The Monkees Singalong Hit ‘Pleasant Valley Sunday’ Had a Darker Edge Than Fans Realized
One of The Monkees‘ most prolific singalong hits, “Pleasant Valley Sunday,” appeared on their classic album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, and Jones Ltd. Written by Carole King and Gerry Goffin, the song was inspired by a street near the couple’s suburban New Jersey home. However, the song’s lyrics had a darker edge than fans realized.
‘Pleasant Valley Sunday’ was a Monkees smash
The single peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1967. At the number one position was Bobbie Gentry’s “Ode to Billie Joe,” followed by The Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
The Monkees held steady at number three. In addition, rounding out the top five in the first week of August 1967 was The Doors’ “Light My Fire” and Aretha Franklin’s “Baby I Love You.”
The song first appeared on The Monkees NBC series in an episode titled “Captain Crocodile,” which aired in a rerun in July 1967. The single was released to fans the same day.
Likewise, adding new songs during reruns was an essential technique used by Monkees producers to keep episodes fresh. It also appeared in “The Case of the Missing Monkee” and a repeat of “The Monkees on Tour.”
In 1967, CashBox wrote the following review of “Pleasant Valley Sunday.” A reviewer stated, “The deck is an up-tempo, happy-flavored ditty celebrating summertime activities regarded as all-American and quaint. ” However, the song had a darker edge than most reviewers and fans realized.
‘Pleasant Valley Sunday’ was a song about dissatisfaction
Per Medium, the song came from songwriter Gerry Goffin’s personal experience. In 1964 Goffin and his wife, Carole King, moved out of New York City to West Orange in New Jersey.
“Gerry did not enjoy living in the suburbs,” King said in her autobiography, A Natural Woman. Subsequently, the lyrics refer to Pleasant Valley Way in West Orange, a street the songwriter used to symbolize suburban existence. Goffin and King lived on Waddington Avenue, a few blocks off Pleasant Valley Way, until their divorce in 1968.
“Living with Gerry in New Jersey suburbia, I was surrounded by the wives of doctors, accountants, and lawyers. On the contrary, with a pen in one hand and a baby in the other, I was a real oddity: a working woman,” King noted in her autobiography.
Gerry later spoke of writing the song, which debuted during a turbulent time in The Monkees’ history when the band tried to wrangle creative control from Don Kirshner. “We just tried to stay out of it,” he explained in a 1989 interview.
“There was a lot of rivalry between Bob Rafelson, Bert Schneider, and Donny,” Goffin stated. “We stood out of it; we just wrote our songs.”
“I think when we wrote ‘Pleasant Valley Sunday,’ Donny was no longer part of the picture,” he continued. “I think the television show’s success contributed to the songs’ success. It was a great show, right in the pocket of what kids those days expected and wanted it to be. The Monkees show helped the songs.”
The original demo of ‘Pleasant Valley Sunday’ had a mellower feel
Carole King’s original song demo differs from The Monkees’ finished version. A mellower version of the well-known tune was released on her 2012 CD The Legendary Demos.
Other than the song’s tempo, the song also has one main difference. Several of Goffin’s lyrics were transposed in The Monkees version, with lead vocals by drummer Micky Dolenz.
In King’s version, the words read: “Creature comfort goals/Can only numb my soul/I need a change of scenery/My thoughts all seem to stray/To places far away/I don’t ever want to see/Another Pleasant Valley Sunday.”
For The Monkees version, Chip Douglas changed the lyrics to read: “Creature comfort goals/They only numb my soul/And make it hard for me to see/My thoughts all seem to stray/To places far away/I need a change of scenery.”
“Pleasant Valley Sunday” continued to be performed live by Mike Nesmith and Micky Dolenz during their final two concert tours before Nesmith died in 2021.
