(theme from) The Monkees

"Monkee's Theme"; Single by the Monkees
A-side	"Last Train to Clarksville"
Release date	1973
Label	Flashback Records
Country	United States
Catalog no.;	FLB 70; AFS 9118 (reissue)
Preceded by; b/w	"Steam Engine"; "Rainbows"
Followed by; b/w	"Pleasant Valley Sunday"; "I'm a Believer"

"Tema dei Monkees"; Single by the Monkees
	;
Arranger	Carlo Nistri (Italian translation)
A-side	"Valleri"
Release date	1968
Label	RCA Italiana
Country	Italy
Catalog no.	45N 1546
Album	Monkee Business (1982)
Preceded by; b/w	"Daydream Believer"; "Goin' Down"

"(theme from) The Monkees"; (Boyce—Hart)
	; 1986 sleeve
Alternate titles; ;	"Tema dei Monkees"; "Monkee's Theme"; "Monkees' Theme"
Composers;	Tommy Boyce; Bobby Hart
Producers; ;	Tommy Boyce; Bobby Hart; Jack Keller
Publisher	Screen Gems–Columbia Music, Inc.
Performance rights	BMI;
Album	The Monkees

"Monkee's Theme" Single by the Monkees
A-side	"Daydream Believer"
Release date	July 1976
Label	Arista Records
Country	United States
Catalog no.	AS 0201
Album	Greatest Hits
Preceded by b/w	"I Love You (and I'm Glad That I Said It)" "Savin' My Love for You"
Followed by b/w	"Christmas Is My Time of Year" "White Christmas"

Single by the Monkees
A-side	"That Was Then, This Is Now"
Release date	June 1986
Label	Arista Records
Country	United States
Catalog no.	AS1-9505
Album	Then & Now... The Best of the Monkees
Preceded by b/w	"Valleri" "A Little Bit Me, a Little Bit You"
Followed by b/w	"Daydream Believer" "Randy Scouse Git"

"Monkees' Theme" Single by the Monkees
B-side	"The Girl I Knew Somewhere"
Release date	1994
Label	Collectables
Country	United States
Catalog no.	COL 0387
Preceded by b/w	"Last Train to Clarksville" "It's Nice to Be with You"
Followed by b/w	"I'm a Believer" "Words"

"(theme from) The Monkees" or “Happy Song” was written by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart as the theme song to the television series The Monkees, opening every episode. A different version of the song opened The Monkees' first album, The Monkees, for which stereo and mono mixes were issued. A live tour was also recorded in 1999.

Though originally released only as an album track in the United States, it was released as a single in Australia in August 1967, backed with "Saturday's Child". Its first appearance as a single in the U.S. was on Bell's Flashback imprint as the B-side to a reissue of "Last Train to Clarksville" in 1973. The song was also included as the B-side of 1986's "That Was Then, This Is Now" single.

Studio Mixes[]

In the fall of 1965, before The Monkees had even been cast, Boyce and Hart recorded a version of the theme song, which was used in the series pilot alongside their recordings of "Let's Dance On" and two versions of "I Wanna Be Free".

The first version of the song recorded by the Monkees took place in 1966, produced by Boyce and Hart. It would remain unused during the Colgems era. Boyce and Hart produced a third session on 5 July 1966, which would result in the album version of the song, with the Monkees recording their vocals two weeks later. The Boyce- and Hart-produced TV version of the song was recorded on 6 August 1966. All recordings took place at RCA Victor Studios.

Due to Italian television rules that required theme songs to be performed in Italian, Micky Dolenz recorded a version of the song with Italian lyrics, titled "Tema dei Monkees " which was also released as an album track and as a single in Italy. The Italian translation is credited to Carlo Nistri, who was a producer at RCA Italiana at the time of the Monkees.^[1]

credits[]

early version

vocals: Micky Dolenz, Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart
guitar: Wayne Erwin, Gerry McGee, Louie Shelton
bass: Larry Taylor
drums: Billy Lewis
percussion: Gene Estes (tambourine)

album version

vocals: Micky Dolenz (lead); Wayne Erwin, Tommy Boyce, Bobby Hart (backing)
guitar: Wayne Erwin, Gerry McGee, Louie Shelton
bass: Larry Taylor
organ: Bobby Hart
drums: Billy Lewis
percussion: Gene Estes (tambourine)

