On August 16, 1966, the Monkees relased "Last Train to Clarksville."

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last Train to Clarksville


Single by the Monkees from
the album The Monkees

Released: August 16, 1966
Format: 7"
Recorded: July 25, 1966; RCA Victor Studios, Studio A; Hollywood, CA
Length: 2:46
Label: Colgems #1001
Songwriter(s): Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart
Producer(s): Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart

"Last Train to Clarksville" is a song by American rock band the Monkees. It was released as the band's debut single on August 16, 1966, and was later included on the group's self-titled album, which was released on October 10, 1966. The song, written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, was recorded at RCA Victor Studio B in Hollywood on July 25, 1966, and was already on the Boss Radio "Hit Bounds" playlist on August 17, 1966. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending November 5, 1966. Lead vocals were performed by the Monkees' drummer, Micky Dolenz. "Last Train to Clarksville" was featured in seven episodes of the band's television series, the most for any Monkees song.

Song

The song, written by the songwriting duo Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart, has been compared to the Beatles' "Paperback Writer", particularly the "jangly" guitar sound, the chord structure, and the vocal harmonies. The Beatles' song had been number one in the US charts three months earlier.

The lyrics tell of a man phoning the woman he loves, urging her to meet him at a train station in Clarksville before he must leave, possibly forever. There was no explicit reference to war in the song but its last line, "And I don't know if I'm ever coming home", was an indirect reference about a soldier leaving for the Vietnam War.

It has often been presumed that the song refers to Clarksville, Tennessee, which is near Fort Campbell, Kentucky, the home of the 101st Airborne Division, which was then serving in Vietnam. However, according to songwriter Bobby Hart, that was not the case. Instead, according to Hart, "We were just looking for a name that sounded good. There's a little town in northern Arizona I used to go through in the summer on the way to Oak Creek Canyon called Clarkdale. We were throwing out names, and when we got to Clarkdale, we thought Clarksville sounded even better. We didn't know it at the time, [but] there is an Army base near the town of Clarksville, Tennessee — which would have fit the bill fine for the storyline. We couldn't be too direct with The Monkees. We couldn't really make a protest song out of it — we kind of snuck it in."

{snip}

Oh, I forgot to include a video. Here's a compilation video:

woolhat1
Published on Feb 1, 2012

A re-edited song from The Monkees TV series. This is from episode 2 with adds from episode 3 and live shot from episode 32. This completes all editing of songs from the first season of the TV series.

What? I wasn't expecting this:

JayandCompany95
Published on Nov 11, 2011

Lester Flatt & Earl Scruggs - Last Train To Clarksville

Wed Aug 16, 2023: On this day, August 16, 1966, the Monkees relased "Last Train to Clarksville."

Fri Aug 16, 2019: August 16, 1966: The Monkees relase "Last Train to Clarksville"

[sl8]

1. "Professor of Rock" interviews Bobby Hart about the song:

SQUEAKY-CLEAN Band FOOLED the Censors & Took Controversial Song All the Way To #1!-Professor of Rock

Professor of Rock
Aug 15 2024

Last Train to Clarksville by The Monkees is a song with a secret message. One that never would have gotten airplay if the music industry knew what this squeaky clean band was putting out. And though it seems pretty obvious in hindsight, not everyone got what Last Train was really about. The song’s controversial message was camouflaged by a jangly, upbeat sound and performed by a band that had been manufactured in a lab. The Monkees didn’t write any of their own music, at least not at first. Later though they would fight the power for a chance to write and record their own music. Today, we’re pulling back the curtain on a protest song disguised as a happy-go-lucky singalong that came to be when its writer Bobby Hart heard a Beatles song and misheard the lyric. When he figured out he’d been singing it wrong he turned his misheard lyrics into a #1 smash. And coming up in an in-depth interview, Hart will tell you the whole story. You’re not going to want to miss this one. The story’s coming up… NEXT on the Professor of Rock.

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Executive Producer
Brandon Fugal

Honorary Producers
Stan Summay, MG, Dave Fritz, David Roche, Bob Bell

[...]

[twodogsbarking]

2. and Trump played it at his rally. The end.