes. However, I do not care for this tune either.
Being there doesn't mean that it's good music. Since when does context mean quality?
Music "quality" is a subjective evaluation and context has a great thing to do with one's personal tastes. However, I do not care for this tune either.
Still a good tune.
If I ever heard this before — I forgot it. If I never heard it before now — once is enough. Is there something not out of tune on this clunker?
Aw, and they say the drugs don't work. They clearly worked very well.
Lakeview wrote:
Being there doesn't mean that it's good music. Since when does context mean quality?
IMHO "quality" means you listen to the song with or without context. Maybe you did have to be there—and, like Danville Dave, I was—but that doesn't detract from what I think is the intrinsic value of the song, which exists with or without context.
I guess you guys will let me have it now. Bring it on.
Being there doesn't mean that it's good music. Since when does context mean quality?
IMHO "quality" means you listen to the song with or without context. Maybe you did have to be there—and, like Danville Dave, I was—but that doesn't detract from what I think is the intrinsic value of the song, which exists with or without context.
I guess you guys will let me have it now. Bring it on.
Yeah this was where it was at; they were out there with the best of them, and trip-rocked their asses off and I can still dig this ~ eternal!
Lakeview wrote:
Being there doesn't mean that it's good music. Since when does context mean quality?
Not everyone understands
Being there doesn't mean that it's good music. Since when does context mean quality?
Not everyone understands
It's hard to see but this song was part of a groundbreaking SF movement
a_genuine_find wrote:
ottovonb wrote:
Agree!
I doubt this sounded any better in '67.
Agree!
I doubt this sounded any better in '67.
DaveInVA wrote:
Being there doesn't mean that it's good music. Since when does context mean quality?
I can't believe this song only gets a 5.6 here. Tough crowd. Guess you had to be there. (I was) 
Being there doesn't mean that it's good music. Since when does context mean quality?
scott_bruce wrote:
Dave - Really groovy, maaaaannnnn. But if you claim to have been there in the 60's, and remember it, then you weren't really there...
This comment get tossed around like overcooked spaghetti. The truth is, the only ones who say such a stupid thing are those who are jealous of those of us who were actually there.
Dave - Really groovy, maaaaannnnn. But if you claim to have been there in the 60's, and remember it, then you weren't really there...
johnjconn wrote:
Rather than smash it, put in the box of stuff going to Goodwill.
This is terrible. Do mankind a favor and smash this disc .
Rather than smash it, put in the box of stuff going to Goodwill.
DaveInVA wrote:
Dave - Really groovy, maaaaannnnn. But if you claim to have been there in the 60's, and remember it, then you weren't really there...
I can't believe this song only gets a 5.6 here. Tough crowd. Guess you had to be there. (I was)
Dave - Really groovy, maaaaannnnn. But if you claim to have been there in the 60's, and remember it, then you weren't really there...
Is there a mark for 'troubled, disjointed and just plain blah' music?
A very weak 3
Oh, damn! Can't believe I missed most of this one.
Jefferson Airplane by LegacyRecordings
https://www.flickr.com/photos/legacyrecordings/
https://www.legacyrecordings.com/Jefferson-Airplane.aspx
All rights reserved.
.
Peter, Paul and Mary on acid...? Blecccchh
No. Just... no.
I can't believe this song only gets a 5.6 here. Tough crowd. Guess you had to be there. (I was)
paulmack wrote:
loved reading this. thanks.
From the ratings it's clear that there are a lot of people who don't care for this song. Maybe it's warranted, though not from me. I had this album from the time it first came out (I think in 1967) - I picture myself there in my little SoCal bedroom, head between the speakers of a cheesy little RCA portable stereo which my brother (who shared it with me) and I thought was just totally IT at the time. It took me a couple more years to figure out what JA was all about and when I did this song and everything else on Baxter's made considerably more sense to me.
loved reading this. thanks.
Jesus CHRIST do drugs have a hell of a lot to answer for.
Gregorama wrote:
Excellent point. This one has the whiff of history to me, too. Not that that's a bad thing... I"m actually glad Bill plays it, as it contributes to my ongoing musical education...
It's amazing how some songs stand the test of time, while others get stuck back then. Like this one.
Excellent point. This one has the whiff of history to me, too. Not that that's a bad thing... I"m actually glad Bill plays it, as it contributes to my ongoing musical education...
