Last Train to Clarksville

I was told that in an interview with one of the directors of the TV show, that this was an anti-war song. As the Monkees were mainly pop at the time, the song was written with that kind of vibe, and was subtle in its protest. There was a military mustering station located in Clarksville Tennessee, hence, "Take the last train to Clarkville...And I dont know if I'm ever coming home."

I like this song becuase it sounds just like the Beatles, and also because Mike Nesmith's mom invented white-out and The Monkees spent a weekend in her garage bottling the stuff. lol. It's really catchy too.

Last Train was written as a war protest song. Mike's dad wouldn't let the band do anything about the war and he never knew what the song was about until the late 80's! Clarksville Tenn was where the train went to the front gate of the army fort where everyone who was going to Vietnam's papers went for final process. So not everyone went there, but everyone's papers were stamped from there! (As a side note, their song "Pleasant Valley Sunday" was also about Vietnam! It was about a returned GI that had what we now call PTSD but back then was called Shell Shock.

Yep, an anti-war song, catchy and subversive enough to make it past the establishment onto the airwaves. I've read that it was played at orientation for draftees, usually to break the ice :)

Also, what an heinous girlfriend :[

I learned that it is a soldier calling his girlfriend so he can see her one last time before he went to war. "and I don't know if I'm ever coming home"

sounds a bit like the folk song "Old joe Clark", atleast the music does, I cant imagine the Monkees singing about a murderer whos going to get hanged.