In the years since their original disbanding, the group has reunited in various incarnations, mostly involving Dolenz, Tork and Jones, but not Nesmith. The first reunion began in 1986 and at first featured only Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork. Davy Jones joined the others and a new album was released before they split again in 1989.
The next regrouping took place between 1993 and 1997 and featured a new album that included the particpation of all four members. A further reunion between 2001 and 2002, was followed by another reunion in 2011 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the television show. This reunion was cut short before 2011 had ended due to scheduling problems with the anniversary tour.
The unexpected death of Davy Jones at the beginning of 2012 prompted the most recent reunion tour, this time featuring Dolenz, Tork and Nesmith.
Created by producers of a TV series to be an American Beatles, the antics of the Monkees band members on the television series were very reminscent of Beatles' antics in films like 'Help' and 'Hard Day's Night'. Indeed, in songs like 'Forget that Girl...', the band and even the lead singer could sound just like the Beatles. With songs provided by Don Kirshner from such writers as Neil Diamond and Carole King, among others, the Monkees were assured of pop success. However, in the beginning, the four group members were hired only as actors to front the band and to provide the vocals whilst studio musicians recorded the backing music. These recordings were provided by Kirshner. Things changed though after the success of the single Last Train to Clarksville, the first hit, leading to demands that the band play live gigs. Having learned to play the music, the band became angry when the second LP was recorded (by Kirshner) by studio musicians, without their knowledge or musical input. They therefore demanded and obtained control of the music.
Nesmith who revealed that the band did not perform on their records was also instrumental in getting Don Kirshner sacked. the next album Headquarters was recorded by The Monkees alone, using hand picked producer Chip Douglas. While not as successful as their first two albums it made it to number one, only to be replaced a week later by The Beatles' Sgt Pepper album. The Monkees eventually settled on a formula of using their own talents as well as those of studio musicians. After two seasons the network and the group could not reach agreement on the format of a third season and the show was canceled even though the ratings were still high. A feature film named Head co-written by The Monkees, Jack Nicholson and Bob Rafelson) followed.
Peter Tork was the first to leave the band, in 1968, during 1969 The TV show went into Saturday morning reruns and the three remaining Monkees recorded two more albums. in 1969 Nesmith departed and began a serious foray into merging country and rock music. He also eventually developed a format that became MTV. By the way his mother invented a product called Liquid Paper, sold it to the Gillette Company for $47 million dollars then died a year later leaving the money to her only son. The remaining two Monkees Dolenz and Jones recorded one last album named Changes in late 1969.
There has, however, been a resurgent interest in The Monkees' music Rhino Records has been instrumental in restoring all their albums, adding bonus tracks, and equipping them with complementary liner notes and stories.
Davy Jones died on February 29, 2012 in Indiantown, Florida.
Peter Tork died on February 21, 2019, at his home in Mansfield, Connecticut.
Michael Nesmith died on December 10, 2021, in Carmel Valley, California.
DISCOGRAPHY (from www.themonkees.net):
The Monkees (1966)
More of The Monkees (1967)
Headquarters (1967)
Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones, Ltd. (1967)
The Birds, The Bees & The Monkees (1968)
Head (1968)
Instant Replay (1969)
The Monkees Present (1969)
Changes (1970)
Then & Now...The Best of the Monkees (1986)
Pool It! (1987)
Live 1967 (1987)
Justus (1996)
Good Times! (2016)
Daddy's Song
The Monkees Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He was my mother's biggest fan
We used to walk beside the sea
And he'd tell how my life would be
When I grew up to be a man
Years ago we used to play
He used to laugh when I ran away
But when I fell and hurt my knee
And the pain would go away
Years ago I knew a boy
He was his daddy's pride and joy
But when the daddy went away
It was such a rainy day
That he brought out all his toys
Now the momma did explain
Trying to take away the pain
He just couldn't understand
That his father was not a man
And it all was just a game
Years have passed and so have I
Making it hard to cry
And if and when I have a son
Let it all be said and done
Let all that sadness pass him by
The Monkees’ “Daddy’s Song” is a poignant reflection on the relationship between fathers and sons. The verses tell two different stories: one about a man who used to walk alongside the sea with a young boy, and the other about a boy who was once his father’s pride and joy. Both narratives explore the emotional bond that can exist between a father figure and his child, and the pain and confusion that can occur when that bond is broken.
In the first story, the man explains to the boy what his life will be like when he grows up to be a man. The boy admires the man, understanding that he is his mother’s biggest fan. They have fun together, and the man always comforts the boy when he gets hurt. However, time passes and things change, and the singer finds himself unable to cry. He reflects on what he has learned from his experiences and decides that when he has a son of his own, he will make sure that the boy is able to avoid the same hurt and sadness he has experienced.