It's amazing how some songs stand the test of time, while others get stuck back then. Like this one. I guess it's a "You had to be there" sense.
Hannio wrote:
Same here, right down to the cheesy RCA stereo, except the bedroom was in Texas.
Me too but the stereo was my older sister's. In Texas as well (Austin)
8
Same here, right down to the cheesy RCA stereo, except the bedroom was in Texas.
Me too but the stereo was my older sister's. In Texas as well (Austin)
8
Not worth the time
paulmack wrote:
Same here, right down to the cheesy RCA stereo, except the bedroom was in Texas.
From the ratings it's clear that there are a lot of people who don't care for this song. Maybe it's warranted, though not from me. I had this album from the time it first came out (I think in 1967) - I picture myself there in my little SoCal bedroom, head between the speakers of a cheesy little RCA portable stereo which my brother (who shared it with me) and I thought was just totally IT at the time. It took me a couple more years to figure out what JA was all about and when I did this song and everything else on Baxter's made considerably more sense to me.
Same here, right down to the cheesy RCA stereo, except the bedroom was in Texas.
From the ratings it's clear that there are a lot of people who don't care for this song. Maybe it's warranted, though not from me. I had this album from the time it first came out (I think in 1967) - I picture myself there in my little SoCal bedroom, head between the speakers of a cheesy little RCA portable stereo which my brother (who shared it with me) and I thought was just totally IT at the time. It took me a couple more years to figure out what JA was all about and when I did this song and everything else on Baxter's made considerably more sense to me.
Somewhat if not completely unacceptable.
It's "White rabbit" or nothing for me....
subhuti wrote:
For myself, I really enjoy this piece, and a lot of Airplane's pre-Starship stuff. I also like that Bill segued into "Spilt Needles" after it!
JA was my favorite group. OK so it is not as slick and professional as stuff nowadays, but they were in tune with something that has been almost totally lost in today's Plastic Fantastic World. Nowadays every day is like a bad trip. This music got us through a time that was almost as bad as now, and where is all the music that challenges the daily bullsh*T? The JA deliberately scorned the record company when they did this album. It was not as commercially successful as their others, but I think it is also more authentic. Maybe the people who don't like it don't have pimples or wrinkles or bulges. But I hope they still have Somebody to Love. And finally, yes, Two Heads on the same album is emblematic of today's schizoid American consciousness.
For myself, I really enjoy this piece, and a lot of Airplane's pre-Starship stuff. I also like that Bill segued into "Spilt Needles" after it!
Way back I had a GF named Martha, and her heels did indeed rise for me, and a bunch of other "dudes"
my first *1* on RP....
this hippy stuff I can't stand ;-(
this hippy stuff I can't stand ;-(
Can't say that this is my favorite JA song, but it's OK if you listen to it while thinking about the contemporary society and music scene.
I would love to know how and why Jefferson Airplane went from a smart counter-culture band with political and psychedelic leanings to the absolutely schlocky, pompous and hollow Jefferson Starship. What were these people thinking? Did they really think that they were making good music after the change? JA made some bad music along with the good, but JS was just so consistently and relentlessly awful.
Maybe it was all the drugs.
I would love to know how and why Jefferson Airplane went from a smart counter-culture band with political and psychedelic leanings to the absolutely schlocky, pompous and hollow Jefferson Starship. What were these people thinking? Did they really think that they were making good music after the change? JA made some bad music along with the good, but JS was just so consistently and relentlessly awful.
Maybe it was all the drugs.
Beautiful tune.
superfido wrote:
on the contrary, it is what reminds me that JA is one of the more overrated 60-70s bands.
Actually, it's a matter of opinion. "on the contrary" makes no sense in this context. You are perfectly free to share your... opinion... with as many as you like. I hope you are not offended that I decline the offer.
on the contrary, it is what reminds me that JA is one of the more overrated 60-70s bands.
Actually, it's a matter of opinion. "on the contrary" makes no sense in this context. You are perfectly free to share your... opinion... with as many as you like. I hope you are not offended that I decline the offer.
aurora1957 wrote:
on the contrary, it is what reminds me that JA is one of the more overrated 60-70s bands.
