In honor of Davy Jones’ passing last week, here’s a lesser known track by The Monkees, “Porpoise Song.” The song appears at the beginning and again at the end of their 1968 feature film Head. This movie came out after their TV show had been cancelled and explores questions of authenticity and free will for a band derisively called the “Pre-Fab Four”. While The Beatles wrote all their own music and played all their own instruments, The Monkees struggled to inject creative control into a world of scripts, hired songwriters, and session musicians. In this case, the song is by Carole King and Gerry Goffin.

Head was co-written and produced by Jack Nicholson (following drug-fueled brainstorming with the band) and features cameos by Frank Zappa, Dennis Hopper, and Toni Basil. The movie was a commercial failure – confusing and alienating to fans of the show, and dismissed by the hipper audience that they were reaching for. It may be the most interesting product of their career, and this song is a gem!