"Pleasant Valley Sunday" is a

song A song is a musical composition intended to be performed by the human voice. This is often done at distinct and fixed pitches (melodies) using patterns of sound and silence. Songs contain various forms, such as those including the repetitio ...

written by

Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the List of Billboard number-one ...

and

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...

, most famous for the version recorded by

the Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

in 1967. Inspired by a street named Pleasant Valley Way and their move to suburban

West Orange, New Jersey West Orange is a suburban township in Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 48,843, an increase of 2,636 (+5.7%) from the 46,207 counted in the 2010 Census.

, Goffin and King wrote the song about dissatisfaction with the life in the

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separate ...

s. The Monkees' version differs somewhat compared to Goffin/King's original composition, including a well-known guitar intro played by

Michael Nesmith Robert Michael Nesmith or Mike Nesmith, (December 30, 1942 – December 10, 2021) was an American musician, songwriter, and actor. He was best known as a member of the pop rock band the Monkees and co-star of the TV series ''The Monkees'' (1966� ...

and a

reverb Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...

ending.

Micky Dolenz George Michael Dolenz Jr. (born March 8, 1945) is an American actor, musician, TV producer and businessman. He is best known as the drummer and one of three primary vocalists for the pop-rock band the Monkees (1966–1970, and multiple reunions ...

sang the lead vocals. It became one of the Monkees' most successful singles, peaking at No. 3 and continuing their string of top 10 hits. The song was included on '' Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.''

Composition

Cowriter

stated in her autobiography that after she and her then-husband

had earned enough money from songwriting royalties, they moved from

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, but Goffin disliked their suburban life and wrote lyrics to document this feeling that would eventually become "Pleasant Valley Sunday." The lyrics are a

social commentary Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide commentary on social, cultural, political, or economic issues in a society. This is often done with the idea of implementing or promoting change by informing the general populace ab ...

status symbol A status symbol is a visible, external symbol of one's social position, an indicator of economic or social status. Many luxury goods are often considered status symbols. ''Status symbol'' is also a sociological term – as part of social and soci ...

s, creature comforts, life in

suburbia A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include Commercial area, commercial and mixed-use development, mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a ...

and "

keeping up with the Joneses Keeping is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Charles Keeping (1924–1988), British illustrator, children's book author and lithographer * Damien Keeping (born 1982), Australian rules football coach * Frederick Keeping (1867 ...

." Many alternative interpretations exist regarding the song's lyrics. In the book ''SuburbiaNation'', Robert Beuka described the lyrics as "a wry commentary on the materialistic and anesthetized sensibilities of the adult generation in suburbia..." Brian Ward wrote in ''The 1960s: A Documentary Reader'' that the song was more associated with the New Left and the

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Hou ...

jokingly stated in a 1978 interview with ''

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...

'' magazine that the song was written about "a mental institution." Deanna D. Sellnow, author of ''The Rhetorical Power of Popular Culture'', commented that, despite so many definitions about the song's meaning, its rhetorical message is actually "bleak." The song is composed in

C major C major (or the key of C) is a major scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. C major is one of the most common keys used in music. Its key signature has no flats or sharps. Its relative minor is A minor and ...

Recording

King recorded a demo of "Pleasant Valley Sunday," later included in the 2012 compilation album ''

The Legendary Demos ''The Legendary Demos'' is a compilation album by pop rock artist Carole King. It was released on April 24, 2012 on Hear Music. The album contains thirteen demo recordings, ranging in time from "Crying in the Rain" (1962) to six tracks that appear ...

'', but

' version features a faster arrangement and some alterations to the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

lyrics ("Creature comfort goals/Can only numb my soul/I need a change of scenery/My thoughts all seem to stray/To places far away/I don’t ever want to see/Another Pleasant Valley Sunday…." was changed to "Creature comfort goals/They only numb my soul/And make it hard for me to see/My thoughts all seem to stray/To places far away/I need a change of scenery."). The Monkees' producer

Chip Douglas Douglas Farthing Hatlelid (born August 27, 1942), better known as Chip Douglas, is an American songwriter, musician (bass, guitar and keyboards), and record producer, whose most famous work was during the 1960s. He was the bassist of the Turtle ...

, who was responsible for these changes, stated that King disapproved of them. "Pleasant Valley Sunday" was recorded during the '' Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.'' sessions. The Monkees, who had been fighting to exert more control over their records, and who had recorded an album, ''Headquarters'', on which the instruments were played almost entirely by themselves, used more

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

s for the album tracks. The basic track for "Pleasant Valley Sunday" was recorded on June 10, 1967 with

on electric guitar,

Peter Tork Peter Halsten Thorkelson (February 13, 1942 – February 21, 2019), better known by his stage name Peter Tork, was an American musician and actor. He was best known as the keyboardist and bass guitarist of the Monkees and a co-star of the TV ...

on piano, Douglas on bass guitar and session musician

Eddie Hoh Edward Hoh (October 16, 1944 – November 7, 2015) was an American rock drummer who was active in the 1960s. Although primarily a studio session and touring drummer, Hoh exhibited a degree of originality and showmanship that set him apart and se ...

on drums.

was present at the session and may have played acoustic guitar. The next day, Nesmith overdubbed another electric guitar part, while Hoh recorded percussion ( shaker and

conga The conga, also known as tumbadora, is a tall, narrow, single-headed drum from Cuba. Congas are staved like barrels and classified into three types: quinto (lead drum, highest), tres dos or tres golpes (middle), and tumba or salidor (lowest). ...

) overdubs and Bill Chadwick, a friend of the Monkees, performed a second acoustic guitar portion. The Monkees (including Davy Jones) recorded their vocals, with the possible participation of Douglas, on June 13. Nesmith played another guitar part, while Hoh overdubbed more percussion. Dolenz sang lead, with Nesmith harmonizing with him. The distinctive guitar intro (and the main riff) was played by Nesmith on a black

Gibson Les Paul The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typi ...

guitar through three Vox Super Beatle amplifiers. Douglas wrote the intro based on the riff of

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' " I Want to Tell You." For the song's ending, Douglas and engineer

Hank Cicalo Hank Cicalo (born June 25, 1932) is an American recording engineer whose career has spanned over fifty years. Among the artists recorded by Cicalo are The Monkees, Carole King, Barbra Streisand, and George Harrison. Early career In 1957, Cical ...

tried to "keep pushing everything up," increasingly adding

reverberation Reverberation (also known as reverb), in acoustics, is a persistence of sound, after a sound is produced. Reverberation is created when a sound or signal is reflected causing numerous reflections to build up and then decay as the sound is abso ...

and

echo In audio signal processing and acoustics, an echo is a reflection of sound that arrives at the listener with a delay after the direct sound. The delay is directly proportional to the distance of the reflecting surface from the source and the lis ...

until the sound became unrecognizable before fading out. Separate

mono Mono may refer to: Common meanings * Infectious mononucleosis, "the kissing disease" * Monaural, monophonic sound reproduction, often shortened to mono * Mono-, a numerical prefix representing anything single Music Performers * Mono (Japanese b ...

and

stereo Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...

versions were mixed for

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

and

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

records.

Release and reception

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' described the single as a "strong, easy rocker" that is "excitingly performed." ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that it's "an up-tempo happy-flavored ditty celebrating summertime activities that are regarded as All-American and quaint." Tork praised the vocal performances of both Dolenz and Nesmith. The single peaked at No. 3 on the

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

and was repeatedly featured in the second season of their

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

. The song also appeared on the fourth Monkees album, '' Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.'', in November 1967. While mono copies of the album included the same version heard on the single, stereo copies featured a version with a different take of the first verse and an additional backing vocal during the break. A different stereo mix, more closely replicating the single version, appeared on the 1991 Monkees box set '' Listen to the Band''. In February 1986,

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

aired a marathon of episodes of ''The Monkees'' titled ''Pleasant Valley Sunday'', which sparked a second wave of interest in the band. Dolenz, Tork and Jones, already on tour, went from playing small venues to arenas and stadiums in the following weeks. The B-side of the "Pleasant Valley Sunday" single, "

Words A word is a basic element of language that carries an objective or practical meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible. Despite the fact that language speakers often have an intuitive grasp of what a word is, there is no consen ...

", was written by

Boyce and Hart Sidney Thomas "Tommy" Boyce (September 29, 1939 – November 23, 1994) and Bobby Hart (born Robert Luke Harshman; February 18, 1939) were a prolific American duo of singer-songwriters. In addition to three top-40 hits as artists, the duo is ...

. On the ''Pisces'' album, the song is introduced by Tork's brief spoken-word track "Peter Percival Patterson's Pet Pig Porky."

Personnel

Credits from Andrew Sandoval. *

– lead vocals, possible acoustic guitar *

– harmony vocals, electric guitar *

– piano, backing vocals * Davy Jones – backing vocals

Session musicians and production staff

* Bill Chadwick – acoustic guitar *

– possible vocals, bass guitar, producer *

"Fast" Eddie Hoh Edward Hoh (October 16, 1944 – November 7, 2015) was an American rock drummer who was active in the 1960s. Although primarily a studio session and touring drummer, Hoh exhibited a degree of originality and showmanship that set him apart and se ...

– drums, percussion *

– engineer

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

In popular culture

Grand Funk Railroad Grand Funk Railroad (often shortened to Grand Funk) is an American rock band formed in 1968 in Flint, Michigan, by Mark Farner (vocals, guitar), Don Brewer (drums, vocals), and Mel Schacher (bass). The band achieved peak popularity and succes ...

's 1970 song "

I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home) "I'm Your Captain (Closer to Home)" is a 1970 song written by American musician Mark Farner and recorded by Grand Funk Railroad as the closing track to their album '' Closer to Home''. Ten minutes in duration, it is the band's longest studio recor ...

" opens with a guitar intro played by

Mark Farner Mark Fredrick Farner (born September 29, 1948) is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lead guitarist for the hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad, and later as a contemporary Christian musician. Earl ...

that borrows directly from "Pleasant Valley Sunday's" guitar hook. * The pop punk band The Mr. T Experience covered the song on their 1986 debut album ''

Everybody's Entitled to Their Own Opinion ''Everybody's Entitled to Their Own Opinion'' is the debut album by the Berkeley, California punk rock band The Mr. T Experience. It was released in 1986 by Disorder Records. The album established the band's presence in the prolific San Francis ...

''. *

The Wedding Present The Wedding Present are an English indie rock group originally formed in 1985 in Leeds, England, from the ashes of The Lost Pandas. The band's music has evolved from fast-paced indie rock in the vein of their most obvious influences The Fall, ...

covered the song on their 1992 album ''

Hit Parade 1 In 1992, The Wedding Present decided to release a limited edition single every month, each featuring an original track on the A side and a cover on the B side. The tracks were compiled as two LPs called ''Hit Parade 1'' and ''Hit Parade 2'' and ...

''. * The Christian band

Code of Ethics Ethical codes are adopted by organizations to assist members in understanding the difference between right and wrong and in applying that understanding to their decisions. An ethical code generally implies documents at three levels: codes of bus ...

covered the song on their 1995 album ''Arms Around the World''. *

Mark Mothersbaugh Mark Allen Mothersbaugh (; born May 18, 1950) is an American composer, singer, and multi-instrumentalist. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as co-founder, lead singer and keyboardist of the new wave band Devo, whose " Whip It" was a top 2 ...

covered the song for a 2002 episode of the TV series ''

Hidden Hills ''Hidden Hills'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from September 24, 2002 to January 21, 2003, during the 2002 fall line up. Based on the book ''Surviving Suburbia'', the series was created by Peter Segal and Ric Swart ...

''. * In the 2005 ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagshi ...

'' season 5 episode "To Live and Let Diorama", the song is heard playing at the music store owned by Sophie Bloom (a character played by

, who co-wrote the song). * Neal Morse, lead singer of

Transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...

, and former lead singer of

Spock's Beard Spock's Beard is an American progressive rock band formed in Los Angeles. The band was formed in 1992 by brothers Neal (lead vocals, keyboards) and Alan Morse (vocals, guitars), John Ballard (bass) and Nick D'Virgilio (drums). Ballard was r ...

, covered the song on his 2006 album '' Cover to Cover''. * In the 2008 ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

'' season 6 episode "

McStroke "McStroke" is the eighth episode of season six of the animated comedy series '' Family Guy''. It originally aired on Fox in the United States on January 13, 2008. The episode follows Peter as he saves the life of a fast-food restaurant owner who ...

", this song plays in the background during a classic hallway chase scene. * Jazz singer

Kurt Elling Kurt Elling (born November 2, 1967) is an American jazz singer and songwriter. Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Rockford, Illinois, Rockford, Elling became interested in music through his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran chur ...

covered the song on his 2012 album '' 1619 Broadway – The Brill Building Project''. * The song is performed in Act II of the 2013 jukebox musical '' Beautiful: The Carole King Musical''.

References

External links

Pleasant Valley Way map
{{Authority control 1967 singles The Monkees songs Songs with lyrics by Gerry Goffin West Orange, New Jersey Songs written by Carole King Magnapop songs 1986 in American television MTV original programming 1967 songs Satirical songs Works about suburbs American psychedelic rock songs