Pleasant Valley Revisited. Like most of my fellow aging baby-boomers, I have fond memories of growing up in the sixties. ( And some no-so fond memories ) One of them is of a television program which was called “The Monkees”. Oh, you remember The Monkees? Good. They were sometimes referred to as “The Prefab Four” because a group of television producers picked four young cool dudes to be in this new band, which would actually be a t.v. show about four young cool dudes in a band. Guys in my age group ( About ten, at the time the show aired ) liked the show, because the guys were cool, they played in a band, and they had a cool house, which was full of goofy things. The goofy things were mostly things you would never find in our parents homes.(That’s what made them cool, get it?) Girls of the time liked the show because the guys were all “cute”, and to the surprise of a lot of people, they sounded great when they played together. They did, in fact, have some musical talent. Oh yeah, guys also liked their car, “The Monkeemobile”. It had to be the hottest set of wheels around. It was a 1967 Pontiac ( Who?) GTO, which had been customized into a station wagon and outfitted with “real cool stuff” by custom car tycoon George Barris.
The Monkees had some very cool music, and some “big hits”. One that stuck in my mind, even at that young “know-nothing” age, was “Pleasant Valley Sunday”. It sounded neat, and it made it to number three, on the oh-so-important pop charts. Pleasant Valley Sunday was written by the Masters of 60’s pop music, Carole King, and Gerry Goffin, a husband-wife songwriting duo who were inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame in 1991. ( I think Carole King’s own album, “Tapestry” stayed on the charts for at least half of the 1970’s. No small feat, in the world of commercial pop music.)
So, what about this song, and why has it stuck in a dark, forgotten piece of my memory for so long? Well, I certainly didn’t understand the meaning of the lyrics then, but, at forty four, I think I understand them now. Some of the verses go like this:
“Another Pleasant Valley Sunday Charcoal burning everywhere Rows of houses that are all the same And no one seems to care
See Mrs. Gray she’s proud today because her roses are in bloom Mr. Green he’s so serene, He’s got a t.v. in every room
Another Pleasant Valley Sunday Here in status symbol land Mothers complain about how hard life is And the kids just don’t understand
Creature comfort goals They only numb my soul and make it hard for me to see My thoughts all seem to stray, to places far away I need a change of scenery ”
This played on an oldies station the other day, and I got to thinking about some things. And guess what? What a wise person said about the more things change, the more they stay the same, was totally correct. The song is about the superficial existence of life in the suburbs. Back in the 60’s, there were countless neighborhoods where all the houses were indeed the same. Here, in the 90’s, we have entire areas full of “McMansions”, enormous houses, with lots of glass, taking up acreage that once might have held four houses. These McMansions do indeed look all the same, despite the best efforts of their mega-rich yuppie owners to mask that fact. Sorry, mega-rich yuppie owners, but it’s true. ( And I think you know it. )
Despite the downturn in the economy, we seem to live in an age where people, mostly rich yuppies, are having no problem showing off their wealth and affluence, to a stifling degree, just as their predecessors did in the fifties and sixties. In the 60’s, you were normal if you owned a black and white television set. ( With tubes, and if it had UHF at all, you had to tune it in very carefully, as though you were cracking a safe.) If you owned a color set, you were considered “wealthy”. If you owned more than one TV set, you walked as a god among everyone else in the neighborhood.
Fast-forward to the present again. Having more than one TV set is now required. If you own less than three, there is something wrong with you, according to present day suburban values. ( If you don’t own a television at all, by choice, lord help you. You are obviously some sort of “subversive”, which is something I’ll address in a future column. ) Today, the “TV in every room” has been replaced by every electronic gee-gaw known, including cell phones, ( A Must! ) DVD players, computers, ( At least two, one for parents, one for kiddies. ) lighting controls, security systems, ( A Must! ) Microwave ovens, and a wicker basket, full of remote controls, for all those gadgets. ( Some of the devices that shipped with some of those remote controls are long gone. Also, I’m not suggesting that Cellular telephones are evil, but the overuse of them is no longer funny. Is it really that difficult to grocery shop without one?)
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
There was a line in “Pleasant Valley Sunday” about one suburbanites total pride in his lawn. That’s true today as well, but as any good upper-end yuppie will tell you, they have nothing to do with lawn care themselves. No, they hire landscapers to do it for them, as they do with most, if not all, tasks that might take them off the tennis court. That brings me to yet another indulgence of the new super-rich. Tennis club memberships, health clubs, personal chefs, personal trainers… this list is almost endless. My question is simply, where does it all end? When is someone going to say “Enough”?
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
SUV’s? If rich couple “A” busy a Ford expedition, then rich couple “B” must go them better and buy a Lexus SUV. Next thing is the comparison of whose SUV has more “must have’s” such as built-in cell phones, ( I understand some of them come with two now, straight from the factory. ) Fax machines, and a TV set in the rear for the kids. ( Can’t expect them go without TV, now can we? )
As for “Charcoal Burning everywhere”, it still goes on, but with new twists for the new century. Working class folks still barbecue hot dogs, burgers, and steaks. But Our new rich suburban friends? “Certainly not, muffy”. Nope, the new “top one percenters” have their barbecues catered. After all, we can’t have Muffy and John getting their hands covered with that,,, that,,, what is it you call it? Grease? It gets worse. I am now hearing that even kids birthday parties, once the most innocent things on earth, have fallen victim to rich yuppies need to display their wealth, and to out-do each other. Instead of cake, ice cream, and an afternoon of bowling with a few friends, yuppies must hire clowns, magicians, face painters, and, if it’s a girls party, ponies. The bill of a kids birthday party now runs into the thousands. Again I ask, where will it all end? Is there anyone out there who will say “no” to all of it?
There must be someone. There must be some newly minted multi-millionaire who has the stones. Perhaps a “dot-com millionaire” who got out before the entire dot-com thing tanked, will have the gall to tell his kids, “We’re taking you to the movies for your birthday, you can bring three friends”. Perhaps this is the same dude, or dudette, who will go into a car dealership and buy a Honda Civic, then head to the mall and buy a fifty dollar watch. And maybe, this is the same person who will then head home to his/her ordinary house, in a place where there no “McMansions”. Someone, somewhere.
I guess the ultimate “self made monument” for these super rich yuppie couples will be to have statues of themselves made for display in the front yard. Of course, if they do this, it just won’t work, unless they can commission the very best sculptors from Spain or France.
Don’t laugh, I think it’s coming. What else is left? I can see Yuppie Mom and Yuppie Dad posing now in their “Tennis Togs”, or perhaps their very best designer gym wear. Little Justin and Heather will have to wear complimentary outfits…. Oh, I give up!
They only numb my soul and make it hard for me to see.
I think I’ll go sing along with Mickey Dolenz.
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