McKenzie grew up in North Carolina and Virginia, where he became friends with the son of one of his mother's friends, John Phillips. In the mid 1950s, he sang briefly with Tim Rose in a high school group called The Singing Strings, and later, with Phillips, Mike Boran and Bill Cleary, he helped form a doo wop band, The Abstracts. In New York, The Abstracts became The Smoothies and recorded two singles with Decca Records, produced by Milt Gabler.
In 1961 Phillips and McKenzie met Dick Weissman and formed The Journeymen, which recorded three albums for Capitol Records. After the Journeymen disbanded in 1964, the members discussed forming a group called The Mamas & the Papas. McKenzie wanted to perform on his own, so Phillips formed the group with Denny Doherty, Cass Elliot and Michelle Phillips, his second wife. The group soon moved to California. Two years later, McKenzie followed from New York and signed with Lou Adler's Ode Records. Phillips wrote and produced "San Francisco (Be Sure To Wear Flowers In Your Hair)" for McKenzie, which was released in 1967. Phillips played guitar on the recording and Michelle Phillips played bells. It became a top-five smash in the United States and a number one hit in many other countries in the world.
"San Francisco" became a hippie anthem in the United States and was popular around the world. It was played during the Summer of Love in San Francisco. McKenzie followed it with "Like An Old Time Movie", also written and produced by Phillips, which was a minor hit. His first album, The Voice of Scott McKenzie was followed with an album called Stained Glass Morning. He stopped recording about that time in the early-1970s and lived in Joshua Tree, California and Virginia Beach.
In 1986, McKenzie started singing with a new version of The Mamas and the Papas. In 1988 he co-wrote the Beach Boys hit "Kokomo" with Phillips, Mike Love and Terry Melcher; the song featured in the hit Tom Cruise movie Cocktail. In 1998 he retired from the road version of The Mamas and Papas.
McKenzie died on August 18, 2012 in Los Angeles, CA.
No No No No No
Scott McKenzie Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And though she'd like to fall , she says : 'No, no, no, no'.
She says : 'You are just a friend to me'
'You're no more than a friend to me'
She... is a doll who says : 'No, no, no, no'
And though she tries to fall, she says : 'No, no, no, no'.
I know she tries to hide from me
And hopes that I won't see.
Without even hearing, she says : 'No, no, no'
Without even looking, she says : 'No, no, no, no'.
I know, I know she is afraid with me
Afraid she might say 'yes' to me.
Yes, she is the doll who says : 'No, no, no, no'
And though she'd like to fall, she says : 'No, no, no, no'.
'No, no, no, no'
'No, no, no, no'
She says : 'No, no, no, no'
The lyrics in Scott McKenzie's song "No No No No No" tell the story of a woman who constantly pushes away a potential lover, despite her true feelings. The woman is compared to a doll, whose default response is "no, no, no, no," even when she desires to be with the person. She insists that he is only a friend and repeats that she is not interested.
The singer sees through her façade and recognizes that she is afraid of opening up to him, afraid of saying yes and getting involved. She hopes that by constantly saying no, she can protect herself from being hurt. The repetition of "no" in the lyrics emphasizes her hesitance and reluctance to let her guard down. Despite wanting to be with the person, she continues to say "no" in an attempt to keep herself out of harm's way.
The lyrics of the song depict the fear and anxiety that can come with opening up to someone romantically. The woman in the song is so guarded that she cannot even consider the possibility of a relationship, even if it's what she truly desires. It is a reflection of the vulnerabilities that come with loving someone and the walls people put up to protect themselves from being hurt.
Line by Line Meaning
She is like the doll, she says : 'No, no, no, no'
She acts like a doll and keeps saying 'No, no, no, no'
And though she'd like to fall , she says : 'No, no, no, no'
Even though she feels like giving in, she continues to say 'No, no, no, no'
She says : 'You are just a friend to me'
She tells me that I am only a friend to her
'You're no more than a friend to me'
She repeats that I mean nothing more than a friend to her
She... is a doll who says : 'No, no, no, no'
She behaves like a doll, only responding with 'No, no, no, no'
And though she tries to fall, she says : 'No, no, no, no'
Even though she wants to surrender, she keeps saying 'No, no, no, no'
I know she tries to hide from me
I am aware that she's trying to avoid me
And hopes that I won't see
She wishes that I wouldn't notice her hiding
Without even hearing, she says : 'No, no, no'
She doesn't even give a chance to listen, saying 'No, no, no'
Without even looking, she says : 'No, no, no, no'
She doesn't even have to see me to say 'No, no, no, no'
I know, I know she is afraid with me
I understand that she's scared of me
Afraid she might say 'yes' to me
She's afraid that she might give in and say 'yes' to me
Yes, she is the doll who says : 'No, no, no, no'
She certainly behaves like a doll, only saying 'No, no, no, no'
And though she'd like to fall, she says : 'No, no, no, no'
Even though she feels like surrendering, she still repeats 'No, no, no, no'
'No, no, no, no'
Just another repetition of 'No, no, no, no'
'No, no, no, no'
Yes, she's repeating 'No, no, no, no' again
She says : 'No, no, no, no'
And lastly, she utters 'No, no, no, no' once more
Contributed by Natalie E. Suggest a correction in the comments below.