"The Wizard" | ||||
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Single by Uriah Heep | ||||
from the album Demons and Wizards | ||||
B-side | Why | |||
Released | May 1972 | |||
Format | 7" | |||
Genre | Progressive rock, folk rock | |||
Length | 2:59 | |||
Label |
Bronze Mercury |
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Writer(s) | Ken Hensley, Mark Clarke | |||
Uriah Heep singles chronology | ||||
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"The Wizard" is a single from rock band Uriah Heep's 1972 album Demons & Wizards and was the first single to be lifted from the album. It was composed by Mark Clarke and Ken Hensley. It is a gentle, semi-acoustic ballad whose lyrics deal with a man wandering until he meets "the Wizard of a thousand kings", a possible reference to the druid Merlin, to Gandalf, to an angel, to a bodhisattva, or even God. This song is the first Uriah Heep single which had a music video.
The song was composed by keyboardist-guitarist Ken Hensley and the band's short time bassist Mark Clarke. "The Wizard" also was the only composition that includes Clarke as a member of the band. The song charted at #34 in Germany and at #8 in Switzerland.