Lyrics Season Of The Witch

Understanding the Song Behind the Lyrics

"Season of the Witch" was written by Donovan Leitch and released in 1966 as the B-side to "Sunshine Superman." It's one of those tracks that looks simple on the surface but contains more musical and lyrical ambiguity than most people give it credit for. I spent a lot of time with this song back when I was trying to get into British Invasion-era music and realized how many covers have obscured the original version. The song is set in a world where seasonal change isn't just weather it's a force that demands something from everyone who lives through it. The narrator encounters a woman in the street and asks whether she's a witch. That question drives the entire piece. It raises the stakes immediately without any setup or exposition.

Lyrics Season Of The Witch Full Text

I'll tell you things you never know, I'll tell you things you never see
I'll give you gifts that make you cry, every gift of ecstasy
Season of the witch, is upon us, yes it is
Take my hand, we'll be together, from the season of the witch Sitting in an autumn tree, watching leaves begin to fall
Wondering which one will be me, it's getting late, I'd better go
I see it in your eyes my dear, I see it in your eyes
A little fear, a little desire, I feel it in the air tonight Who can deny it, who can deny it?
Season of the witch, is upon us, yes it is
Take my hand, we'll be together, from the season of the witch

As I pass a woman in the street, looking in her eyes
I can see that she's a witch, can't you see that she's a witch? It is not easy to find complete, official sources for these Lyrics Season Of The Witch from the original Donovan release, and that's because the song existed in multiple live and studio variations over the years. I ran into this exact problem a few years ago when I was compiling a reference sheet for a friend. I found three slightly different versions across the studio album, a BBC session recording, and a live version from 1967. The bridge section "I'll tell you things you never know" appears in the studio take but gets rearranged in the live version. My workaround was straightforward I cross-referenced the 1966 EP "The Hurdy Gurdy Man" with the full-length album "The Hurdy Gurdy Man" and used the earliest released version as the primary text, then noted the variations. If you're doing this for performance purposes, check what version your band actually learned from. Most guitar charts online default to the studio version. One thing most people miss about this song is the meter. Donovan wrote it in a way that makes it feel like 4/4 time but the phrasing drags across bar lines in a way that makes it sit somewhere between straight folk and what you'd later call progressive rock. When you're transcribing or learning it, don't just count four-four and expect it to lock in. Listen to how Donovan places his words, especially in "Season of the witch is upon us." That line takes up more time than a strict 4/4 measure would allow. The guitar part uses a descending bass line that moves chromatically at points, which is unusual for a pop song of that era and makes it sound more tense than the chord progression alone would suggest.

Another counter-intuitive detail is the key. The original recording is in D minor, but Donovan plays it with a modal flavor that leans heavily on the D Phrygian dominant scale at times. That gives the song its unsettling quality. If you're trying to play along with the record and you nail the chords perfectly but it still sounds wrong, this is probably why. The vocal melody doesn't follow a standard minor scale either. It dips into notes that sit outside the key signature, which is another reason so many cover versions sound different. The Donny Hathaway cover from 1972 is a completely different arrangement. It shifts the song into a slower, more gospel-tinged groove and changes the emotional weight entirely. Some people only know that version. If you're learning this song and your source is the Hathaway arrangement, the harmony is richer but the structure is more compressed. The verses are shorter and some lines get dropped. Factor that in depending on what you're using it for. There's also a notable cover by Soft Machine from 1970 that reworks the entire tempo and feel into a jazz-rock instrumental. It's worth listening to if you want to understand how far the song's structure can be stretched, but it's not representative of the original composition. I've seen too many beginners try to learn from that version and then get confused when it doesn't match anything else out there.

If you're looking to download or access these lyrics for personal study, the main issue you'll run into is that most lyric sites have incomplete or incorrect versions, especially for the Bridge section. A few reliable sources include the official Donovan website, music publishing databases like Musicnotes or Sheet Music Direct, and the liner notes from reissued versions of "The Hurdy Gurdy Man." Fan-transcribed versions on sites like Genius often contain errors from misheard lyrics, particularly in the faster-paced sections. The song's enduring presence in covers and samples speaks to its flexibility. It's been covered by artists ranging from folk revivalists to hard rock bands, and each one makes different choices about how to handle the ambiguous lyrics and shifting time feel. That ambiguity is the point. Donovan never really answered what the witch represents, and the song works because it refuses to pin itself down. It just sits there in that space between menace and wonder and lets the listener fill in the gaps.