The Monkees Present (1969)

Little girl is smart as she can be, whoa
Little girl has made a fool of me, whoa
I believed her when she said she really loved me
The love was shining in my eyes, so I couldn’t see the lies
In her eyes

Little girl knows more than she pretends
She knew I wanted to be more than friends
Every time she hurt me, oh, how sorry she was
Yesterday, she went too far, and now, I’m through because I’m wise
To all those lies

Friends said, “Don’t worry now, she’s sweet, and she’s kind
Don’t be afraid to tell her how you feel all the time”
The little things that bothered me, I let them go by
And now, it’s too late to cry

Little girl, it’s time that we should part
’Cause, little girl, now you’ve broke my heart
I couldn’t help but hear what they had said about you
Now I’m ashamed to tell them that I fell in love you, they’d laugh at me
Please set me free

Friends said, “Don’t worry now, she’s sweet and she’s kind
Don’t be afraid to tell her how you feel all the time”
The little things that bothered me I let them go by
And now, it’s too late to cry

Little girl, now I’m through with you
’Cause you’ve got everything you wanted too
Despite all those things that they said you had done
You had me believin’ now that I was the one in your dreams
Instead of your schemes

Little girl, whoa, whoa
Little girl, whoa, whoa
Little girl, whoa, whoa

There’s a smile on the wind as it touches my face
And starts to erase all the gloom
And the sun with a kiss begins to dismiss
The memory of my life without you

Well, it seems like yesterday that my path took me away
Although I know it’s been at least a year
But now my path heads home, and your patient time alone
Has brought me even closer to you, dear

And this plane gets closer
Every minute, I look down to a watch that keeps lookin’ back at me
And it says to me, “Be patient, son, you’ve waited this long”
But how can I be strong?

[break]

And this plane gets closer
Every minute, I look down to a watch that keeps lookin’ back at me
And it says to me, “Be patient, son, you’ve waited this long”
But how can I be strong?

Well, the plane is finally down, and the engines stopped their sound
I look in the crowd, and there you stand
And the gap that once was time is forever closed behind
’Cause I told you I’d come back, and here I am
Yes, I told you I’d come back, and here I am
I told you I’d come back, and here I am

If I knew
What was bothering you
I would run to your side
I don’t know why
I would just die
If you left me

Can’t you see
What you’re doing to me?
Are you playin’ a game?
It’s always the same
Am I to blame?
Or is anyone?

I don’t wanna settle down
With any other girl but you
So I’m just gonna wait around
’Til you decide what you’re gonna do

Can’t you see
What you’re doing to me?
Are you playin’ a game?
It’s always the same
Am I to blame?
Or is anyone?

I don’t wanna settle down
With any other girl but you
So I’m just gonna wait around
’Til you decide what you’re gonna do

Bye bye, baby, bye bye
Don’t wanna make you cry
Bye bye, baby, bye bye
Don’t wanna make you cry
I’ll be leavin’ you now
You’ll get along somehow

Time, time, time is gone
When you and I were strong
Time, time, time is gone
When you and I were strong
Isn’t easy to leave
Isn’t easy to leave

You spend your life thinkin’ about livin’
You spend your whole life
Bye bye, baby, bye bye
Don’t wanna make you cry

Time, time, time is gone
When you and I were strong
Time, time, time is gone
When you and I were strong
Isn’t easy to leave
Isn’t easy to leave

You spend your time sitting there thinking
Thinking about sitting there thinking
You waste my time talking about dyin’
Dyin’ when you should be tryin’

Bye bye, baby, bye bye
Don’t wanna make you cry
Bye bye, baby, bye bye
Don’t wanna make you cry
I’ll be leavin’ you now
You’ll get along somehow

Time, time, time is mine
To make my fortune mine
Time, time, time is mine
To make my fortune mine
Can’t say I can see
What will happen to me
Can’t say I can see
What will happen to me

