After numerous successful albums and popularity, 1967 saw a shift in the lineup of The Lovin’ Spoonful. The group’s lead guitarist and co-founder Zal Yanovsky had been arrested on a marijuana-related drug charges. Having been born in Canada and now living in the United States, Yanovsky was forced to either give up his drug dealer’s name or face deportation. After Yanovsky rolled over on his drug dealer to save his own skin, he was ostracized by the local San Francisco music community. Ironically, this led him to choose quitting The Lovin’ Spoonful and moving back to Canada.
The song heard below comes from the band’s sixth album, Everything Playing, which was the band’s first album without Yanovsky. Yanovsky’s permanent replacement was Jerry Yester, formerly of the Modern Folk Quartet. The album would also be the last to feature John Sebastian, as the following year Sebastian would part ways to forge his own solo career. As with most of the songs on the album, the song below was written by John Sebastian. It was definitely one of the highlights on Everything Playing.
The Lovin' Spoonful - Younger Generation (1967)
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Lyrics:
Why must every generation think their folks are square?
And no matter where their heads are, they know moms ain’t there
‘cause I swore when I was small that I’d remember when
I knew what’s wrong with them that I was smaller than
Determined to remember all the cardinal rules
Like sun showers are legal grounds for cutting school
I know I have forgotten maybe one or two
And I hope that I recall them all before the baby’s due
And I know he’ll have a question or two
Like, “Hey, pop, can I go ride my zoom?”
“It goes two hundred miles an hour suspended on balloons”
And, “Can I put a droplet of this new stuff on my tongue?”
“And imagine frothing dragons while you sit and wreck your lungs?”
And I must be permissive, understanding of the younger generation
And then, I’ll know that all I’ve learned, my kid assumes
And all my deepest worries must be his cartoons
And still, I’ll try to tell him all the things I’ve done
Relating to what he can do when he becomes a man
And still, he’ll stick his fingers in the fan
And, Hey, pop, my girlfriend’s only three
She’s got her own videophone and she’s taking LSD
And now that we’re best friends she wants to give a bit to me
But what’s the matter, daddy? How come you’re turning green?
Can it be that you can’t live up to your dreams?
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