"Our Own World"

The second verse of "Our Own World" starts with the lines "We been writing rhymes / And trading lines / It sounds so good."  That "good" is sung with a melisma (G Bb G F G Bb G F), musically giving a sense of degree (for that "so").

"She Makes Me Laugh"

In the chorus of "She Makes Me Laugh," there's the line "And I could hang out with her all day and night."  "Day and night" is a merism.

"Good Times"

I still have quite a few notes from the last two years that I need to flesh out into posts here.  I'm going to try to catch up over the next week or so.

In the lines "Till there's dancin' in the streets again / And music ev'rywhere" in "Good Times," the three syllables of "ev'rywhere" are each sung to a different pitch (Eb D C), musically giving a sense of that breadth.

Changes

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, the Monkees' ninth album - Changes (Colgems COS-119) - was released in the U.S. fifty years ago this month (June 1970).  Sandoval doesn't mention a U.K. release.

Side One:

1. "Oh My My"
2. "Ticket on a Ferry Ride"
3. "You're So Good to Me"
4. "It's Got to Be Love"
5. "Acapulco Sun"
6. "99 Pounds"

Side Two:

1. "Tell Me Love"
2. "Do You Feel It Too?"
3. "I Love You Better"
4. "All Alone in the Dark"
5. "Midnight Train"
6. "I Never Thought It Peculiar"

"Pleasant Valley Sunday"

This morning I was thinking about "Pleasant Valley Sunday," and I realized a number of features in it.

Just in thinking about the song, I realized that the three syllables of "ev'rywhere" in the line "Charcoal burnin' ev'rywhere" are all sung to different pitches (C A G), musically giving a sense of that breadth.

When I read the lyrics, I discovered some other things.  In the first verse, the ends of the lines don't really rhyme:

The local rock group down the street is tryin' hard to learn their song
They serenade the weekend squier who just came out to mow his lawn

The slant rhyme between "song" and "lawn" illustrates that the "local rock group" hasn't learned its song well enough.  It's not quite what it's supposed to be yet.  Additionally, the use of a plural possessive ("their") in place of a singular ("its") grammatically demonstrates something of a division within the group; they're not acting as a whole.

The second verse does have line-ending rhymes, and there's also internal rhyme:

See Mrs. Gray; she's proud today because her roses are in bloom
And Mr. Green, he's so serene; he's got a TV in ev'ry room

These added rhymes give a sense of the perfection of the "pleasant valley."  Because these rhymes include characters' names, there's also a sense of how ingrained this perfection is and how essential it is for those who live there.

In referencing the recording again, I also noticed that "room" in the backing vocals is sung with a melisma (G F#), for a sense of "ev'ry."

In the last line of the bridge ("I need a change of scenery"), "scenery" is sung with a melisma (B A G# F# E), musically giving a sense of that "change."  There's also a shift in octave between the A and G#, which emphasizes this.

"Whatever's Right"

Last night, I figured out the guitar phrase and chords in "Whatever's Right" and noticed a few interesting musical features.

Like the riff in "Last Train to Clarksville," the first two notes of the guitar phrase are Gs an octave apart.  Both songs were written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, so I think this might be an intentional resemblance.

While the song is in G major, there are quite a few chords that contain accidentals:  E major (G# accidental), A major (C# accidental), C minor (Eb accidental), and D minor (F natural accidental).  This disregard of what notes "should" be in G major musically represents the sentiment of the song:  "I know that you'll do whatever's right."

At the end of the line "And even if it doesn't turn out like I planned," the chords change from C major to C minor, which musically demonstrates the feeling of disappointment in that lyric.

"Here Come the Monkees"

A little over a year ago, I was thinking about the song that the Monkees sing in "Here Come the Monkees" in order to help Vanessa Russell study for her history test.  I think the words are:

When Patrick Henry was in Virginia
He made a speech we all recall
He said to the people of a Charlotte town,
"United we stand, divided we fall"

The melody is something like:

What I realized back in March last year is that "divided we fall" is sung to a descending phrase (G G Gb F Eb), musically illustrating that "fall[ing]."  One of the tune's two accidentals occurs in the same phrase, which gives a sense of dissidence.  In the opposite sort of illustration, almost all of "United we stand" is sung to the same pitch (Eb).

"Oh My My" b/w "I Love You Better"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "Oh My My" b/w "I Love You Better" - the Monkees' twelfth and final single (Colgems 5011) - was released in the U.S. fifty years ago this month (April 1970).  The U.K. release (RCA 1958) was "probably 1970."

"I'll Be True to You"

Earlier this month, I learned about half of the glockenspiel part in "I'll Be True to You" (up to the bridge).  I'd tried to figure it out once or twice before without getting anywhere; the difference this time was that instead of trying to figure it out with a glockenspiel voice on my keyboard, I used an actual glockenspiel.  I got one over the summer.

I added a bit of reverb, but it still sounds more clunky than shimmering.  I've known the guitar chords for about a year and a half, but what I play sounds a bit simplified compared to the original.

"(Theme from) The Monkees"

This morning I was thinking about the theme from The Monkees, and I realized a small thing about the lines "Anytime / Or anywhere."  The syllables of both "anytime" and "anywhere" are all sung to different pitches (C D E for "anytime" and E G A for "anywhere").  Musically, this gives a sense of the breadth of possibility.

The Monkees Present

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, the Monkees' eighth album - The Monkees Present (Colgems COS-117) - was released in the U.S. fifty years ago this month (October 1969).  Sandoval doesn't mention a U.K. release.

Side One:

1. "Little Girl"
2. "Good Clean Fun"
3. "If I Knew"
4. "Bye Bye Baby Bye Bye"
5. "Never Tell a Woman Yes"
6. "Looking for the Good Times"

Side Two:

1. "Ladies Aid Society"
2. "Listen to the Band"
3. "French Song"
4. "Mommy and Daddy"
5. "Oklahoma Backroom Dancer"
6. "Pillow Time"

"Good Clean Fun" b/w "Mommy and Daddy"

According to Andrew Sandoval's The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the 60s TV Pop Sensation, "Good Clean Fun" b/w "Mommy and Daddy" - the Monkees' eleventh single (Colgems 5005) - was released in the U.S. fifty years ago this month (September 1969).  The U.K. release (RCA 1887) was "late 1969 or early 1970."