Bye bye, baby, bye bye…

Oh my, my my

In a dusty caravan
Was a girl with a golden tan
And she asked me if I was headed to the east
I politely stepped aside
And said I did not need a ride
That I’d rather take my chances with the heat

Well, when she turned and walked away
I saw my big mistake
There were jewels on her body oh so rare
Had it been another day
I just might’ve rode away
With that woman ridin’ off to God knows where

So the years, they came and went
And found me livin’ in a tent
Far above a little marble stream
And it may’ve been the light
That shone out through the night
That attracted the hand scratchin’ on my screen

When I cautiously looked out
Through the night, there was no doubt
That the owner of the hand was that girl
So I bid her, “Do come in,
And I’ll open up a tin
If you’ll tell me ’bout your trip around the world”

Well, she said, “If you think back
To the first time that we passed
I’m sure you’ll picture me in all my jewels
And it was shortly after then
That I ran into another man
And I asked him the same question that I asked you

“But now he, he didn’t refuse
And he took off both his shoes
And climbed aboard my eastbound caravan
And in the twinkling of an eye
He had knocked me off the side
And left me there for death upon the sand

“Then I thought that I was done
Lyin’ naked in the sun
When much to my surprise, who should pass?
But this ol’ friend of yours
He said he knew ya from the wars
And I told him that I thought you’d headed west

“Well, he said he should have known
’Cause you liked to be alone
And that’s the time I knew you were my one
So I asked him for a ride
Just to get here by your side
And stay here above this stream out of the sun”

Well, we sat quite for a while
And I began to smile
And I said, “Well, it’s strange, but I don’t care”
And some nights, when I’m at rest
I wonder if I’d said yes
If she’d have come to me from God knows where

Or would I have been the one
To leave her lyin’ in the sun
And then ended up with only precious stones?
Or would the woman in my arms
Be givin’ me her charms
If the answer that I gave her wasn’t “no”?

Looking for the good times, baby
Gonna have my fun
Looking for the good times, baby
Girl, you can come along

With me
Whoa, you’re gonna see
Whoa, just how fine this big old world can be

Looking for the good times, baby
Gonna have a ball
Looking for the good times, baby
Girl, you can share it all

There’s more to life than you’ve been living, girl (You can share it all)
There’s things to do that you ain’t thought of yet (You can share it all)
So let me be the one to do the giving, girl (You can share it all)
You find the things you thought you couldn’t get

Looking for the good times, baby
Gonna have my fun
Looking for the good times, baby
Girl, you can come along
With me
With me

Looking for the good times, baby
Gonna have a ball
Looking for the good times, baby
Girl, you can share it all

In every little town and village too
Somewhere in the neighborhood
You find a little band of ladies who
Can’t stop doing good
Good for the pigeons in the park
Good for their weekly tea
Good for the national bank
Where they keep their treasury

We’re the ladies aid society
And we’re really a great bunch of girls
We’re the ladies aid society
And soon we’ll take over the world

Here they come, marching down the street
With their picket signs in hand
With their blue and white pleated uniforms
And their all-girl five-piece band
Down with long-haired singing groups
Down with the mayor too
And if you’re under sixty-five
They’re down on you

We’re the ladies aid society
And we just want to sell you the truth
We’re the ladies aid society
And it’s time we clamp down on the youth

We’re the ladies aid society
And we’re really a great bunch of girls
We’re the ladies aid society
And soon we’ll take over the world

We’re the ladies aid society
And we just want to sell you the truth
We’re the ladies aid society
And it’s time we clamp down on the youth

Hey, hey, mercy woman
Plays a song and no one listens
I need help, I’m falling again

Play the drum a little louder
Tell me I can live without her
If I only listen to the band
Listen to the band

Weren’t they good?
They made me happy
I think I can make it alone

Oh, mercy woman
Plays a song and no one listens
I need help, I’m falling again

Play the drum a little bit louder
Tell them they can live without her
If they only listen to the band
Listen to the band

