2.27.24

My, my, the clock in the sky

Is pounding away

And there’s so much to say

I’ve never met anyone who sort of likes The Monkees. It’s either love or hate.

I happen to love them.

Those who hate The Monkees see them as little more than a manufactured band put together for the sake of a TV show. But that’s far from the truth. But that’s a fact-filled rant for another time.

The Porpoise Song is from the 1968 original motion picture soundtrack for Head, the movie that served as both the culmination of the The Monkees TV series and as something of a temporary swan song for the band itself. Head was written in large part by Jack Nicholson and is a trippy, drug-fueled, metaphorical examination of the band’s career and the feelings of contractual entrapment the members felt.

The song’s sound hints at the prog rock movement well underway in England, while also suggesting the sounds of a mournful funeral procession by way of a circus parade. It’s a complex piece of work and my favorite song from The Monkees.

I was introduced to Head in college (ahem), and it was a staple in my stereo for months and months. Like the movie, the soundtrack is a hell of a trip, The Monkees satirizing themselves at one moment (Ditty Diego-War Chant) at one point, tearing it up with a rocker the next (Circle Sky), and winding their way through a heartbreaking show tune a few tracks later (Daddy’s Song).

But nothing tops Porpoise Song, the second track on the album.

I have a crippling fear of water, having nearly drowned as a child. Listening to Porpoise Song is, to me, an experience akin to swimming, from the safety of dry land.

I know I will never actually swim with a porpoise, but this song makes me feel like I have.