Davy Jones & The Monkees

I know it's been a week since Davy Jones passed but it's taken me that long to decide what I wanted to really say about him.  I read this thing online about a month ago that said that the music you listen to during your adolescences dictates what type of music you'll like when you're an adult. 

Well, from about twelve to fifteen I listened to nothing but The Monkees.  I knew the lyrics to all their songs, I bought every cassette (I grew-up in a time before CD's and Ipods) and watched and recorded ever rerun of their show I could.  Nothing made me happier than a Friday/Saturday night Monkees's Marathon on Nick at Nite.  It didn't matter if I'd seen the episode a thousand times before I had to watch it again.  I loved The Monkees.  I wanted to meet them.  

When I think about the music that I love the most I realize it's very folk orientated that --thanks to Nesmith-- was a big part of The Monkees's music.  Yes, they had hits like "Daydream Believer" and "I'm a Believer" but "Last Train to Clarksville" was one of their more folksy type songs.  I was especially drawn to songs sung by Micheal Nesmith or Mickey Dolenz.  However, it didn't matter who was singing or what they were singing because I just loved them.

Last week when I found out Davy Jones had died I was sad.  He was so much a part of my awkward years.  In school I was the weird, ugly duckling but when I got home and turned on the television there was Davy along with the other Monkees to distract me from reality and when the show was over I went into my room, pushed play on my tape player and they were there to sing to me while I typed up stories on my typewriter.  They were inspiration for me and I thank them for that.  I thank Davy Jones for his lovely voice, his humor and for his inspiration.