Most red-blooded Canuck-rock fans over 40 have memories of their favourite Guess Who tune. Some prefer the riff-driven bluesiness and sneering attitude of “American Woman”; others are more drawn to the celebratory, peace-and-togetherness vibe of “Share the Land”.
There may even be a few sad sacks out there who rate the band’s final Top 10 hit, “Clap for the Wolfman”, as number one. But I’ll take “Undun” any day. To me, that 1969 gem—with its jazz-inflected chords, percolating bass runs, and tasty flute solo—is the Guess Who’s shining moment. When I reach original guitarist Randy Bachman by phone at his home near Victoria, he explains that he feels that way sometimes himself.
“A lotta times people ask me what my favourite song is,” he relates, “and when I’m in the mood I’ll say ‘Undun’, because it’s so different than anything else. It’s not a standard pop song; it doesn’t have a big chorus that you’d sing along with. And in its day it was even more weird. I remember the joy of hearing that on the radio, figuring ‘Wow, a song with more than three chords,’ you know, ‘with lyrics that don’t rhyme.’ ”
The lyrical seed for “Undun”—which was originally released as the B-side of the single “Laughing”—was planted at a Vancouver party that the band attended in 1967. Bachman, who was soon to embrace the Mormon faith, wasn’t too impressed when the era’s drug of choice made an appearance at the bash. “I was very frightened at this party when the acid came out,” he recalls, “so I just left.”
But one unfortunate young woman took the drug, freaked out, and was taken away in an ambulance. When Bachman heard that she wound up in a coma, he had the inspiration for “Undun”, but it took a lyrical nudge from Bob Dylan for the song to reach full bloom. Bachman recalls that he was staying at the Sands Hotel on Davie in ’67, listening to the Flower Power Hour on the then-new CKLG-FM, when Dylan’s “Ballad in Plain D” came on the air. The verse-heavy number seemed to go on forever.
“I got sick of it,” he says, “and was just about to lean over and turn the radio off when I heard Dylan say ‘She’s come undone.’ I went ‘Wow!’, ’cause for years I had had this light little melody and a chord progression, but neither Burton [Cummings] nor I could think of any lyrics.
“So I scribbled down ‘She’s come undone,’ and then just wrote the whole song out. I ran next door to show Burton, and he said, ‘Congratulations, you’ve written this song alone; I can’t add anything to it. It’s weird, but it’s perfect.’ ” From: https://earofnewt.com/2014/12/13/randy-bachman-recalls-how-dylan-lyrics-and-vancouver-acid-inspired-the-guess-whos-undun/