This is JAs' very best tune, without a question, and I've always loved it. It's not easy to listen to, not smooth, not soothing. It is warped, yet incredibly lovely, and it is psychedelic rock, an acquired taste; Tuckerman pale ale is a bitter brew, but I enjoy drinking it.
The dissonance skews the feeling evoked, like Aguirre, tilting sideways, lurching, spinning psychotically through the deadly emerald Amazon. It is wrong, I think beautifully, deliberately so, and like a power chord or a live performance, can be legitimately described as less than perfect. To each his own.
Perhaps the mood does not match today's more sophisticated zeitgeist; after all, the subject of this love song's lyric was a 15 year old runaway when Kanter wrote of his affair with her. Different times, indeed.
A perfect 10.
The dissonance skews the feeling evoked, like Aguirre, tilting sideways, lurching, spinning psychotically through the deadly emerald Amazon. It is wrong, I think beautifully, deliberately so, and like a power chord or a live performance, can be legitimately described as less than perfect. To each his own.
Perhaps the mood does not match today's more sophisticated zeitgeist; after all, the subject of this love song's lyric was a 15 year old runaway when Kanter wrote of his affair with her. Different times, indeed.
A perfect 10.
on the contrary, it is what reminds me that JA is one of the more overrated 60-70s bands.
um, let me find my beads and incense......nah - this just doesn't do it anymore
aurora1957 wrote:
Yeah, what he said.
This is JAs' very best tune, without a question, and I've always loved it. It's not easy to listen to, not smooth, not soothing. It is warped, yet incredibly lovely, and it is psychedelic rock, an acquired taste; Tuckerman pale ale is a bitter brew, but I enjoy drinking it.
The dissonance skews the feeling evoked, like Aguirre, tilting sideways, lurching, spinning psychotically through the deadly emerald Amazon. It is wrong, I think beautifully, deliberately so, and like a power chord or a live performance, can be legitimately described as less than perfect. To each his own.
A perfect 10.
The dissonance skews the feeling evoked, like Aguirre, tilting sideways, lurching, spinning psychotically through the deadly emerald Amazon. It is wrong, I think beautifully, deliberately so, and like a power chord or a live performance, can be legitimately described as less than perfect. To each his own.
A perfect 10.
Yeah, what he said.
Dated...in a bad way.
Fail
subhuti wrote:
JA was my favorite group.
OK so it is not as slick and professional as stuff nowadays, but they were in tune with something that has been almost totally lost in today's Plastic Fantastic World.
Nowadays every day is like a bad trip.
This music got us through a time that was almost as bad as now, and where is all the music that challenges the daily bullsh*T?
The JA deliberately scorned the record company when they did this album. It was not as commercially successful as their others, but I think it is also more authentic.
Maybe the people who don't like it don't have pimples or wrinkles or bulges. But I hope they still have Somebody to Love.
And finally, yes, Two Heads on the same album is emblematic of today's schizoid American consciousness.
Jefferson Airplane was my favorite group also and for me "After Bathing At Baxter's" is their best album although it did not sell well. Each of the six members stepped forward more with their song writing, singing and playing and the songs would segue into the next in a stream of consciousness manner. Ten stars for Jack Casady's bass playing on his slightly modified Fender Jazz Bass.
The only part of this song I actually enjoyed was the coda.
Another reminder that it's worth looking into a band's catalog beyond what gets (over)played on the radio. Good song, this.
RParadise wrote:
That's anti-Semitic. We're Semites, not Semetes.
God. Only in this place do I see people correcting other people's corrections.
Clearly you've never been to Slashdot.
Sorry to read that some people hate this. It's actually pretty good, if you allow yourself to genuinely listen, or so it seems to me.
Dam, missed it!!
Quite likeable, but not a patch on the equivalent English bands. ....... still a 7 for me though :)
With a hey nonny NO!
Urk...sucko barfo
Rivals LA's 'X' for dissonant harmonies.
Wonder what ever became of Martha? She was famous in those days, you know.
This is JAs' very best tune, without a question, and I've always loved it. It's not easy to listen to, not smooth, not soothing. It is warped, yet incredibly lovely, and it is psychedelic rock, an acquired taste; Tuckerman pale ale is a bitter brew, but I enjoy drinking it.