Now weren’t they good?
They made me happy
I think I can make it alone

Ohh, woman
Plays a song and no one listens
I need help, I’m falling again

C’mon, play the drums just a little bit louder
Tell us we can live without her
Now that we have listened to the band

Listen to the band

A little girl goes out walking in the night
A little boy calls “good evening” from the light
They stop to talk for just a while
Then she’s gone

A little girl sits beside her window pane
Thinking about an evening in the rain
A little talk, a little boy
Then she’s gone

[break]

A little girl goes out walking once again
A little boy finds that he has done the same
They stop to talk for just a while
Then they’re gone
Then they’re gone
Then they’re gone

Ask your mommy and daddy, “What happened to the Indian?
How come they’re all living in places with too much snow and too much sun?”
Tell your mommy, “I’ve got a funny feeling deep inside of me”
Ask your daddy, “Is it really as bad as people make it seem?”

Wa ta ticka ta too-too
Wa ta ticka ta too-too
Wa ta ticka ta too-too
Wa ta ticka ta too-too
Wa ta ticka ta

Ask your mommy why everybody swallows all those little pills
Ask your daddy, “Why doesn’t that soldier care who he kills?”
After they’ve put you to sleep and tucked you safely down in your bed
Whisper, “Mommy and daddy, would you rather that I heard it from my friends instead?”

Do you think I’m too young to know, to see, to feel, or hear?
My questions need an answer or a vacuum will appear
Don’t be surprised if they turn and walk away
And tell your mommy and daddy that you love ’em anyway, way, way
That you love, you love ’em anyway, uh huh, uh huh
Love, love, love, love the king
Love will set you free
Love, love, love, love the king
The kings of E.M.I….

She’s always appearing with her band of renown
You want to go and see her when you’re feeling down
She’s a breathtaking spectacle with guaranteed hope
She’ll make you feel good ’cause she’s the best thing since soap
She’ll greet you in the alley with her bonafide smile
She’s the original sideshow, she’s got her own style

Pardon my baby
She got to have her fun
Yes, I said pardon my baby
She got to have her fun
’Cause she’s the Oklahoma backroom dancer
Watch her, boy

Now she dances on air, just like Superman’s child
Like a filter-tip cigarette, she’s wild, but she’s mild
She’s more fun than Colorado and more far out than Maine
She comes on like thunder, and she’s more right than rain
She’s the mother of earth and the goddess of thirst
She’s the chicken and the egg and whichever came first

Pardon my baby
She got to have a chance
Oh, I said pardon my baby
She got to have a chance
’Cause she’s the Oklahoma backroom dancer
Watch her dance

[break]
“Oh my, somebody get the piano player a drink of water!”

Yeah, I said pardon my baby
She got to have her fun
Yeah, I said pardon my baby
She got to have her fun
Yes, she’s the Oklahoma backroom dancer
Watch her, boy

Woo, my my

There’s a wonderland for Alice
There’s a tall beanstalk for Jack
The sleepy train will take you there
So safely down the track
With the sandman at the throttle
You’ll be off to dreams and back
It’s pillow time again

You will meet all your storybook friends
As you go down Mother Goose Lane
Romp with Jack and Jill
Up and down the hill
And try to put Humpty together again

Close your sleepy eyes and listen
While we take a little hop
The candy whistle’s blowin’
Don’t you miss your station stop
So good night, my weary farer
Pleasant dreams to you, old top
It’s pillow time again

You will meet all your storybook friends
As you go down Mother Goose Lane
Romp with Jack and Jill
Up and down the hill
And try to put Humpty together again

Close your sleepy eyes and listen
While we take a little hop
The candy whistle’s blowin’
Don’t you miss your station stop
So good night, my weary farer
Pleasant dreams to you, old top
It’s pillow time again
It’s pillow time again
It’s pillow time again
It’s pillow time again
It’s pillow, pillow time again
It’s pillow, pillow, pillow

“I dunno, it don’t smell like corn silk.”