In the second story, a boy’s father goes away and leaves him feeling heartbroken and confused. The boy’s mother tries to explain the situation to him, but he is too young to understand. Instead, he turns to his toys for comfort, hoping that they can help him make sense of the pain he is experiencing. The lyrics suggest that the father may have let his son down in some way, and that the mother is struggling to pick up the pieces in the wake of his absence.
Line by Line Meaning
Years ago I knew a man
The singer is narrating something that happened in the past with a man he knew.
He was my mother's biggest fan
The man was a great admirer of the singer's mother.
We used to walk beside the sea
The singer and the man used to go for walks next to the sea.
And he'd tell how my life would be
The man used to predict how the artist's life would turn out to be.
When I grew up to be a man
The man's predictions were about the artist's future when he grows up to be a man.
Years ago we used to play
The singer and the man used to play games together years ago.
He used to laugh when I ran away
The man used to find it funny when the singer ran away from him while playing.
But when I fell and hurt my knee
However, when the artist fell and hurt his knee, the man would come to comfort him.
He used to come and comfort me
The man would make the artist feel better by comforting him.
And the pain would go away
The man's comforting nature would make the artist forget his pain.
Years ago I knew a boy
The part of the song is now about a different person - a boy whom the singer knew in the past.
He was his daddy's pride and joy
The boy was the father's favorite and brought him immense joy.
But when the daddy went away
However, when the father went away, the boy's happiness turned into sadness.
It was such a rainy day
The day the father left was a metaphorical rainy day, bringing gloom and sadness.
That he brought out all his toys
To distract himself from the sadness, the boy began playing with all his toys.
Now the momma did explain
The boy's mother tried to explain the absence of the father to him.
Trying to take away the pain
The mother was trying to reduce the boy's pain by offering an explanation.
He just couldn't understand
However, the boy could not fully comprehend the situation.
That his father was not a man
The boy could not understand that his father wasn't actually a good man.
And it all was just a game
The boy's realization that it was all a lie and a game was a painful truth to swallow.
Years have passed and so have I
The artist goes back to talking about himself after narrating the boy's story.
Making it hard to cry
The artist has become emotionally difficult over the years and finds it hard to cry.
And if and when I have a son
In the future, if the singer has a son of his own.
Let it all be said and done
The artist wants all the pain and sadness of the past to be over with.
Let all that sadness pass him by
The singer wants his son to never experience the pain and sadness that he and the boy he narrated have gone through.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HARRY NILSSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
MaskedMarvyl
This song was written by Harry Nillson, based on his father abandoning him at a very young age. Every lyric in it, painfully, is based on things that actually happened to him as a small child. Nillson's original song is even more upbeat and haunting than this one is.....
One wonder's if Nillson's father ever heard it, and ever realized it was about him??
By the way, one of the editors of this movie was none other than Jack Nicholson! Nicholson loved the Monkees so much he actually had his girlfriend make out with each one of them in the beginning of the picture (that's real loyalty, there), and he volunteered his time to edit some of the sequences in this film! I wonder which sections he worked on?
Moving Pictures
That was his girlfriend?????? By the way, he does actually appear in the film. During the scene with a bar.
Jeff Sumner
What makes the song even more poignant to me is that Harry did similar to Zak. That stuff comes back around.
MaskedMarvyl
@Jeff Sumner , If that's true, that's really really sad.....
Peter Joslyn
Jack wrote the film!
smosh91
@Jeff Sumner I hadn't thought of Zak in years, and seeing this prompted me to look him up - he passed away earlier this year....I'm stunned.
myradioon
Toni Basil is a choreography legend. She choreographed Janet Jackson and many other greats - and had a hit on the Pop charts ;)
SME Media
Wasn't Toni Basil's hit song about Mickey Dolenz?
kittyprydekissme
@SME Media No, it was about some girl named Kitty originally. It was recorded by a band called Racey. Toni changed it to Micky because she needed a male name. People have asked if she chose the name because of Dolenz, but she has always denied it.
jackal59
I'm always struck by how well the cuts match and how hard that was to do. For the shots to match when they cut from white on black to black on white, Jones had to give exactly the same physical performance while lip-synching—head at the proper angle, arms in the right position—and he manages to do it closer than anyone could expect. The first verse in particular is just astonishing, especially when you consider that they did not have any video playback and could not match it live. I can only imagine that they screened the previous take and he just rehearsed his ass off to get it right.