 The song was responsible for the naming of the musical subgenre raga rock , when journalist Sally Kempton , in her review of the single for The Village Voice , used the term to describe the record 's experimental fusion of eastern and western music . However , although Kempton was the first person to use the term raga rock in print , she had actually borrowed the phrase from the promotional material that the Byrds ' press office had supplied to accompany the " Eight Miles High " single release . In a 1968 interview for the Pop Chronicles radio documentary , McGuinn denied that the song was in fact an example of raga rock , while Crosby , speaking in 1998 , dismissed the term entirely , stating " they kept trying to label us ; every time we turned around , they came up with a new one ... it 's a bunch of bullshit . " Nonetheless , the experimental nature of the song placed the Byrds firmly at the forefront of the burgeoning psychedelic movement , along with the Yardbirds , the Beatles , Donovan and the Rolling Stones , who were all exploring similar musical territory concurrently . 
