Tuesday, January 11, 2022

"Ditty Diego - War Chant"

This morning, I was thinking about "Ditty Diego - War Chant" from the Head soundtrack.  Years ago, I'd read somewhere that the first and last sections are meant to be reminiscent of the theme song from the television show.  Instead of "Hey, hey, we're the Monkees," however, it's "Hey, hey, we are the Monkees."  One of the bonus tracks on the CD includes some of the recording session, and Peter brings up this difference when he asks, "This last time it says, 'Hey, hey, we're the...' wouldn't it shouldn't be 'Hey, hey, we are the...' again?"  As an answer, he receives a sort of flippant, "Yeah, do it that way," but I think it's significant that these non-contracted forms are used.  They're much less natural that "we're" (especially after hearing "we're the Monkees" in the theme song dozens of times), and this stiltedness demonstrates the same sort of artificiality mentioned in the piece itself:  "A manufactured image with no philosophies."