Is This A Rock Music Band?
Many among us who lived through The Monkees era believe that they were a fake band who don’t deserve to be mentioned in any history of rock music. The Monkees were developed as a TV show, subsequently spun off to record sales and “live” performances on other TV variety shows. They could sing, but at the beginning none of them played any instruments. Backup musicians were brought in to the recording sessions that produced their releases. Pleasant Valley Sunday was recorded as a single which was released in July 1967 and added later to their fourth album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. in November 1967. I would say that this song, and in fact anything that was put out by The Monkees is Pop Rock, at the best. I’m being generous.
Information About The Song
Written by Gerry Goffin and Carol King while they were married and living together in West Orange, New Jersey, the inspiration for the song was supplied by a street name close by, Pleasant Valley Way. When you consider where they lived, and look closely at the lyrics, you could come to the conclusion that this was a commentary on suburban life. Carole wrote or co-wrote literally hundreds of songs and was heavily involved in political and environmental activism, so this would make sense. In a 1978 interview, Mike Nesmith stated “I hate to pop your balloon about ‘Pleasant Valley Sunday’. That song was actually written about a mental institution”. Was he joking? I don’t know. I would lean towards the notion that the writers were making commentary on the state of modern suburban life.
By the time this song was recorded (it was their fourth single), the four members of The Monkees (Davy Jones – Micky Dolenz – Peter Tork – Mike Nesmith) had picked up some ability to play instruments. During the actual recording session at RCA Victor Studios in Hollywood, California, Micky Dolenz was lead vocalist, Michael Nesmith played electric guitar and added harmony vocals, Peter Tork was on electric piano, Davy Jones was backing vocalist and played the maracas. Backing musicians: Bill Chadwick was on acoustic guitar, Chip Douglas played bass guitar and “Fast” Eddie Hoh beat the drums. Chip Douglas was also the producer during the recording session.
Lyrics As Commentary
I’ll let you decide what Gerry Goffin and Carol King were trying to say with this song. With lyrics such as “Rows of houses that are all the same; And no one seems to care”, “Mr. Green he’s so serene, He’s got a t.v. in every room”, “Here in status symbol land; Mothers complain about how hard life is”, and “Creature comfort goals; They only numb my soul and make it hard for me to see”. I really can’t see the meaning of this song being anything else but a negative commentary on suburban life. Who’d have ever thought that The Monkees would do a protest song about the very societal structure that they were counting on for their success. I certainly never viewed this song in that connotation. That should teach us to actually listen to and understand the lyrics!
Watch this video of The Monkees lip-syncing and fake-playing their instruments during their performance of
Pleasant Valley Sunday
The local rock group down the street
Is trying hard to learn their song
Seranade the weekend squire, who just came out to mow his lawn
Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
Charcoal burning everywhere
Rows of houses that are all the same
And no one seems to care
See Mrs. Gray she’s proud today because her roses are in bloom
Mr. Green he’s so serene, He’s got a t.v. in every room
Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
Here in status symbol land
Mothers complain about how hard life is
And the kids just don’t understand
Creature comfort goals
They only numb my soul and make it hard for me to see
My thoughts all seem to stray, to places far away
I need a change of scenery
Ta Ta Ta …
Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
Charcoal burning everywhere
Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
Here in status symbol land
Another Pleasant Valley Sunday …
Writers: Gerry Goffin and Carol King
