Top Five Songs: No Place in Heaven (MIKA)

I have a lot of love for MIKA’s fourth studio album.  In addition to the catchy melodies, exuberance, and emotional honesty that I expect from him, it’s also the first album he made after coming out, and many of its songs touch on his sexuality in thoughtful ways.  Here are my favorites from the album.

“Talk About You” – The first number on the album starts off the proceedings with a bounce and a bang.  This insanely-catchy earworm is a joyous exultation of love, relishing in the kind of happiness that fills your head and heart and crowds out everything else.  The song wonderfully captures that joy, in melody as well as lyrics.

Best lyric:  “Walk through the city like stupid people do. / A million faces, but all I’m seeing is you.”

“All She Wants” – I really like this song.  In addition to, again, its wonderfully-catchy melody, it tells an interesting story.  The speaker (MIKA?  It’s hard to say exactly how autobiographical a lot of these numbers are) looks at the “arrangement” he’s made to maintain a wife he never wanted, describing the fantasy it allows both his mother and his wife to live out, with him playing a part but not fully being part of it himself.

Best lyric:  “All she wants / Is another little special arrangement, / A peculiar engagement. / Got a trophy wife that’s respectable / To avoid any spectacle.”

“Good Guys” – Lovely number.  It’s a tribute to gay figures of the past, those MIKA has looked up to and drawn strength from.  I like the heroes he name-drops, and I love the use of the Oscar Wilde quote – “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars” – for the chorus.

Best lyrics:  “To my heroes that were dressed up in gold, / Only hoping one day I could be so bold.”

“No Place in Heaven” – This song, and the album it represents as a whole, really continues the theme MIKA set up with the title track on The Origin of Love.  But while that song mostly stuck to religious imagery, this song gets in the weeds of MIKA’s religious upbringing, his sexuality, and what he thinks about his relationship with God.  Here, he pleads with the Almighty, wanting to know “if there’s room in Heaven” for him.

Best lyric:  “In between those words we dare not say, / Do You think that You could learn to love me anyway?”

“Promiseland” – More religious ideas and imagery.  This bonus track ponders the effort MIKA’s put into “doing everything right” and still feeling like it’s been deemed not good enough.  The lyrics are excellent, and I adore the driving beat, especially the one that kicks in at the tail-end of the chorus.

Best lyric:  “Don’t occupy my throne - / Give me the crown I own.”

Top Five Songs: Micky Dolenz (The Monkees)

On the show, Micky has never been a favorite of mine – while he definitely has his entertaining points, I find him kind of manic and goofy for my tastes.  To each their own.  That said, I tend to consider him the Monkees’ best all-around vocalist, and I really love many of his songs.  In picking out my favorites that he sang (like with Mike, I’m mostly going off the songs from the show,) I found that I didn’t gravitate as much to some of his most iconic numbers – “I’m a Believer,” “Last Train to Clarksville” – but only because he has so many others that I like even more.

“Sometime in the Morning” – Micky sings lead on most of the songs that Carole King wrote, so I love all of those, and this one (from More of the Monkees) is my favorite.  With a gorgeously-understated melody and tender lyrics, this is such a beautiful love song.  Micky’s singing here is lovely and pure.  For its use in the show, I particularly like the episode where a woman played by Rose Marie rents their beach house – the footage of them playing this song is interspersed with fantasy shots of the four guys dancing in turn with a younger version of Millie, all of them looking handsome in Regency-style suits.  Beautifully done, and a great match for the song.

Best moment:  The last line of each verse sounds amazing (a la, “You’re where it is for me,” “She’s all a girl could be.”)  The instrumentals stripping down to a couple bare chords and Micky’s gorgeous vocals soaring on top of it all?  Yes, please!  I also really love the bridge.

“Pleasant Valley Sunday” – Yep, more Carole King.  This one’s an obvious classic, so good:  a beautiful pop with with some understated commentary on suburbia.  It’s one of several songs from their fourth album (Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.) that demonstrate how the band was stretching, both musically and thematically – and in terms of style, as shown by the new hippie elements in their outfits for the video of this performance on the show!  Micky is in terrific form, his smooth vocal performance somewhat disguising the sarcasm behind the lyrics.

Best moment:  Man, it’s hard to pick.  I love the lilt, lyrics, and rhythm of the chorus, especially that “Rows of houses that are all the same / And no one seems to care.”  The second verse is also excellent, with Mike echoing Micky’s lines and their voices blending beautifully together.

“The Girl I Knew Somewhere” – I already brought up this song in my Top Five post for Mike, but I wanted to revisit it for Micky too – along with the Carole King stuff, I also really like pretty much everything Mike wrote that Micky sings.  I feel like Micky always sounds terrific on these, and of the songs in that category, “The Girl I Knew Somewhere” is my favorite.  (I mentioned last time that, while the song was released as a single, it didn’t appear on any of the band’s studio albums until deluxe versions with lots of bonus tracks came out.)

Best moment:  Micky’s singing is awesome through, but I especially like the second half of each verse, a la, “You’re standing in the places…”  There’s something about the smoothness of the vocals and the rise and fall of the melody that just really works for me.

