"Dear Mr. Fantasy" is a rock song by Traffic from their 1967 album, Mr. Fantasy. An extended live version (10:57) of the song also appears on the 1971 Traffic album Welcome to the Canteen. The lyrics were written by Jim Capaldi, while the music was written by Steve Winwood and Chris Wood.
The song has been covered by the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Big Sugar and by Crosby, Stills, & Nash.[citation needed] Crosby, Stills, and Nash added two new stanzas to their version's lyrics.
The song was performed on throughout the 1980s by the Grateful Dead with keyboardist Brent Mydland on vocals. Phil Lesh and Friends, Gov't Mule and Widespread Panic occasionally cover the song. It also appeared on The Live Adventures of Mike Bloomfield and Al Kooper. American hard rock band Tesla recorded it for the album Real to Reel (2007) and the Chicano rock band Los Lobos has played the song live, segueing into it from one of their own compositions.
Lyrics
Dear Mister Fantasy, play us a tune
Something to make us all happy
Do anything, take us out of this gloom
Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy
You are the one who can make us all laugh
But doing that, you break out in tears
Please don't be sad if it was a straight mind you had
We wouldn't have known you all these years
Dear Mister Fantasy, play us a tune
Something to make us all happy
Do anything, take us out of this gloom
Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy (yeah)
Dear Mister Fantasy, play us a tune
Something to make us all happy
Do anything, take us out of this gloom
Sing a song, play guitar, make it snappy
You are the one who can make us all laugh
But doing that, you break out in tears
Please don't be sad if it was a straight mind you had
We wouldn't have known you all these years
