Magnetic South (1970)

Side 1

  1. “Calico Girlfriend” (Nesmith) (2:36)
  2. “Nine Times Blue” (Nesmith) (1:40)
  3. “Little Red Rider” (Nesmith) (2:35)
  4. “The Crippled Lion” (Nesmith) (3:14)
  5. “Joanne” (Nesmith) (3:13)
  6. “First National Rag” (Rhodes) (0:24)

Side 2

  1. “Mama Nantucket” (Nesmith) (2:42)
  2. “The Keys to the Car” (Nesmith) (2:56)
  3. “Hollywood” (Nesmith) (5:08)
  4. “One Rose” (Lyon, McIntyre) (4:27)
  5. “Beyond the Blue Horizon” (Whiting, Harling, Robin) (4:53)

Me and my calico girlfriend
Starting a set of new rules
Watching the stars as they drop in
Making the night time a fool

Wandering over a roadway
Changing the signs of the times
Looking for love and a new day
Seeing with more than our eyes

Keeper of men and of shadow
Follow us up to the top
Taking the latch off the window
Giving us more than we’ve dropped

Me and my calico girlfriend
Suddenly stare at the face
Of time and its hope that we’ll win
Then softly drop out of the race

Keeper of men and of shadow
Follow us up to the top
Taking the latch off the window
Giving us more than we’ve dropped

Me and my calico girlfriend
Suddenly stare at the face
Of time and its hope that we’ll win
Then softly drop out of the race

Track: 1

Length: 2:36

Writers:

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There’s a certain something in the way
You looked at me and said you’d stay
That let me know that I was out of line
But I didn’t know what else to do
And like a fool, I tested you
By demanding things of you which weren’t mine

And now I feel like such a fool
For making you crawl back to me
But you did it with such love
That you’re standing far above
Me and all I did to you
I’m sorry now, what can I do?

I know that never in the world
Could I have found me such a girl
Who’s there to pick me up before I fall
So if in the end, we should go
Both our separate ways, I know
The lesson I’ve learned here is worth it all

Track: 2

Length: 1:40

Writers:

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Little red rider, ride on the railroad
And she cried
Little red rider, ride on the railroad
Waved goodbye

So long sunshine, ride away
I know you’ll come back someday
And light my light

Little Miss Red’s asleep on the railroad
There she goes
Little Miss Red’s asleep on the railroad
No one knows
That Little Miss Red is Little Miss Blue
And she looks a lot like you
Around the eyes

Nobody was home in town
No, nobody was home in town
Nobody was home in the town I called home
Somebody said they all had drowned

Bye bye, sweet miss, give me one kiss
And then I’ll go
Bye bye, sweet miss, give me one kiss
Don’t let it show
Then turn your brown eyes to the wall
Was that message there before
You were so wise?

Oh, bye bye, sweet miss, give me one kiss
And then I’ll go
Bye bye, sweet miss, give me one kiss
Don’t let it show
Then turn your brown eyes to the wall
Was that message there before
You were so wise?

Track: 3

Length: 2:35

Writers:

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Slowly I walk through the gently falling rain
I know that I will never pass this way again
Never wondering why
Teardrops chafing my eyes

Longing to be where the noted kisses fall
Lingering and still, while quietly they tell their all
Blue is the color of the sun
And nothing stops when everything is done

Now my whole world opens up in different rhymes and tunes
With the highways making up the verse
And then suddenly I see the light of something called the moon
And though my path is planned, it’s not rehearsed

So I move along to the next thing on the list
Knowing full well that some of them just don’t exist
But I am finally alone
And where my foot steps down is where it’s home

[break]

So I move along to the next thing on the list
Knowing full well that some of them just don’t exist
But I am finally alone
And where my foot steps down is where it’s home
And where my foot steps down is where it’s home

Track: 4

Length: 3:14

Writers:

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Her name was Joanne
And she lived in a meadow by a pond
And she touched me for a moment
With a look that spoke to me of her sweet love
Then the woman that she was drove her on with desperation
And I saw as she went, a most hopeless situation
For Joanne and the man and the time that made them both run

She was only a girl
I know that well, but still I could not see
That the hold that she had
Was much stronger than the love she felt for me
But staying with her and my little bit of wisdom
Broke down her desires like a light through a prism
Into yellows and blues and a tune that I could not have sung

Though the essence is gone
I have no tears to cry for her
And my only thoughts of her are kind

Her name was Joanne
And she lived in a meadow by a pond
And she touched me for a moment
With a look that spoke to me of her sweet love
Then the woman that she was drove her on with desperation
And I saw as she went, a most hopeless situation
For Joanne and the man and the time that made them both run
For Joanne and the man and the time that made them both run

Track: 5

Length: 3:13

Writers:

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“Well, we’re gonna take a short intermission, my friends. We’ll be back right after you turn the record over.”

