Donovan had released a series of successful singles and albums since 1965, making him one of the biggest pop stars of the era and a key symbol for the 60s "flower child" generation.

His original concept for the album was to be titled Moon in Capricorn, consisting of a series of gentle acoustic children's songs similar to the For Little Ones disc of A Gift from a Flower to a Garden.

All of these songs except "Atlantis", "I Love My Shirt" and "To Susan on the West Coast Waiting" were shelved while Donovan's Greatest Hits was still high in the charts.

"Stromberg Twins" and "Snakeskin" were also recorded by Donovan and the Jeff Beck Group, but they remained unreleased until they appeared as bonus tracks on the 2005 UK reissue of the album.

The inclusion of "Atlantis", the title track and "To Susan on the West Coast Waiting" helped make Barabajagal a strong seller in the United States, where it peaked at number 23.

The Sunshine Superman recording in an early acid-rock style was released on Troubadour: The Definitive Collection 1964–1976, while the jazzier Mellow Yellow outtake appeared as a bonus track on the 2005 CD reissue.

[11] Conversely, Robert Christgau of The Village Voice sarcastically stated "praise him for putting the worst cuts on one side and recommend this to all the gentle people, while they die of the droops.

"[6] Retrospectively, Bruce Eder of AllMusic gave four stars and enthused "With Barabajagal, Donovan intermingled soft, lyrical, spaced-out folk, hard psychedelia, children's songs, anthems to free love, and even antiwar sentiments ("To Susan on the West Coast Waiting").