In 1968, The 5th Dimension had a big hit with the song “Stoned Soul Picnic.” The late Laura Nyro, who wrote the song, also recorded and released it. Nyro, who died from ovarian cancer at the young age of 49, was a prolific songwriter and penned such tunes as “Eli’s Coming,” “Blowin’ Away,” “Wedding Bell Blues,” “And When I Die:” and “Stoney End.” The girlfriend of Jackson Browne at one time, Nyro was the inspiration for people like Elton John, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones and Todd Rundgren.
Stoned Soul Picnic had interesting lyrics that were often open to interpretation. Some believe the word “surry,” which Nyro referred to as a “nice word,” and thought to be a neologism (a word that Nyro coined), is more likely an amalgamation of “let’s hurry.” If you say “let’s hurry” quickly, you hear the word “surry.” That would fit with the rest of the lyrics as well.
Many also attribute some deeper drug meaning to the term “stoned soul picnic,” which is probably over-stating the true meaning. It is not unusual to bring wine on a picnic; much more likely than bringing pot or some other drug. (“There’ll be lots of time and wine”) Enjoying wine with picnic food, and maybe some soul food like fried chicken, is a logical conclusion to Nyro’s lyrical thought process on the song. Suggesting that hard drugs, or even marijuana, has a role in a picnic, is less likely and a stretch.
The 5th Dimension, made up of Lamonte McLemore, Marilyn McCoo, Florence LaRue, Ronald Townson and Billy Davis Jr. had a slew of hits with their remarkable harmonies. Not long after “Stoned Soul Picnic,” The 5th Dimension had hits with greats like “Aquarius/Let the Sunshine In,” earlier, “Up, Up and Away,” and later “Wedding Bell Blues,” “Never My Love,” “Last Night, I Didn’t Sleep at All,” and many others.
Nyro’s songs sometimes included some interesting Christian lyrics like “I was raised on the good book Jesus ’til I read between the lines” in Stoney End and “And from the sky come the Lord and the lightning,” in Stoned Soul Picnic, a reference that sounds like it describes the Second Coming.
This may be why two of Nyro’s songs were such big hits for The 5th Dimension. Both Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis Jr. are Christians. Davis became a Christian because of the influence of McCoo after they were married. McCoo and Davis spun off from The 5th Dimension and had their own mega-hit in 1976; “You Don’t Have To Be A Star (To Be In My Show).