“Everybody samba!”

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

Na na na na na na na

Keeper of men and of shadows
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

Da na na na na na da dum
Steal away
Oh, going back to Rhode Island
Going way back, back to Rhode Island
Shaking maracas in Rhode Island
Maybe go to Providence, Rhode Island
Dancing with a girl with fruit on her head in Rhode Island
Rhode Island, Rhode Island, Rhode Island
Fruit on her head and cork wedgies…

When I was a child, and the road was dark
And the way was long and alone
My heart would lift as I turned the bend
And saw the lights of home

Now, high above in a silent sky
In a still and starry space
A man looks down on the Earth below
And that blue and green and shining glow
To him, is the lights of home

It’s the good earth
Yes, the good earth
It’s a land of sun and rain and snow
And mulberry trees and mistletoe
And burning plains and raging seas
And Sunday morning taking your ease
Watching your children grow

It’s the good earth
Yes, the good earth
Where we fought and loved and killed and died
And ruined and ravished the countryside

But now, from a million miles away
From another world that’s cold and gray
Someone is able to look and say
“That’s the good earth”

So isn’t it time we stopped the tears?
We’ve lived together for thousands of years
And whether I’m wrong, and whether you’re right
Whether you’re black, and whether I’m white
One day, we’ll stand on the edge of the world
And someone will ask us the land of our birth
And we’ll look into his eyes and quietly say
“It’s the good earth, yes, the good earth”
Why can’t we be good on the good earth?

Hey, hey, mercy woman
Plays a song and no one listens
I need help, I’m falling again

Play the drum a little louder
Tell me I can live without her
If I only listen to the band
Listen to the band

Weren’t they good?
They made me happy
I think I can make it alone

Hey, mercy woman
Plays a song and no one listens
I need help, I’m falling again

Play the drum a little louder
Tell them they can live without her
If they only listen to the band
Listen to the band

Now weren’t they good?
They made me happy
I think I can make it alone

Ohh, woman
Plays a song and no one listens
I need help, I’m falling again

Play the drums a little bit louder
Tell us we can live without her
Now that we have listened to the band

Listen to the band

Ask your mommy and daddy, “What happened to the Indian?”
Ask your mommy and daddy to tell you where you really came from
Then mommy and daddy will probably quickly turn and walk away
Then ask your mommy and daddy who really killed J.F.K.

Wa ta ticka ta too-too
Wa ta ticka ta too-too
Wa ta ticka ta too-too
Wa ta ticka ta too-too
Wa ta ticka ta

Ask your mommy if she really gets off on all her pills
Ask your daddy, “Why doesn’t that soldier care who he kills?”
After they’ve put you to sleep and tucked you safely down in your bed
Whisper, “Mommy and daddy, would it matter if the bullet went through my head?”

If it was my blood spilling on the kitchen floor
If it was my blood, mommy, would you care a little more?
Don’t be surprised when they turn and start to cry
And tell your mommy and daddy
Tell your mommy and daddy
Scream it to your mommy and daddy
They’re living in a lie, lie, lie
It’s all a lie, it’s all a lie, lie, lie
It’s all, it’s all, it’s all
Lie, lie, lie
It’s all, it’s all, it’s all
Lie, lie, lie…

“The management at Colgems Records has asked me to explain something, which is no big surprise, because people are always asking their kids to explain everything.”

[excerpt from “Listen to the Band”]

“They wanna bring us out all the time, to get us to talk, to tell them what we think so they can tell us why we’re wrong. But for us, our music says it all, like The Monkees and their new album, The Monkees Present.”

[excerpt from “Good Clean Fun”]

“Their music is like we are. It’s hard to say why you like it, except the music talks to you, instead of expecting you to talk to it. Get The Monkees Present on Colgems, records and stereo eight cartridge tape. It’s music that talks to you.”

[excerpt from “Never Tell a Woman Yes”]