Track: 6

Length: 0:24

Writers:

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Oh, Mama Nantucket
She tried to kick the habit
But she didn’t and she got stung
I tried to relieve her
But she wasn’t a believer
Until she found another one

Doe-doe-doe-leedle-oh-doo-ley-hee
I love it here on the range
Oh-my-tie-yi-yippie
I would love it more if it changed

Doe-doe-doe-leedle-oh-doo-ley-hee
I love it here on the range
Oh-my-tie-yi-yippie
I would love it more if it changed, woo

Oh, Bobby with a dollar
He was sure he found the answer
But it might take a little time
Playin’ follow the leader
He was sure would be a winner
But I had other things on my mind

Doe-doe-doe-leedle-oh-doo-ley-hee
I love it here on the range
Oh-my-tie-yi-yippie
I would love it more if it changed

Doe-doe-doe-leedle-oh-doo-ley-hee
I love it here on the range
Oh-my-tie-yi-yippie
I would love it more if it changed

Whoa, I see all the people runnin’
Comin’ from miles around
Everybody’s singin’ a different tune
See them all fall down

Well, I don’t like to quarrel
But what about tomorrow?
Will it be the same as the past?
I keep on hopin’
That something will happen
And I hope that it happens fast

Low-doo-leedle-oh-doo-ley-hee
I love it here on the range
Oh-my-tie-yi-yippie
I would love it more if it changed

Low-doe-leedle-oh-doo-ley-hee
I love it here on the range
Oh-my-tie-yi-yippie
I would love it more if it changed

[break]
[???]
“Oh, my my!”

Whoa, lee-doo-leedle-oh-doo-ley-hee
I love it here on the range
Ah-oh-my-tie-yi-yippie
I would love it more if it changed

Uh, low-doo-leedle-oh-doo-ley-hee
I love it here on the range
Oh-my-tie-yi-yippie
I would love it more if it changed
Yes, I’d love it more if it changed

Track: 7

Length: 2:42

Writers:

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Tonight, when he hands you the keys to the car
And he says you can drive some, but don’t drive too far
Tonight, when she tells you you’re her only one
Remember, the morning brings on the sun

And they’re watching you stumble and fall
Until you’re lost down below like them all

Today, when they give you their words of advice
And tell you you’re free, friend, as long as it’s nice
Today, when their words of sweet wisdom come down
Remember, their smiles are hiding their frowns

And they’re watching you stumble and fall
Until you’re lost down below like them all

If you say you’re their friend, I’m afraid you will learn
They want only friends they can have on their terms
But the love that you show them will give you an edge
For authority is more than wearing a badge

And you’ll be watching them stumble and fall
Until they’re lost down below like them all
Until they’re lost down below like them all

Track: 8

Length: 2:56

Writers:

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The sun that’s falling from the south-western sky
Tells me that I must depart
By sundown today
I’ll be on my way
But I’ll be leavin’ my heart

It’s not the countryside that appealed to my eyes
It’s the spirit that captured my mind
But the things I tried to be
Made a wreck out of me
Now a different road I must find

These things I think are new
I guess they’re really old
It seems that I’ve done ’em all before
Now to go back to that fork in the road
Takes all the strength of my soul and more

Ah, goodbye, good, goodbye, you cruel town
You’ve been a fair-weather friend
Now I will go to some place that I know
Where things don’t start just to end

[break]

Ah, goodbye, good, goodbye, you cruel town
You’ve been a fair-weather friend
Now I will go to some place that I know
Where things don’t start just to end

Track: 9

Length: 5:08

Writers:

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So blue
So lonesome too
But still true
Rosie, honey
Make me think of you

You’re the one rose that’s left in my heart, dear
I love you, adore you, I do
Each night through love land we’ll wander
Telling love’s story anew

But then from blue skies
A black cloud came rolling
Breaking my poor heart in two
But we ought not to part
I’ve said from the start
That you’re the one rose that’s left in my heart

[break]

But we ought not to part
I’ve said from the start
You’re the one rose that’s left in my heart

La-doe-doe-la-doe-doo, la-doe-doe-la-doe-doo
La-doe-doe-la-doe-doo, la-doe-doe-la-doe-doo

You’re the one rose that’s left in my heart, dear
I love you, adore you, I do
Each night through love land we’ll wander
Telling love’s story anew

But then from blue skies
A black cloud came rolling
Breaking my poor heart in two
But we ought not to part
I’ve said from the start
You’re the one rose that’s left in my heart

Track: 10

Length: 4:27

Writers:

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(…Goodbye to things that bore me
Joy is waiting for me
I see a new horizon
My life has only begun
Beyond the blue horizon…)

Beyond the blue horizon
Waits a beautiful day
Goodbye to things that bore me
Joy is waiting for me

I see a new horizon
My life has only begun
Beyond the blue horizon
Lies a rising sun

Beyond the blue horizon
Waits a beautiful day
Goodbye to things that bore me
Joy is waiting for me

I see a new horizon
My life has only begun
Beyond the blue horizon
Lies a rising sun
Beyond the blue horizon
Lies a rising sun

(…Beyond the blue horizon
Waits a beautiful day…
Joy is waiting for me
I see a new horizon…)


  1. The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the ’60s TV Pop Sensation (2005), Andrew Sandoval, p. 287.
  2. The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the ’60s TV Pop Sensation (2005), Andrew Sandoval, p. 296.
  3. The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the ’60s TV Pop Sensation (2005), Andrew Sandoval, p. 294.
  4. The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the ’60s TV Pop Sensation (2005), Andrew Sandoval, p. 288.
  5. The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the ’60s TV Pop Sensation (2005), Andrew Sandoval, p. 293.
  6. The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the ’60s TV Pop Sensation (2005), Andrew Sandoval, p. 289.
  7. The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the ’60s TV Pop Sensation (2005), Andrew Sandoval, p. 295.
  8. The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the ’60s TV Pop Sensation (2005), Andrew Sandoval, p. 291.
  9. The Monkees: The Day-by-Day Story of the ’60s TV Pop Sensation (2005), Andrew Sandoval, p. 297.