 “Daily Nightly” – Speaking of songs that Mike wrote and Micky sings… I love this song, another Pisces tune that shows off the group’s ranges.  Such a cool psychedelic atmosphere and dreamy lyrics.  There’s a slight otherworldly quality to Micky’s voice here that really fits the song, and he demonstrates good control of his dynamics.

Best moment:  “Salvation’s yours for just the time / It takes to pay the dancer.”  I love everything about it:  the poetry of the lyrics, the way the rhythm ramps up, and Micky’s strong command of those high notes.

“(Theme from) The Monkees” – Okay, I know I said I didn’t pick many of Micky’s really big songs, but this is the biggest of them all!  It’s well-earned, though – this is an absolutely-iconic theme song, and the full version is great.  I love it without a hint of irony; Micky delivers terrific vocals on our catchy, inviting introduction to the band, kicking off both their series and their debut album.

Best opening:  That opening, the first verse through the chorus.  I love the jaunty rhythm/snaps, and it’s so fun when everything turns up a notch for the chorus.

Top Five Songs: Mike Nesmith (The Monkees)

As the sheer number of Top Five posts on this blog will tell you, I enjoy ranking just about anything, and Mike Nesmith is definitely my favorite Monkee, no getting around it.  As such, his songs never appear on the show or the albums often enough for my liking, but what we do get is pretty awesome.  Here are my favorite Mike songs.  (Note:  with Peter Tork, I had to branch out into whatever I could find available, but the show and the albums I’ve heard do offer enough good options that I can come up with a strong Top Five for Mike.  So, this post has the caveat of being the Top Five Mike Nesmith Songs I Know.)

“You Just May Be the One” – Short and sweet, but an excellent song; while it appears on the band’s third album, Headquarters, I prefer the version recorded for the show.  Of the ones that Mike both wrote and performed, it’s my favorite.  I like its strong rhythm and simple but evocative lyrics.  And on a side note, I really enjoy the video of the guys performing this one on the show.  It’s very straightforward, but there’s an air about it that makes me wonder if it reflects their delight at performing a song written by one of their own.  Davy and Peter both look so happy doing those “ahhs” in the bridge (I dunno, maybe they were just high, but I like to think they were excited to be doing Mike’s song,) and I love that bright smile that breaks up Mike’s intense look a couple times.

Best moment:  The bridge, hands down.  The melody is lovely, and Mike’s singing is so strong and blends well with the harmonies.  Here are his lyrics – “I saw when you walked by / The love light in your eye, / And I knew I must try / To win you more than as a friend. / I’m starting near the end, / And here I go again…”

 “Love is Only Sleeping” – This is my favorite Mike song that he didn’t write, from Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd.  I love the smooth flow and soaring melody at the start of the verses compared with the groovy rhythm in the middle.  The opening guitar riff is also catchy, and Mike sounds really great singing this – maybe his best vocals for me.  Bonus points for that blue suit with the ruffled cuffs in the video!

Best moment:  Those drawn-out high notes at the start of each verse, a la “Sheeeee looked at meeeeee…”  Gorgeous!

 “The Girl I Knew Somewhere” – What a beautiful pop song written by Mike.  Although there is a version out there with him singing lead vocals, Micky’s take is the definitive one – weirdly enough, it was released as a B-side for a single but didn’t actually appear on any of their studio albums, although they used it on the show and it’s since been included on various compilations.  Fantastic melody with great instrumentals (that opening guitar riff!  that keyboard!)  I like the theme behind it too, the image of a guy so haunted by a past relationship that he can’t let himself be with another girl who reminds him of her.  Oh, and Mike echoing Micky’s lines in the final verse is wonderful as well.

Best moment:  Like I said, I have to give it up for the opening guitar riff – so catchy, and it sounds amazing.  For lyrics, my favorite lines come at the end of the first verse:  “You’re standing in the places and you’re staring down through faces / That bring to mind traces of a girl, a girl that I knew somewhere.”

“Salesman” – Another Pisces song that Mike didn’t write but sings the hell out of.  This is an interesting ditty with a nice groove and a cool sense of atmosphere, used well on the show in “The Devil and Peter Tork.”  It’s one of those songs that serve as a reminder of just how varied the Monkees’ catalog is.  I really love Mike’s singing here; his voice has a great quality to it.

Best moment:  Probably that little end-of-verse hook, “Short lifespan, good-time salesman.”  I also love how Mike sounds on the bridge, the “copper kettles” part.

“Sweet Young Thing” – I debated between this song, from the band’s self-titled debut album, and “Mary, Mary” for the fifth slot, but I ultimately went with this one.  I’ve never been a “country” person, but I do like these country-infused pop/rock songs that Mike writes and performs.  The instrumentals are busy and exciting, and the violin adds a lot.  And while I tend to think of Micky as the best vocalist in the group, Mike is no slouch either, which is well demonstrated here.

Best moment:  I love the vocals leading into the chorus, the, “And it’s love you bring” – again, “exciting” feels like the most fitting adjective.  My favorite lines for this song come at the end of the second verse:  “Turned on to the sunset like I’ve never been before, / I listen for your footsteps and your knock upon the door.”