“Another Pleasant Valley Sunday
Charcoal burning everywhere
Rows of houses that are all the same
And no one seems to care”
–Pleasant Valley Sunday—Goffin/King/Wexler
Back in the day, The Monkees had a hit song entitled Pleasant Valley Sunday.
You might be interested to know it was co-written by Carol King who brought us standard rock tunes as Jazzman, Up on the Roof, I Felt the Earth Move, It’s Too Late.
Writers like Carol King and Neal Diamond used to write for the publisher who picked The Monkees tunes.
Did you know, The Monkees were signed as a TV act? Not a rock group.
They got no royalties from memorabilia or records?
They were paid around $400 per episode of the TV show of same name, which extended to their concerts. Imagine touring the country and getting $400 per gig?
Talk about a rip-off.
Above info noted per Mickey Dolens interview on Tom Petty’s Sirius XM station.
Don’t ask me why I wrote that. I thought it was interesting when I heard it earlier this year.
The point is the last two lines of the quoted lyric above.
You could substitute “Rows of houses” with…
“Lines of lyrics that are all the same
And no one seems to care”
And it still reads true.
I’m sorry.
I’ve got to say this.
Maybe I’ll get in deep weeds, but it has to be said.
We need to get back to lyrics which have some meaning besides just getting laid or…
Well, getting laid.
That’s all I seem to hear.
Time to get back to using songwriting as a voice…
Send messages of meaning for people to listen to.
Don’t see too many Cats in the Cradle written today and out in the media.
Want to hear a ballsy tune with a message? Check out Harder Cards (Wiseman/Henderson).
Maybe it’s just not what radio wants anymore and it is left up to the independent artists to do the heavy lifting.
Either way, we have a need for meaningful tunes, and creative ways to express our ideas.
August issue of Tune Booster can help you get your creative line mojo on: https://www.tunesmithtips.com/newsletter/