The Mamas & The Papas - Safe In My Garden

"Safe In My Garden" dates from the end of the classic period of the Mamas & The Papas (1965-1968), and is from the last album they released at the time. It's not John Phillips's most earwormy song, but for that reason it's played less often, and it's still very good. The elegiac tone suits the mood of both the band (on the verge of splitting apart) and the nation (on the verge of splitting apart) in the spring of 1968. Correspondingly, the lyrics speak of a need for refuge in a time of pain and chaos. The voice of Cass Elliott when she sings "Take us away" is still a small bit of transcendence forty years later, and the biggest reason I keep coming back to this song.