No fan of this song but prefer the Live version and the "fast" version. I could go my whole life without ever hearing it again. But I know it means a lot to some people. I saw women crying when Davy sang it on the 2011 tour. So I'll give it a 3/5.
You beat me to the punch on this one. Neither studio version of “I Wanna Be Free” works for me. The album version is too precious and... Twee? Saccharine. Syrupy. You get the idea. When people rag on The Monkees for being “bubblegum” or “God’s gift to the eight year-olds,” this is one of the songs I feel they’re referring to. To me, it’s everything that was wrong with many of the songs Davy sang. The pilot episode version is, to my ears, really cruddy. Poorly recorded, I mean. It’s not as sappy as the album version, but it sounds bad. I don’t really know how to describe it. I mentioned yesterday how a number of the early recordings have lousy sound. This is definitely one of them. Tough listen. But that Live 1967 version? Holy crap, that’s an entirely different song! It sounds kind of like The Byrds. Love it! Whoever came up with that arrangement had the right idea. Totally redeems the song. It’s how it should’ve been played on the studio album. I still think it’s weak, lyrically. But Davy sings the hell out of that live version, and the other three guys play the hell out of it. That’s the highlight of that live album, for me. Debut Album Version: 1/5 Pilot Version: 1/5 Live 1967 Version: 4/5
"I Wanna Be Free" -- I'd go with maybe a 4 for the slow version and a 3 for the more folk-rock version. To be honest, I found the song a bit sappy when I was younger, but it's grown on me through the years, and the numerous cover versions of the time attest to its strengths. Speaking of cover versions, many of the songs from the first album were also recorded by other groups, in some cases before the Monkees recorded them. Hopefully nobody minds if I post a few. Here's "Saturday's Child" by Hollywood teen combo The Palace Guard:
I had always skipped it since I was a kid, but the fast version knocked me out when I first heard it. Fast version all the way!
Today's song is Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day. This feels a lot more lightweight than the previous tracks. Not unpleasant to listen to, but disposable and the intro bears more than a passing resemblance to Last Train to Clarksville. It sounds a little like a leftover song which, of course, it essentially was. A generous 3/5.
Never gave this song much thought until I heard the backing track. There is a lot going on inside this song. A really fine album cut with a searing harmonica going on. 3.5/5
oh, nice thread! Theme From the Monkees: 3.5/5 - a very decent tune, but a terrible mix IMO: vocals (especially the elderly-sounding backing vocals) much too high, guitars not fronted enough Saturday's Child - 4.5/5 - I love the massive opening riff, again the production spoils the overall effect (Micky's vocals too high in the mix again), but still one of the best tunes on the album I Wanna Be Free - 2/5 - Occasionally it works with me, most often it doesn't. No. Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day - 5/5 I see I'm in the minority here but I love this one, the early Beatles feel (nice echo on day-ay-ay), the simple but effective descending riff, the harmonies. The tremolo effect on the guitars probably overdone, but I don't really mind
Good vocal and it rocks the garage convincingly but it's pretty much by-the-numbers Boyce & Hart. Solid but nothing earth-shattering. 3/5
3/5 for "Tomorrow's". I loved this song when I was a kid, now I think it's just okay. A decent garage rocker, but nothing special.
Love “Tomorrow.” It’s a “Clarksville” clone, but a tasty one. Micky sounds great, and it’s just a fun tune. Hands down, my favorite of the songs we’ve reviewed here so far. 4/5 for this one. Here’s Dwight Yokam covering it a few years ago. He’s a fan, and he had Micky and Nez on his Sirius XM show last year:
Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day As an album track, I'd give it a 4/5. It's fun garage rock. As a ROMP song (like the video the OP posted and the one below), I'd give it a 5/5 lol.
One of the true clunkers on the debut for me. Definitely the worst song on side one. 1/5. For this, they left off "All The Kings Horses"?
“Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day” is a fun tune and one of my faves on their debut album. This Tommy Boyce/Steve Venet written tune worked well in romps on the TV show. (I almost wrote this as a Boyce/Hart song in error!) I do not recall the name Steve Venet. So I googled his name quickly and found Steve Venet co-wrote the song "Take Me to Paradise" with Toni Wine for Davy's first solo album (released 1965) right before the Monkees stardom. And it is a great album cut, despite sounding like "Clarksville." The album arrangement sounds a bit like folk rock as many of the other tracks do as well. Rate 4.5/5
The comments about the live version of "I Wanna Be Free" are spot-on. It was one of the smoothest band performances, with Micky rock-solid and confident on the drums. "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day" strikes me a song recorded with the intention of replicating some of the things the individual Monkees - as musicians and characters - brought to the table, e.g., Nez was a folkie who played harmonica and was shown playing one on the TV show. Before the days of session logs/records, I thought it WAS him playing it on the studio recording. It's a simple enough garage rocker. In fact, this would have been a good candidate for the nascent Monkees live act to have tried onstage.
I can see the similarity to Clarksville in the intro, but that's it. I love this song—it's a great piece of garage rock, a real romper. I love how the intensity picks up with the hand claps on the last verse, and as someone else said, the harmonica is awesome. 4/5
TGBAD is a fun garage style rocker. Great vocal from Micky. I love the instrumental section in the middle. It rocks! 4/5.