The dissonance skews the feeling evoked, like Aguirre, tilting sideways, lurching, spinning psychotically through the deadly emerald Amazon. It is wrong, I think beautifully, deliberately so, and like a power chord or a live performance, can be legitimately described as less than perfect. To each his own.
Perhaps the mood does not match today's more sophisticated zeitgeist; after all, the subject of this love song's lyric was a 15 year old runaway when Kanter wrote of his affair with her. Different times, indeed.
A perfect 10.
JA was my favorite group.
OK so it is not as slick and professional as stuff nowadays, but they were in tune with something that has been almost totally lost in today's Plastic Fantastic World.
Nowadays every day is like a bad trip.
This music got us through a time that was almost as bad as now, and where is all the music that challenges the daily bullsh*T?
The JA deliberately scorned the record company when they did this album. It was not as commercially successful as their others, but I think it is also more authentic.
Maybe the people who don't like it don't have pimples or wrinkles or bulges. But I hope they still have Somebody to Love.
And finally, yes, Two Heads on the same album is emblematic of today's schizoid American consciousness.
I appreciate it as part of rock history. Not the same as enjoyment exactly, but I'm still glad Bill plays stuff like this.
RParadise wrote: Martha, you kill me!
That's anti-Semitic. We're Semites, not Semetes.
God. Only in this place do I see people correcting other people's corrections.
Martha, you kill me!
ThePoose wrote:
The ''heebe-jeebies''? Are you anti-Semetic? Surely you mean ''heebie-jeebies.''
That's anti-Semitic. We're Semites, not Semetes.
God. Only in this place do I see people correcting other people's corrections.
a lot of hostile people out there who can't understand or appreciate this music for what it was....glad I don't hang around any of you..... laughing at Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead...guess they would have the last laugh........it was the 60's....a different time...does everything have to be the same and the best, most highly engineered for you.....too bad.....
garoo1980 wrote:
Anyone remember that Star Trek episode when the hippies came on board? And Spock sang?
Yeah this is that song
Leonard Nimoy's nephew lived in my neighborhood growing up(Leonard's brother in N.J. when everybody had a nickname.We called him "Nimbles".He was everything but.
oldviolin wrote:
I thought it was orange sunshine... 
Orange barrel 4 way hit sunshine.....
Bocephus wrote:
yup...makes no sense if you aren't on 2 hits of yellow sunshine.
I thought it was orange sunshine...
okay, just lost the calm, easy feeling Hem had given me.
Tireux_De_Roche wrote:
This is a perfect example of bad 60's music.
yup...makes no sense if you aren't on 2 hits of yellow sunshine.
i'm really not a trekkie but i remember that! "bitter dregs!"
garoo1980 wrote:
Anyone remember that Star Trek episode when the hippies came on board? And Spock sang?
Yeah this is that song
Somebody was doing a lot of acid when they wrote this song, so it figures that unless you're tripping your ass off this is dreadful.
this is a comedy bit, right?
This is a perfect example of bad 60's music.
miahfost wrote:
This song gives me the heebe-jeebies.
The ''heebe-jeebies''? Are you anti-Semetic? Surely you mean ''heebie-jeebies.''
Anyone remember that Star Trek episode when the hippies came on board? And Spock sang?
Yeah this is that song
This is so bad it's embarrassing. I've never heard anything so out of key. Pure garbage.
See what drugs can do to you?
celt wrote: 
One of my favorite guilty pleasures from JA.
Hey! Save your guilty pleasures for some top 40 songs. JA is never a guilty pleasure. Starship, maybe. JA, never.
Jefferson Airplane on RP! Yowza!
Not one of their best from this outstanding album, but so refreshing to hear nonetheless.
Pshew. Does this take me back.
(Can I have another hit, man?) 
healyf52 wrote:
I love the Recorder. It has a wonderfully wistful sound. There is an incredible Recorder solo on 'Wild Thing' by the Troggs. I think pop music would be well served by bringing this instrument back into the mix..
What about Viv Stanshall's recorder solo on the Bonzos' I'm The Urban Spaceman? Cracking.
Boy i cannot remember when i last heard this one. Not one of the Airplane's best, but thanks so much RP for bringing back memories of my college days.
Wonderful song...I miss my blacklight!
redeyespy wrote:
This one's a wee bit too self-concious, too precious for me. And some of the lyrics make it difficult to keep my breakfast down.
