The Monkees assembled to be the stars of an American television series of t… Read Full Bio ↴The Monkees assembled to be the stars of an American television series of the same name, which ran on NBC from 1966 to 1968. The original lineup was: Micky Dolenz (drums, vocals), Michael Nesmith (guitar, vocals), Davy Jones (percussion, vocals) and Peter Tork (bass, keyboards, vocals) . The Monkees were formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California and initially disbanded in 1970 at the conclusion of their recording contract. At their peak they were competing with The Beatles for the top spot on album charts.

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)

The Girl I Left Behind Me
The Monkees Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Its old enough to try and tie you down
So, I just couldn't wait and hang around
You always said must be free
But you couldn't see you were loosing me
And messing up the one good thing we had

[Chorus]
And now I'm going out the way that I came in

The game is over now, I couldn't win
My heart is all I have to pack
And this time girl I won't be back
And years from now I'll turn around and see
The girl I left behind me

I told myself that things would be OK
You would come around to my way any day
As time went on you just stayed the same
No, you couldn't change or be rearranged
I'm picking up the pieces of my life

[Chorus]

As time went on you just stayed the same
No, you couldn't change or be rearranged
I'm picking up the pieces of my life

[Chorus]
Behind me

Overall Meaning

The Monkees's song The Girl I Left Behind Me is about a failed relationship where the singer had to leave the girl he loved because she refused to change her attitude even though she claimed to love him. The lyrics suggest that the girl was too old-fashioned and had little room for flexibility, which prompted the singer to leave the relationship. He felt that he needed to be free, but in the end, the girl's inflexibility led him to leave her behind.

The singer tries to communicate his love and devotion to her, but she did not understand. He felt that he was losing the girl he loved because she could not see that her old ways were causing damage to their relationship. Nevertheless, he realizes that things could not change, and he must move on with his life. The chorus of the song reflects this resolution to move on, with the singer taking his heart with him and not looking back.

Overall, the song portrays the bitterness that often accompanies heartbreak. The singer wanted to stay and work things out with the girl he left behind, but he felt that he had no choice but to move on. The song ends with the singer turning around to see the girl he left behind, suggesting that he has moved on but may never forget the past.

Line by Line Meaning

Its old enough to try and tie you down
You have been in this relationship for a long time and it’s starting to feel like a burden.

So, I just couldn't wait and hang around
I couldn't just wait for things to sort themselves out, I had to take action.

You always said must be free
You always talked about needing freedom.

But you couldn't see you were losing me
But you didn't realize that by constantly putting your need for freedom above our relationship, you were pushing me away.

And messing up the one good thing we had
Your desire for freedom was ruining the one good thing we had going for each other.

[Chorus]
I'm leaving and never coming back.

I told myself that things would be OK
I kept telling myself that our relationship would work itself out eventually.

You would come around to my way any day
I thought that you would eventually see things my way.

As time went on you just stayed the same
But as time went on, you didn't change your ways.

No, you couldn't change or be rearranged
You were unwilling to change or compromise.

I'm picking up the pieces of my life
I'm moving on and trying to put my life back together.

[Chorus]
I'm leaving and never coming back.

Behind me
I'm moving on and leaving you behind me.

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: CAROLE SAGER, CAROLE BAYER SAGER, NEIL SEDAKA

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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