The Monkees - Mommy and Daddy [Original Lyrics] (1969)

In early 1969, Peter Tork left The Monkees. He claimed his reason was exhaustion, but with rising tensions amongst the group members and his absence from the band lasting until 1986, it was probably much more than that. Continuing on without Tork, the remaining group members, Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, and Michael Nesmith, created their seventh album, Instant Replay. In October 1969, their eighth studio album, The Monkees Present, was released. This eighth album would prove to be Nesmith’s last, as he had been working on creating a country-rock band called the First National Band. With The Monkees down to just Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz, they headed to New York in 1970 to create their ninth, and last, studio album. Titled Changes, the album was released in June 1970 to public indifference. Shortly after, the two remaining members lost the rights to the band’s name and their last single was credited to a (misspelled) “Mickey Dolenz and Davy Jones.” Although the band would reunite and record new albums in the years to come, this was the end of the initial incarnation of the band.

This song, written by Micky Dolenz, was considered far too edgy for 1969, let alone for the band’s innocuous appearance and reputation. The final version of the song, upon its initial release on the The Monkees Present album in 1969, had been stripped of numerous controversial verses which Dolenz had written. When the song was again released as the B-Side to the “Good Clean Fun” single, it was again only presented in its watered-down form. The particular version heard below is the demo recorded by Dolenz, Jones, and Nesmith, featuring all of the lyrics the author had initially written. Differences heard in this version that were missing on the album and single include references to the war in Vietnam, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, drug use, and sexual reproduction.



The Monkees - Mommy and Daddy [Original Lyrics] (1969)

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Lyrics:

Ask your mommy and daddy
“What happened to the Indian?”
Ask your mommy and daddy
To tell you where you really came from
Then mommy and daddy
Will probably quickly turn and walk away
Then ask your mommy and daddy
“Who really killed J.F.K.?”

Ask your mommy
If she really gets off on all her pills
Ask your daddy
“Why doesn't that soldier care who he kills?”
After they've put you to sleep
And tucked you safely down in your bed
Whisper, “Mommy and daddy”
“Would it matter if the bullet went through my head?”

“If it was my blood spilling on the kitchen floor?”
“If it was my blood, mommy, would you care a little more?”
Don't be surprised when they turn and start to cry

And tell your mommy and daddy
(Tell your mommy and daddy)
Scream it to your mommy and daddy
They're living in a lie, lie, lie
It's all a lie, it’s all a lie
Lie, lie, lie
It’s all- it’s all- it’s all
Lie, lie, lie
It’s all a lie
Lie, lie, lie
It’s all a lie, lie, lie
Lie, lie, lie…

The Monkees - Porpoise Song (1968)

Originally put together by television producers who wanted to create an American version of The Beatles, this group got their start on their self-titled television show which aired from 1966 to 1968. Being creatively held back, the group eventually fought for their right to be autonomous and broke away from their television series. Though they were often cited as Beatles knock-offs in their years, they managed to sell over sixty-five million copies and gained the respectable reputation they deserved.

Released six months after the last episode of their television show, this song started as a single that was soon released on their 1968 album, Head. It was written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King and the lyrics play on the drummer’s, Micky Dolenz’s, youth, starring on the television program, Circus Boy, as a child.



The Monkees - Porpoise Song (1968)

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Lyrics:

My, my
The clock in the sky
Is pounding away
And there's so much to say
A face, a voice
An overdub has no choice
An image cannot rejoice

Wanting to be
To hear and to see
Crying to the sky
But the porpoise is laughing
Goodbye, goodbye
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

Clicks, clacks
Ridin’ the backs
Of giraffes for laughs
‘s alright for a while
The eagle sings of castles
And kings and things
That go with a life of style

Wanting to feel
To know what is real
Living is a- is a lie
The porpoise is waiting
Goodbye, goodbye
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye