Editor’s Note: Song lyrics denoted in bold italics.
After a brief hiatus, I’m pretty pumped to bring back our weekly Tuesday Tunes series!!! Come on, admit it — you missed it terribly, didn’t you? I know! I did too! So to kick things off once again, I must pay homage to a childhood favorite that has followed me into adulthood. Just consider this post The Monkees Edition!
The Monkees’ “I’m A Believer”
From More of The Monkees
I couldn’t have been more than 6 or 7 when I saw The Monkees in concert. The prefab four marked my first concert experience, and although I don’t really remember going, I have a pretty clear picture in my head, thanks to my parents’ wonderful stories over the years. Apparently, the people sitting around us got such a kick out of me, so you know I must have been rocking out hard-core to all those catchy tunes!
Fast-forward to my teenage years where my father pulls out his old record player, complete with his record collection. I mean, actual, original records from the ’60s and ’70s, not these “vintage” vinyls of today’s pop acts that all the young people buy in an attempt to be cool and edgy.
But I digress.
Anyway, we all gathered around that record player in our living room and listened to the sounds of a former generation. The words and melodies from the likes of Simon & Garfunkel and the Beatles danced in the air. I felt like I was actually hearing music for the first time, you know? And of course, you could tell how proud my parents were to show us a piece of their past.
I thought love was only true in fairy tales
Meant for someone else but not for me
Love was out to get me
That’s the way it seemed
Disappointment haunted all of my dreams
“I’m A Believer” is perhaps one of the group’s catchiest, most infectious tunes, but you’d never know that from those opening lines, would you? It starts off downright depressing, actually, but I’ve always identified with those lyrics. Yes, I know I can be a bit obsessed with fairy tales — OK, maybe even sometimes at the exclusion of reality — and all those fairy tales can make real-life love seem unattainable at times. Honestly, even now, I still feel like love is something that’s meant for everyone else but me, as if I was standing outside some private club I’ll never get into. Most of the time, I can just shrug off those negative emotions, but other times? Well, let’s just say that it gets to me. I sure wish it didn’t, but it does.
Then I saw her face, now I’m a believer
Not a trace of doubt in my mind
I’m in love
I’m a believer, I couldn’t leave her if I tried
And then, finally, like the glorious rainbow that appears just as the rain clouds part, everything changes to a more upbeat, peppy tone. The sense of optimism is palpable, which is just so incredibly refreshing to me. I suppose it just goes to show that things really can change at the most unexpected of times.
That sense of possibility gives me hope — hope for the future, hope that things can eventually change, hope that now isn’t necessarily forever. I’m over-the-moon grateful for that sense of hope. And, really, I’m not just talking about love and relationships here. Nothing in life is set in stone, and maybe that’s a wonderful thing.
Obviously, The Monkees are also part of my history and that history courses through my blood to this day — it’s a huge part of my family and became such a way for us to bond. Maybe you have a fave song, group or album that helped you bond with your family as well, friends!! Let me know in the comments!! xoxo