Traffic

Released: December 8, 1967

Songwriter: Steve Winwood Jim Capaldi

Producer: Jimmy Miller

So you think you're having good times
With the boy that you just met
Kicking sand from beach to beach
Your clothes are soaking wet
But if you look around and see
A shadow on the run
Don't be too upset because it's just a paper sun

Ahh Paper Sun
Ahh Paper Sun

In the room where you've been sleeping
All your clothes are thrown about
Cigarettes burn window sills
Your meter's all run out
But then again it's nothing
You just split when day is done
Hitching lifts to nowhere, hung up on the paper sun

Standing in the cool of my room
Fresh cut flowers give me sweet perfume
Too much sun will burn!

When you're feeling tired and lonely
You see people going home
You can't make the train fare
Or the sixpence for the phone
And icicles you're crying
Down your cheek have just begun
Don't be sad, good times are had
Beneath the paper sun

Daylight breaks while you sleep on the sand
A seagull is stealing the ring from your hand
The boy who had given you so much fun
Has left you so cold in the paper sun

British psychedelic pop/rock band Traffic found success in both the UK and the US, captivating listeners with a broad array of genre-bending instrumentation.

Traffic was formed in 1967 when Steve Winwood parted ways with the Spencer Davis Group to join drummer Jim Capaldi, guitarist Dave Mason, and woodwind and keys player Chris Wood in their exploration of psychedelia and the tougher variations of late-sixties rock.

Traffic performing live at Woodstock in 1994

more tracks from the album

The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys

From the albums

Mr. Fantasy (US Version) (1968)
The Finer Things (1995)
The Definitive Collection (1999)
Strangely Strange But Oddly Normal - An Island Anthology 1967-1972 (2005)
Gold (2005)

Traffic popular songs

Paper SunTraffic

Traffic

The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys