Last Train to Clarksville
Words and Music by Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart
Performed by The Monkees - first single for the band and hit #1 in the charts within a week.


Take the last train to Clarksville,
And I'll meet you at the station.
You can be be there by four thirty,
'Cause I made your reservation.
Don't be slow, oh, no, no, no!
Oh, no, no, no!

'Cause I'm leavin' in the morning
And I must see you again
We'll have one more night together
'Til the morning brings my train.
And I must go, oh, no, no, no!
Oh, no, no, no!
And I don't know if I'm ever coming home.

Take the last train to Clarksville.
I'll be waiting at the station.
We'll have time for coffee flavored kisses
And a bit of conversation.
Oh... Oh, no, no, no!
Oh, no, no, no!

Take the last train to Clarksville,
Now I must hang up the phone.
I can't hear you in this noisy
Railroad station all alone.
I'm feelin' low. Oh, no, no, no!
Oh, no, no, no!
And I don't know if I'm ever coming home.

Take the last train to Clarksville,
Take the last train to Clarksville,
(repeat and fade)


In the days before political correctness became a common term that was tossed around and long before there was a pre-fabricated boy-band on ever corner trying to get a record deal, there was The Monkees. The Monkees were the American answer to the British Invasion. No - the year is not 1776, but rather the mid 1960s.

Being a 'pre-fabricated' band (occasionally called the 'prefab four' even though The Monkees came after the 'fab four') The Monkees didn't write their own words or music. In all honesty, they were there to look good and sing.

The song Last Train to Clarksville stands alone in the Monkees discography in that it was an anti-war song (or as best as they could do). To keep this appearance of political correctness, the writers couldn't come right out and say it - or any political statement for that matter. Many people at the time didn't realize this song as such.

Clarksville, Tennessee is the home of Fort Campbell army base which was a major area for gathering the troops before shipping them off to Vietnam. There are words that are left unspoken are hinted at when this realization is made in this otherwise bubblegum pop song of the 60s.

Take the last train to Clarksville,
And I'll meet you at the station.
'Cause I'm leavin' in the morning
And I must see you again
We'll have one more night together
And I don't know if I'm ever coming home.
58,229 American soldiers are listed as either dead or missing from the Vietnam War.

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