Other Peoples' Songs: Me and Magdalena
In which I take a crack at Ben Gibbard's Monkeesong
I heard this song on some playlist or another a few years ago. It just popped up on my phone. Imagine my excitement when I discovered it was a song by the Monkees! A song, no doubt, from their sixties heyday, a psychedelic ballad that never got its due, lost to the winds of time. What a great cover this would be! What a discovery! And now imagine my surprise when I learned that it was actually written by my friend Ben Gibbard and recorded by the Monkees for their 2016 record Good Times! Alas. Well, good on Ben for writing such a beautiful song; good on the Monkees for having the good sense to record it. Here’s my plaintive solo version:
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