# I Like the Monkees better than the Beatles, and I don't care who knows it! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 21, 2017, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-monkees-better-than-the-beatles-and-i-dont-care-who-knows-it/784949 "2017-04-21T22:17:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2017, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-monkees-better-than-the-beatles-and-i-dont-care-who-knows-it/784949/101 "2017-04-28T21:13:01Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Octopus’s Garden, Yellow Submarine, Birthday, Good Day Sunshine, etc. > > The idea that the Beatles didn’t write “joyous” songs is, frankly, puzzling to me. Their music had the full range of emotions. I would even put stuff like “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” up there, despite the kind of mysterious psychedelic verses. You should see my little 3-year-old dance to it! One of her most requested songs. Especially with Lennon there could be a bit of a barb in the songs, some heartache in the joy that gave depth to a lot of it. A need to be heard that was very deep. This was always known as part of their irresistible superlative genius, UNTIL THIS THREAD. Sorry didn’t mean to shout. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-monkees-better-than-the-beatles-and-i-dont-care-who-knows-it/784949/102 "2017-05-01T11:49:12Z")
> [@drad\_dog](#): > > Especially with Lennon there could be a bit of a barb in the songs, some heartache in the joy that gave depth to a lot of it. A need to be heard that was very deep. This was always known as part of their irresistible superlative genius, UNTIL THIS THREAD. Sorry didn’t mean to shout. What the hell are you on about? Why do you keep going on as if the idea that the Beatles’ sound was slightly darker than that of the Monkees (which, bizarrely, you’ve given lots of evidence for) is disparaging the Beatles? I make no apologies for shouting back at you; NO ONE IN THIS THREAD WAS DISPARAGING THE BEATLES, BUT FOR SOME REASON YOU CHOSE TO MISCONSTRUE THE OP AND MANY OF THE REPLIES. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-monkees-better-than-the-beatles-and-i-dont-care-who-knows-it/784949/103 "2017-05-01T12:08:50Z")
Drad dog, you also seem to have a hard time accepting that it’s legitimate for other people have different preferences and subjective interpretations from your own. You become unnecessarily combative and disdainful and so make it impossible to find common ground with you. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-monkees-better-than-the-beatles-and-i-dont-care-who-knows-it/784949/104 "2017-05-01T16:45:57Z")
> [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > What the hell are you on about? Why do you keep going on as if the idea that the Beatles’ sound was slightly darker than that of the Monkees (which, bizarrely, you’ve given lots of evidence for) is disparaging the Beatles? I make no apologies for shouting back at you; NO ONE IN THIS THREAD WAS DISPARAGING THE BEATLES, BUT FOR SOME REASON YOU CHOSE TO MISCONSTRUE THE OP AND MANY OF THE REPLIES. I don’t think you have read the thread. Unless you think my thoughts aren’t “legitimate” too, why are you so worked up? ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-monkees-better-than-the-beatles-and-i-dont-care-who-knows-it/784949/105 "2017-05-01T16:55:43Z")
> [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](#): > > It’s the central premise of the opening post. I agree with it. Monkees songs are joyful in a way which Beatles songs are not. Beatles songs contains lots of emotion, but nobody’s responded to my comment with any examples of Beatles songs that show unalloyed joy and positivity. Both Lennon and McCartney lost their mothers as teenagers and I would say that the pain shows in their music. Posts 1, 21 and Um… ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-monkees-better-than-the-beatles-and-i-dont-care-who-knows-it/784949/106 "2017-05-01T17:23:15Z")
A sample of some joyful Beatles’ songs: - She Loves You - I Saw Her Standing There - Please Please Me - Twist and Shout (Phil Medley, Bert Russell) - Roll Over Beethoven (Chuck Berry) - I’m Happy Just to Dance with You - Can’t Buy Me Love - Any Time at All - Rock and Roll Music (Chuck Berry) - Eight Days a Week - Every Little Thing - Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby (Carl Perkins) - I Feel Fine - Long Tall Sally (Blackwell, Johnson, Penniman) - I’ve Just Seen a Face - Drive My Car - Here, There and Everywhere - Yellow Submarine - Good Day Sunshine - Got to Get You into My Life - Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band - With a Little Help From My Friends - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - Fixing a Hole - When I’m Sixty-Four - Lovely Rita - Back in the U.S.S.R. - Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da - Birthday - Savoy Truffle - Yellow Submarine - All You Need Is Love - Penny Lane - Something - Here Comes the Sun - Octopus’s Garden - Get Back ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-monkees-better-than-the-beatles-and-i-dont-care-who-knows-it/784949/107 "2017-05-01T17:39:49Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > and poor Davey couldn’t even keep time with a tambourine. But, he was short and cute and accessible, and to teenage girls, that was all that mattered! Though to be fair he was an adequate singer within a limited range. It’s interesting that when they first tested them out in the studio it was the two actors that got the most attention ( Dolenz primarily, Jones secondarily ) because of their voices. Nesmith was compared ( somewhat dismissively it seems ) to Merle Haggard and folky Tork was completely snubbed as a lost cause. That of course in the context of having studio musicians doing all the instrumentation and performing pop songs written by others. Once they asserted themselves creatively, it was actual musician Nesmith who took the lead. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-monkees-better-than-the-beatles-and-i-dont-care-who-knows-it/784949/108 "2017-05-01T18:08:07Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > A sample of some joyful Beatles’ songs: > > - She Loves You > - I Saw Her Standing There > - Please Please Me > … > - Get Back You forgot “All Together Now” ---
**Author:** ![CatandMouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@CatandMouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CatandMouse)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-monkees-better-than-the-beatles-and-i-dont-care-who-knows-it/784949/109 "2017-05-01T18:11:23Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > My high school friend called them the Gay Shitty Blowers. > Yes, I know that’s un-PC now. But it gave us the giggles back then. That was mean. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-like-the-monkees-better-than-the-beatles-and-i-dont-care-who-knows-it/784949.md?page=5)