♫ Monday, Monday ♫

Posted on by under music

I thought this one appropriate for the day …

While awaiting the release of California Dreamin’, band member Denny Doherty was prodding songwriter John Phillips to come up with some new material. Phillips said he would come back in the morning with “A song with universal appeal.”  Monday, Monday was that song, which Phillips said took him all of about 20 minutes to write.

Interestingly, Doherty, who sang lead on this song for The Mamas & the Papas thought very little of Monday Monday when they recorded it.

“Nobody likes Monday, so I thought it was just a song about the working man. Nothing about it stood out to me; it was a dumb f–kin’ song about a day of the week.”

As you can imagine, he was taken by surprise when the song became a huge hit. Doherty wasn’t alone in his incredulity: Mama Cass and Michelle Phillips didn’t like the song either, and John Phillips claimed he had no idea what the song meant.

The Mamas & the Papas used top-tier Los Angeles studio musicians on their recordings. On this track, Larry Knechtel played keyboards, Joe Osborn played bass, Hal Blaine was on drums and P.F. Sloan played guitar. Sloan was the baby of the bunch, just 20 years old when the song was released in 1966.

On March 2, 1967, the Mamas & the Papas won a Grammy Award for this song, in the category Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal.  The song was performed at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. The performance was filmed for the movie of the festival, but not included in the final print.

The song charted at #1 in Canada and the U.S., #3 in the UK

Monday, Monday
The Mamas & the Papas

Bah da bah da da da
Bah da bah da da da
Bah da bah da da da

Monday, Monday, so good to me
Monday mornin’, it was all I hoped it would be
Oh Monday mornin’, Monday mornin’ couldn’t guarantee
That Monday evenin’ you would still be here with me

Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day
Monday, Monday, sometimes it just turns out that way
Oh Monday mornin’ you gave me no warnin’ of what was to be
Oh Monday, Monday, how could you leave and not take me

Every other day, every other day
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
A you can find me cryin’ all of the time

Monday, Monday, so good to me
Monday mornin’, it was all I hoped it would be
But Monday mornin’, Monday mornin’ couldn’t guarantee
That Monday evenin’ you would still be here with me

Every other day, every other day
Every other day of the week is fine, yeah
But whenever Monday comes, but whenever Monday comes
A you can find me cryin’ all of the time

Monday, Monday, can’t trust that day
Monday, Monday, it just turns out that way
Oh Monday, Monday, won’t go away
Monday, Monday, it’s here to stay
Oh Monday, Monday
Oh Monday, Monday

Writer/s: JOHN EDMUND ANDREW PHILLIPS
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

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32 thoughts on “♫ Monday, Monday ♫”

  1. Pingback: ♫ Rainy Days And Mondays ♫ | Filosofa's Word

  5. You didn’t mention Denny was a Canadian, from Nova Scotia. Many of the best voices in Rock n Roll belong to Canadians. Possibly the man with a famous voice who is least known as Canadian is John Kay, lead singer of Steppenwolf.

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    • No, I didn’t mention it because I didn’t know! Had I known, I would have. Thanks for clarifying. Not being a Steppenwolf fan, I never heard of John Kay, but will take your word for it. I always think of Neil Young and Gordon Lightfoot first when I think of Canadian singers.

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      • Ah, not even Burton Cummings, eh? Neil and Gordon were big across long careers. Leonard Cohen too. Have you 3ver played any Leonard Cohen, I cannot remember. Leonard is barely remembered for his on again, off again affair with Janis Joplin, who is Texan.

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          • I believe it was ABBA covered his “First They Take Manhatten.” Joe Cocker covered “Bird on a Wire.”
            His “Closing Time” and “Hallelujah” got some airplay later in his life, but Leonard was more of a concert singer than a Rock superstar, and his gargly voice still made him a legend. He is a singer of his poetry, He was a true artist. Possibly his “Dance Me to the End of Love” is his best song, hard to say. Suzanne and So Long, Marianne, both from his first album, made him famous on Underground FM radio, and I think he loved being “unknown” as opposed to being treated like a rock star.
            As I look at his musical history I find it impossible to recommend one song above all others, he had too many great songs over a 50 year career. But listen to a few of his songs, and I am sure you will fall in love. I’ve loved his music since 1967.

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  7. This is possibly thee worst recording I;ve ever heard,Someone forgot this is a harmony group and for that it;s best to have the harmony, John Phillips, his wife and Cass Elliot were not on holiday. Having said that II had to sing along and the budgie has left home again.
    Cwtch

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