My, my, the clock in the sky
Is pounding away
And there's so much to say

A face, a voice
An overdub has no choice
An image cannot rejoice

Wanting to be
To hear and to see
Crying to the sky

But the porpoise is laughing
Goodbye, goodbye
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

Clicks, clacks, riding the backs of giraffes for laughs
S'alright for a while

(The ego) sings of castles
And kings and things that go
With a life of style

Wanting to feel
To know what is real
Living is a, is a lie

The porpoise is waiting
Goodbye, goodbye
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye
Goodbye, goodbye, goodbye

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Lyrics submitted by stardroplet

Porpoise Song [Theme from Head] Lyrics as written by Gerry Goffin Carole King

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

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Porpoise Song (Theme from Head) song meanings

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17 Comments

+5
General Comment
Three points: 1. The line 'clicks clacks' is wrong. It should read 'cliques claques'. Cliques: an exclusive group of people who share a common interest, view, purpose, etc. Claques: a group of followers hired to applaud at a performance. (Source: the original sheet music. Plus the fact that in lyrics of such depth a throwaway line like 'clicks clacks' makes no sense.) 2. The song was written by Goffin & King specially for The Monkees. G&K collaborated with The Monkees in songwriting and production on many projects. The line about giraffes is indeed a reference to Micky Dolenz in Circus Boy. 3. The song, in my opinion, seems to be written on two levels. One level is about the Monkees themselves, how they were a manufactured group and subsequently rebelled against that to become a 'genuine' band. The other level is a broader look at life and society that can allow such a phenomena to occur (reasoning that if it occurred with The Monkees then it must also be occurring in many other facets of life and society), and how we as individuals are either controlled by it or responding to it.

Three points: 1. The line 'clicks clacks' is wrong. It should read 'cliques claques'. Cliques: an exclusive group of people who share a common interest, view, purpose, etc. Claques: a group of followers hired to applaud at a performance. (Source: the original sheet music. Plus the fact that in lyrics of such depth a throwaway line like 'clicks clacks' makes no sense.) 2. The song was written by Goffin & King specially for The Monkees. G&K collaborated with The Monkees in songwriting and production on many projects. The line about giraffes is indeed a reference to Micky Dolenz in Circus Boy. 3. The song, in my opinion, seems to be written on two levels. One level is about the Monkees themselves, how they were a manufactured group and subsequently rebelled against that to become a 'genuine' band. The other level is a broader look at life and society that can allow such a phenomena to occur (reasoning that if it occurred with The Monkees then it must also be occurring in many other facets of life and society), and how we as individuals are either controlled by it or responding to it.

Reason:

katywildon November 14, 2010 Link
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@katywild

I always thought "clicks clacks" was a reference to the sound of a porpoise's "song", its sonar.

CaptHayfeveron March 04, 2011
+4
Song Meaning
According to Micky Dolenz(quoted from The Music Box), this song was about him committing suicide. In the context of the movie it makes sense as the object was to destroy the Monkees image. To me, the line "a face, a voice, an overdub has no choice" pretty much sums up the way they were all treated by the PTB. I feel the prevailing attitude was "look good,sing, and shut up" This is without a doubt one of their best songs and Micky's rendering of it was beautiful.By the way, I saw them last week and it still is.

According to Micky Dolenz(quoted from The Music Box), this song was about him committing suicide. In the context of the movie it makes sense as the object was to destroy the Monkees image. To me, the line "a face, a voice, an overdub has no choice" pretty much sums up the way they were all treated by the PTB. I feel the prevailing attitude was "look good,sing, and shut up" This is without a doubt one of their best songs and Micky's rendering of it was beautiful.By the way, I saw them last week and it still is.

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hippieKaton July 04, 2011 Link
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@hippieKat
+2
General Comment
One of my fave Monkees songs, to be sure. I think the comments about the song being about the band changing direction are valid. Has anybody here read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books? In that series, porpoises are one of two species who are smarter than human beings, and, just before Earth's destruction, porpoises somehow leave the planet with a last communique that translates to, "So long, and thanks for all the fish." This song, with the porpoise laughing and saying goodbye, reminds me of that.

One of my fave Monkees songs, to be sure. I think the comments about the song being about the band changing direction are valid. Has anybody here read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books? In that series, porpoises are one of two species who are smarter than human beings, and, just before Earth's destruction, porpoises somehow leave the planet with a last communique that translates to, "So long, and thanks for all the fish." This song, with the porpoise laughing and saying goodbye, reminds me of that.

Reason:

PencilNeckedGeekon July 06, 2009 Link
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@PencilNeckedGeek
+1
General Comment
Pretty plain & simple, it's about the Monkees themselves. For example, Micky has first-hand experience "riding the backs of giraffes for laughs" from his old show Circus Boy. I agree, this is a beautiful song.

Pretty plain & simple, it's about the Monkees themselves. For example, Micky has first-hand experience "riding the backs of giraffes for laughs" from his old show Circus Boy. I agree, this is a beautiful song.

Reason:

CaptHayfeveron July 31, 2005 Link
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@CaptHayfever
+1
General Comment
If you've never heard this song, go listen to it RIGT NOW! Even better, get their movie Head and watch it. The song means so much more after you see the begining and end of this movie. OK, it is a psychedelic and probably drug influenced song, but it's the Monkees best song and my favorite song ever. Don't be turned off because you've heard they're a tennybopper, madefor tv band, because they're not and this is a truly beautiful song.