What, you don't know a girl who "sifts the hairy air that's worn and wood-swept?"
Actually, I kinda like the song. Guilty pleasure from the past time. You can hear everyone in the band trying to make it work. And maybe it does, if you take the words as gestures towards a hoped-for future, and not as a description of anything real.
tcarole wrote:
My husband just said, "Man, these guys sing even worse than the Grateful Dead" and I have to agree. This is so bad we are laughing.
Yeah, too bad some record company pro didn't tell them back then, as they were too out of it to notice! I remember laughing at the recording even back then. They did make some professional sounding songs - Lather and Triad come to mind...
Troubador folksong sound. Nice
chucklesalmon wrote:
...Guitars are out of tune, singing is awful, "harmonies" are beyond pathetic...
My sentiments exactly. Sorta typical of Jefferson Airplane from this era, IMHO.
redeyespy wrote:
This one's a wee bit too self-concious, too precious for me. And some of the lyrics make it difficult to keep my breakfast down.
Oh My God, you're right. This song was played after the wonderful HEM. Similar style, but this one sounds like a parody.
Not sure if it should bein "This is Spinal Tap" or "A Mighty Wind".
Guitars are out of tune, singing is awful, "harmonies" are beyond pathetic.
YUK! (but kinda funny). People must have had a GREAT time in the Sixties to have good associated memories with such crap.
My husband just said, "Man, these guys sing even worse than the Grateful Dead" and I have to agree. This is so bad we are laughing.
This one's a wee bit too self-concious, too precious for me. And some of the lyrics make it difficult to keep my breakfast down.
capandjudy wrote:
If I had only 10 "desert island" albums this surely would be one of them. JA was my favorite group from the 1960s not counting the Beatles and "Baxters" is my favorite piece of work by those guys. This was their freshest, most innovative, and hopeful collection of music (at least that is the way I experienced it--W/O drugs I might add.)
If this was one of my 10 "desert island" albums, I'd make a swim for it.
me and meghan89 don't like this one, 'tall
Love Martha....how about Lather?
always good for a chuckle...
Spliff wrote:
One of the best albums of my past.
If I had only 10 "desert island" albums this surely would be one of them. JA was my favorite group from the 1960s not counting the Beatles and "Baxters" is my favorite piece of work by those guys. This was their freshest, most innovative, and hopeful collection of music (at least that is the way I experienced it--W/O drugs I might add.)
"No man is an island...he's a peninsula." 
Like the times themselves, this incarnation of JA was a wonderful, perfect coming together of all the right elements. Never to be again.
I heard this played live at American University when Jefferson Airplane did a gig there outdoors behind what is now, I think, the intramural buildings.
Man, I feel like it's the Summer of Love all over again.
Awful
This song gives me the heebe-jeebies.
love the mix of different tunes. not a fan of this one
skooney wrote:
Yeah, and more Cow Bell! 
Mountain's 'Mississippi Queen' had an ass-kicking cow-bell riff!!
healyf52 wrote:
I love the Recorder. It has a wonderfully wistful sound. There is an incredible Recorder solo on 'Wild Thing' by the Troggs. I think pop music would be well served by bringing this instrument back into the mix..
Yeah, and more Cow Bell!
I was going to ask if you were stoned.... however considering your screen name........
Spliff wrote:
One of the best albums of my past.
ScopArch wrote:
Great group, fantastic album, representative song (There are better on the album, e.g. Ballad Of You & Me Pooneil )
Saturday Afternoon.
I love the Recorder. It has a wonderfully wistful sound. There is an incredible Recorder solo on 'Wild Thing' by the Troggs. I think pop music would be well served by bringing this instrument back into the mix..
ScopArch wrote:
Great group, fantastic album, representative song (There are better on the album, e.g. Ballad Of You & Me Pooneil )
Two Heads!
Great group, fantastic album, representative song (There are better on the album, e.g. Ballad Of You & Me Pooneil )
One of the best albums of my past.
..............i............reallyrespecttheairplanestarshiprocketsledwhatever......................
thank you for playing something a little off the beaten track from these folks. Unmistakably 60s, but that's all right. They do some interesting stuff.
Wow, this takes me back. Quintessential JA. Where's my headband?