Perhaps you’ve already seen/heard this. I’m always behind:
http://www.gohomeproductions.co.uk/video/ghp_paperback_believer.mov
Dale
I’d heard this (but not seen the vid) some time ago, where was it???
Anyway, Michael Nesmith, the music behind ‘The Monkees’ often said that his biggest influence in his music writing was … The Fab Four.
Geez, Dale - are we the only ones old enough to know who these bands are?
Are you kidding me? These were MY bands! I can’t get the video to load (must be too big). I loved both these bands.
Did you know Mike Nesmith’s mother invented liquid paper (white-out)? Absolutely true.
Susan
It took a while to load - it’s probably mega-sized, no doubt.
And yes, I’ll admit - for my 14th birthday, I got their first album “The Monkees”.
Of course, by that time, The Beatles were working on ‘The White Album’.
There are more dead Beatles than there are dead Monkees.
I like Yoko Ono.
Her name is so fun to say, and she’s a very beautiful person to look at.
I saw Davy Jones on a late night infomercial recently. So, yes, if you call that living, he’s still alive. 
Actually as someone old enough at the time to despise the Monkees as the product of a cynical TV network, I must say I now like some of their records. They were clearly better than we had any right to expect them to be.
They have those infomericals down under? Yikes. The Roger Daltrey one is truly scary. What happened to that guy?
Of course, she also had a voice that’s tougher to listen to than a handful of pennies in a blender. So I guess there are trade-offs in life.
Readily accepts cue
Sings
Didn’t die before he got old
Talkin’ 'bout my generaration.
Yeah we get them too. I don’t actually watch them except when something so weird happens I can’t resist. But sometimes if I’m chatting with someone in North America or Europe late at night on the internet I might have left the TV on and they creep up on me and then creep me out.
I thought this stuff was great at first, but now I can’t get it off my screen. 
djm
You know, I never met anyone who actually did that, but I’ve known several who didn’t like computers because you couldn’t type enough on the page . . . they were typing a screenful, then printing it, then typing another screenful and printing it . . . and they swear to me that it disappears when it scrolls off . . .
In fact, I work with someone now who still doesn’t get it that she doesn’t have to print out all her email to read it. I pointed out that she would save a lot of time by reading it on the screen, particularly if the email isn’t relevant to what she’s doing. But, no, she says she has to print them in order to save them. Has a big bunch of cardboard boxes under her desk filled with old emails going back several years. And why is she doing that? Because she doesn’t know that the software saves the emails.
Even worse, nothing anyone says can convince her the stuff is still in there. When I show her, she acts like it’s some sort of Voodoo.
Back on topic, the Beatles are the best ever. No comparison.
That’s actually pretty good for Jones, considering he hadn’t a hint of music ability in him. He was there for the ‘charm’ effect… sort of the answer to Paul McCartney (they were created to show the world that the Beatles could be conquered), but then the TV producers got hold of them and off to the land of never-ending tangents they went. I remember reading an interview with Mike Nesmith, done some years back - he wanted to be taken seriously as a musician (and he’s a great one) but the TV show producers wanted everything canned, pre-recorded, yada yada.
They did have some good songs, but just the other day, the wife and I heard “Daydream Believer”, but covered by Anne Murray… what in the name of all that is holy is that song supposed to be about?!?
YEEESH! That’s just AWFUL!
I can’t give you a straight answer. (Nudge nudge say no more.) But I can give you a hint. I heard that song sung recently by the guy who wrote it. Last time around, instead of:
what he sings is:
Cheer up, sleepy jean.
Oh, what can it mean.
To a daydream deceiver
And an old closet queen.
Get it now?
Wombat is that for real? Because I’d like to think so. At least it would make sense.
The reason some of The Monkees tunes were good is because the studio could hire good musicians. Listen to the bass line in “Pleasant Valley Sunday”. Great stuff. There’s some good countryish guitar in “Last Train to Clarksville.” . I always liked the chord changes in “What Am I doing hanging 'round.”.
Mike was the only one with any musical talent. When but a lad of about 14 I had all of their albums. What a nerd. I also loved Herman’s Hermits.
Does anyone remember when Mike Nesmith did his own album. He had a relatively popular song that said something about dancing by the light of the moon. I just can’t recall.
Check out http://www.nezfriends.com for more info ono Mike Nesmith.
aw common - who of MY age can resist doing “that walk” when someone starts singing:
“Here they come…
Walkin’ down the street…” 
Missy
Incomprehensible lyrics are a part of rock & roll tradition. I think perhaps the band “America” should get the lifetime achievement award.
On the first part of the journey
I was looking at all the life
There were plants and birds and rocks and things
There was sand and hills and rings
The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz
And the sky with no clouds
The heat was hot and the ground was dry
But the air was full of soundI’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
'Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain
La, la …After two days in the desert sun
My skin began to turn red
After three days in the desert fun
I was looking at a river bed
And the story it told of a river that flowed
Made me sad to think it was deadYou see I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
'Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain
La, la …After nine days I let the horse run free
'Cause the desert had turned to sea
There were plants and birds and rocks and things
there was sand and hills and rings
The ocean is a desert with it’s life underground
And a perfect disguise above
Under the cities lies a heart made of ground
But the humans will give no loveYou see I’ve been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
'Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain
La, la …
Yeah. Ok. Right.
Dale
I think this one is Shakespeare,
by the way the tune works well on the whistle:
It was a lover and his lass
With a hey and a ho and a heynonnyno,
That o’re the field green fields did pass,
In springtime, in springtime,
The only perfect ringtime
Sing ringadingading
Sing ringadingading
Sing ringadingading
True lovers love the spring.
I kind of remember those songs –
Daydream believer’s melting in the park
and the pinball wizard’s flowing down.
Someone left the horse out in the rain
And I don’t think that I can name it
Cause my chevy’s at the levy
And white rabbit is a whiter shade of pale.
Of course, I only kind of remember a lot of things from then. A lot of stuff tends to run together.