(The Hit Hammer is where I'm reviewing each #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. Starting from when the chart started in 1958 and eventually working my way to the present. To see my inspiration and more information about this blog, please refer down below)
The Monkees - "Last Train to Clarksville"
Hit Number 1: November 5, 1966
Stay at Number 1: 1 Week
I know I called the Dave Clark Five the Beatles wannabees, but that was really these guys. The Monkees were a band who became instantly popular after their single "Last Train to Clarksville" hit #1, and they even had their own TV show too, reaching the mainstream audience in multiple ways. The story of "Last Train to Clarksville" further proves their obvious rip off of the Beatles, but that could've played a major factor in how they became so popular. Without "Last Train to Clarksville", I don't know that the Monkees become such a force in the late 1960s.
The song was written by a songwriting duo named Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. Hart thought of the lyrics after catching the tail end of the Beatles' "Paperback Writer" on the radio, and thought instead of "Paperback Writer", Paul McCartney was singing "take the last train". He didn't use that line in this particular song until he found out that McCartney was really just singing the title of his song, so Hart went on and used the line "Take the last train to Clarksville", since he knew it wouldn't be plagiarism. The Monkees, who had already started their music/comedy TV show in the spirit of the Beatles' movie A Hard Day's Night, were thought by Hart to be perfect for this song, and he hoped that by making a song so similar to a Beatles hit, that they'd come away with a hit. Well, it worked. Even the "Oh, no, no, no" lyrics are a direct nod to the Beatles, mostly by their "Yeah, yeah, yeah" chant in the song "She Loves You".
The song is often thought to be a reference to the Vietnam War, especially with the line "And I don't know if I'm ever coming home". This seemed even more likely, since there's a town in Tennessee named Clarksville, and was close to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, which is home to the 101st Airborne Division, which was serving in Vietnam at the time. However, according to Hart, that was all a coincidence. He would further comment "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 story line. 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." So with all that, you're free to interpret the song's meaning however you wish. But at the end of the day, it's just a song about a guy who tells the woman he loves to meet him at the train station by taking the last train to Clarksville, cause he doesn't know if he's ever coming home for whatever reason. That reason is up for you to decide.
Besides the lyrics, even the song's structure sounds a lot like "Paperback Writer". There's some echoes behind lead singer/drummer Micky Dolenz's vocals, the lead guitar's chord structure is a lot like the amplified bass on "Paperback Writer', and the whole vibe of "Last Train to Clarksville" not only sounds like "Paperback Writer", but it almost sounds entirely like another Beatles' record by itself. There's a couple "breaks" in the song that help propel it into a Beatles-esque track, with the first one being a mellow, steady guitar strutting break while Dolenz sings "doo doo doos". The second break, however, is much more lively. That one has the "jangly" guitar sound that "Paperback Writer" has, while Dolenz not only sings almost falsetto, but keeps a fierce and rock-solid beat from his drums. The song also delivers a clear case of catchiness, and it's instantly recognizable wherever it may play. It's also the song that received the most number of plays on the Monkees' TV show. America might not have known it at the time, but after the success of "Last Train to Clarksville", the Monkees were here to stay for a little while. We'll hear from them again shortly.
GRADE: 9/10
SONGS REFERENCED:
The Beatles - "Paperback Writer"
The Beatles - "She Loves You"
MY INSPIRATION / MORE INFORMATION:
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