TV version

vocals: Micky Dolenz
guitar: Wayne Erwin, Gerry McGee
bass: Larry Taylor
drums: Billy Lewis
percussion: Gene Estes (tambourine)

mono early version[]

The Monkees (1994) — Rhino R2 71790 (CD)
The Monkees (2006) — Rhino R2 77678 (2 CDs)

mono album version[]

The Monkees (1966) — Colgems COM-101 (LP)
The Monkees (2006) — Rhino R2 77678 (2 CDs)

stereo album version[]

The Monkees (1966) — Colgems COS-101 (LP)
Barrel Full of Monkees (1971) — Colgems SCOS-1001 (2 LPs)
Re-Focus (1972) — Bell 6801 (LP)
Greatest Hits (1976) — Arista 4089 (LP)
Then and Now... The Best of the Monkees (1986) — Arista AL9-8432 (CD)
Listen to the Band (1991) — Rhino R 70566 (4 CDs)
The Monkees (1994) — Rhino R2 71790 (CD)
Greatest Hits (1995) — Rhino R2 72190 (CD)
Anthology (1998) — Rhino R2 75269 (2 CDs)
Music Box (2001) — Rhino R2 76706 (4 CDs)
The Best of the Monkees (2003) — R2 73875 (2 CDs)
The Monkees (2006) — Rhino R2 77678 (2 CDs)
The Monkees (2011) — Rhino (CD)

mono TV version[]

Television's Greatest Hits Volume II (1986) — TeeVee Toons TVT 1200 (LP)
Television's Greatest Hits Volume II (1986) — TeeVee Toons TVT 1200CD (CD)
Missing Links Volume 3 (1996) — Rhino R2 72153 (CD)
The Monkees (2006) — Rhino R2 77678 (2 CDs)

Tema dei Monkees — single version[]

Monkee Business (1982) — Rhino RNLP-701 (LP)

Tema dei Monkees — album version[]

Missing Links Volume 3 (1996) — Rhino R2 72153 (CD)
Headquarters (2007) — Rhino R2 77760 (2 CDs)

backing track[]

The Best of the Monkees (2003) — Rhino R2 73875 (2 CDs)

Lyrics[]

album version[]

Here we come
Walkin' down the street
We get the funniest looks from
Everyone we meet

Hey, hey, we're the Monkees
And people say we monkey around
But we're too busy singin'
To put anybody down

We go wherever we want to
Do what we like to do
We don't have time to get restless
There's always something new

Hey, hey, we're the Monkees
And people say we monkey around
But we're too busy singin'
To put anybody down
We're just tryin' to be friendly
Come and watch us sing and play
We're the young generation
And we've got somethin' to say

Anytime
Or anywhere
Just look over your shoulder
Guess who'll be standin' there

Hey, hey, we're the Monkees
And people say we monkey around
But we're too busy singin'
To put anybody down

Whaa! One time!

Hey, hey, we're the Monkees

And people say we monkey around
But we're too busy singin'
To put anybody down
We're just tryin' to be friendly
Come and watch us sing and play
We're the young generation
And we've got somethin' to say Hey, hey, we're the Monkees
Hey, hey, we're the Monkees
Hey, hey, we're the Monkees...

TV version[]

Here we come
Walkin' down the street
We get the funniest looks from
Everyone we meet

Hey, hey, we're the Monkees
And people say we monkey around
But we're too busy singin'
To put anybody down
We're just tryin' to be friendly
Come and watch us sing and play
We're the young generation
And we've got somethin' to say

Hey, hey, we're the Monkees
You never know where we'll be found
So you better get ready
We may be comin' to your town

Tema dei Monkees[]

Ecco qua
passiamo noi
e la gente ci guarda
ed ammir con voi

Ci chiamano i Monkees
e siamo meno matti di chi
si crede più intelligente
di noi che la pensiamo cosí

Dovunque parliamo
non è giusto mai
c'è sempre qualcuno che
ne sa più di noi