If you've never heard this song, go listen to it RIGT NOW! Even better, get their movie Head and watch it. The song means so much more after you see the begining and end of this movie. OK, it is a psychedelic and probably drug influenced song, but it's the Monkees best song and my favorite song ever. Don't be turned off because you've heard they're a tennybopper, madefor tv band, because they're not and this is a truly beautiful song.

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QueenofMarigoldon March 05, 2006 Link
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@QueenofMarigold
0
General Comment
Why has no one posted on such a great song? It's obvious to me this is a psychedelic drug-inspired song, mostly because it makes no sense... but its great just the same. Its the best Monkees song imo, even better than Daydream Believer (but that song is great too).

Why has no one posted on such a great song? It's obvious to me this is a psychedelic drug-inspired song, mostly because it makes no sense... but its great just the same. Its the best Monkees song imo, even better than Daydream Believer (but that song is great too).

Reason:

zenzellaon July 01, 2005 Link
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@zenzella

Even if the Monkees did not write the song, I'm sure they communicated with the song writers how their lives were at the time. They movie HEAD in which this songs comes from was going to be a new direction for the band. They wanted to drop their prefabricated image and adopt a more serious aproach. Much of the movie has scences that related to this change.

"A face, a voice, an overdub has no choice
And it cannot rejoice" The executives did not take them serious. The band were just objects to make money from. An overdub has no choice--they flet they were just hired hands recording for the executives. "But the porpoise is laughing good-bye, good-bye
good-bye, good-bye, good-bye" The porpoise is the audience, the fans. The fans were the ones who really enjoyed the band and the Monkees were thanking them and saying goodbye because they were leaving their prefabricated image. "Riding the backs of giraffes for laughs is alright for a while" means that the Monkees were doing the silly things (their tv show) for the fans for however long it lasted. They say goodbye several times in this song to show that the old Monkees were going and a the new Monkees were coming.

Some may argue that the movie was just as silly as the show, but most would have to admit that they were at least trying to change their image. One of the first scenes of the movie shows a military man blasting another man in the head with a pistol. This was actual vietnam footage and was real. The movie, even though tame by today's standards, was actually one of the first movies to garner a R rating.

Scifiboy2002on April 09, 2009
0
General Comment
This was't written by The Monkees, so I have my doubts as to it's lyrics referencing Micky's stint on the Circus Boy television show. It was written by the Gerry Goffin/Carol King partnership. It was, however, written specifically for the movie "Head", one of the few that actually were. Most of what was in the movie was from previous sessions, and most of what was written for the movie was used later on, on other albums.

This was't written by The Monkees, so I have my doubts as to it's lyrics referencing Micky's stint on the Circus Boy television show. It was written by the Gerry Goffin/Carol King partnership. It was, however, written specifically for the movie "Head", one of the few that actually were. Most of what was in the movie was from previous sessions, and most of what was written for the movie was used later on, on other albums.

Reason:

DustyMurphyon August 22, 2005 Link
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@DustyMurphy
0
General Comment
Dusty, as you said yourself, Goffin & King wrote it specifically for the film, so they knew the Monkees would be doing it, and it was more than likely going to be Micky (especially since Gerry Goffin produced the track).

Dusty, as you said yourself, Goffin & King wrote it specifically for the film, so they knew the Monkees would be doing it, and it was more than likely going to be Micky (especially since Gerry Goffin produced the track).

Reason:

CaptHayfeveron April 27, 2006 Link
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@CaptHayfever
0
General Comment
This song is about not wanting to be a 'fictional pop band'. the line "riding on a giraffe for laughs is alright for a while" is saying that its cool to be on this stupid show, but not forever. 'Living Is A Lie' kind of goes along with this too, thier lives on the show are NOTHING like thier lives in real life. really when you think about it, this song is a cry for help!

This song is about not wanting to be a 'fictional pop band'. the line "riding on a giraffe for laughs is alright for a while" is saying that its cool to be on this stupid show, but not forever. 'Living Is A Lie' kind of goes along with this too, thier lives on the show are NOTHING like thier lives in real life. really when you think about it, this song is a cry for help!

Reason:

coop1982on July 27, 2006 Link
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@coop1982
0
General Comment
This song is about life, which is soon to be over and the porpoise who takes you across the river. At the beginning of the song a person is still not ready to die and is attached to physical attributes of life (Wanting to be, hear and to see), and the porpoise is laughing at us because we are so narrow minded. In the second part a person realizes that life just doesn’t ads up and everything is a lie. The porpoise is not laughing anymore and is ready to takes us away to the ‘better’ place

This song is about life, which is soon to be over and the porpoise who takes you across the river. At the beginning of the song a person is still not ready to die and is attached to physical attributes of life (Wanting to be, hear and to see), and the porpoise is laughing at us because we are so narrow minded. In the second part a person realizes that life just doesn’t ads up and everything is a lie. The porpoise is not laughing anymore and is ready to takes us away to the ‘better’ place

Reason:

renbhallon December 26, 2006 Link
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