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"Colours"
Dutch (Pye / Negram) sleeve
Single by Donovan
from the album Fairytale
B-side	"To Sing for You" (UK) " Josie" (United States)
Released	28 May 1965 (UK) June 1965 (United States)
Recorded	1965
Genre	Folk [1]
Length	2:44 (Side A) 2:46 ("To Sing For You") 3:29 ("Josie")
Label	Pye 7N15866 (UK) Hickory 45-1324 (United States)
Songwriter(s)	Donovan Leitch
Producer(s)	Terry Kennedy, Peter Eden, Geoff Stephens
Donovan UK singles chronology
" Catch the Wind" (1965) "Colours" (1965) " Turquoise" (1965)
Donovan USA singles chronology
" Catch the Wind" (1965) "Colours" (1965) " Universal Soldier" (1965)

"Colours" is a song written and recorded by British singer-songwriter Donovan. ^[2] The "Colours" single was released in the United Kingdom on 28 May 1965 through Pye Records (Pye 7N 15866) and a few months later in the United States through Hickory Records (Hickory 45-1324). The "Colours" single was backed with "To Sing for You" (previously included on What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid) on the United Kingdom release and " Josie" (from What's Bin Did and What's Bin Hid) on the United States release.

Release and reception

Donovan followed up the success of " Catch the Wind" with "Colours", which featured a similar folk style. The single matched the success of "Catch the Wind" in the United Kingdom, reaching No. 4 on the charts. ^[3] In the United States, "Colours" reached No.61, ^[4] and marked a decline in the artist's popularity relative to "Catch the Wind". A different mix of the song (without harmonica) was released on his second album Fairytale. Billboard praised the "intriguing lyric and melody." ^[5] Cash Box described it as a "tender, slow-moving, rhythmic pledge of romantic devotion sold by the songster in his distinctive Bob Dylan-ish style." ^[6]

When Epic Records was compiling Donovan's Greatest Hits, they were either unable or unwilling to secure the rights to the original recordings of "Catch the Wind" and "Colours". Donovan re-recorded both songs in the studio with Big Jim Sullivan playing guitar, John Paul Jones on bass and keyboards and Clem Cattini on drums, produced by Mickie Most. The re-recordings were included on the greatest hits album.

Other versions by Donovan

• A live duet with Joan Baez from the 1965 Newport Folk Festival ^[2] is included on the 1995 compilation Folk Music at Newport, Part 1.
• The 2002 album Pied Piper features a re-recorded version by Donovan with new lyrics for children.
• The 2002 film The Rules of Attraction features a re-recorded version by Donovan which would after be used in various television commercials.

Covers by others

• Joan Baez included a solo version of "Colours" on her 1965 album Farewell, Angelina.
• In 1967, Van Dyke Parks created a (loose) instrumental adaptation of this song titled "Donovan's Colours", which was released as a single (credited to George Washington Brown) and as a track on Parks' first album Song Cycle, respectively. This version features mostly the original chord progression, albeit in completely different ragtime arrangement.
• Donovan collaborated with the Spanish group Mocedades for a cover of the song with Spanish/English lyrics included in the latter's 1986 album Colores.
• Claudine Longet covered the song on her 1968 album titled Colours
• Patty Duke covered the song--spelled "Colors"--on her 1968 album Patty Duke Sings Folk Songs: Time to Move On, but the album sat unreleased for 40 years.
• Terence Stamp covered the song in the 1967 film Poor Cow. Footage of Stamp singing the song in this film would later appear as a closing flashback in the 1999 film The Limey which also starred Stamp.
• A cover of the song, released in 1990, was the first single of British art rock duo No-Man and the first release under their current name (their first releases from 1989 had their previous moniker "No Man Is An Island"). ^[7] The later re-release of the song had an original song, "Drink Judas", as a b-side. ^[8] Both songs were later included in the duo's 1992 third EP: Lovesighs – An Entertainment, with "Drink Judas" being re-recorded and "Colours" remixed. ^[9]
• Finbar Furey included a version of "Colours" on his 2012 album of the same name. ^[10]
• "Žlutá" by Zdena Lorencová was released in Czechoslovakia in 1972. This interpretation has lyrics in Czech, which are mainly about yellow ( Czech: žlutá).

References

External links

• Colours (Single) – Donovan Unofficial Site Archived 18 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine