Harry Nilsson- Cuddly Toy - The Monkees Demos (1967) - RARE

[12161euclid]

"...the day after santa came". i could never get that lyric until now! 45 years it took!! most monkees songs i know the lyrics to without having them written out,but this was one that always puzzled me. great to hear part of the evolution of one of my favorite "davy songs". thank you!

[BeatlesMonkees]

I like hearing The Songs from Harry Nilsson and It's Clearer

[paullayton]

thanks for this!



[AJohnnymous]

"Good." lol gee thanks. 

[etrax2000]

hw drifts between john lennon and bob dylan

[Bufflekill]

Marvellous!



[donya3376]

wow this is an awesome combo of Harry and The Monkees!

[HarmonizeTheWind]

I love Harry :) Me and my Arrow................

[lassiebug1o1]

AHH how have I never heard this before? AMAZING

[CentralCoCHainesCity]

This is so beautiful.

[kozinc]

The lyrics are break-up insults.

[doctortjm199]

Listen to the song again, thinking about the Hell's Angels connection. It certainly changes the meaning entirely! Harry had a great sense of humor. It can be seen in just about everything he does. RCA records hated him but loved the money he brought in, so they had a very rocky relationship. Another Harry song is about a guy leaving a house of ill repute after spending the night there, "Bath". Listen to the lyrics. Then there's "Take 54"' or "Jesus Christ, You're Tall!" RCA HATED Harry!

[doctortjm199]

Great stuff, thanks Harry. Harry tells the story of this song--he wrote this song after reading a book about the Hell's Angels bike gang. A "cuddly toy" is gang slang for a girl who enjoys, well, being gang-banged! When a friend suggested that it should be a song for the Monkees, the most clean cut musical group at the time, sheer "bubble gum" pop to many people, beloved by screaming 10 and 12 year old girls--Harry almost fainted! But he had no choice, so he did. He never told the record company

[cdnlady7]

@doctortjm199

Wow never knew that .... very interesting and what a play on words .....

[cdnlady7]

@doctortjm199 Wow what an interesting side line to the meaning of the song ..... Thanks!

[Broblem12]

Love it! Thanks so much.

[MNorton1972]

I am a huge Monkees fan and I am so glad you posted this. I love the rawness of it as a demo but more than that. I would've probably thought of Micky or Peter for it but Harry had the insight to see it should be a Davy song. People forget that songwriting isn't just about writing a great song but finding that perfect match to sing it. I've gotta tell you it says more about him and his ego that he knew to do that than almost anything else. Thanks again.

[newmoon51]

Thank you very much for posting this. 

[schinders]

there's a great new harry doc, if anyone's interested. it's streaming on netflix.

[Kitsuneranger]

@schinders I saw it, it's pretty good!

[sgtpepper1138]

@schinders Yeah, I've watched it a few times now. Really good doc.

[sunspotpixie]

Harry... you still make me cry damn you

[bdwilder]

better than the monkees version... love the acoustic guitar.

[dadadruma]

what a pure gifted artist and you got to hand it to the monkees for not just covering his material well but matching his vocal range to the T

[iangordoncraig]

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[knotightul]

Is this song track 2 on "Nilsson: Greatest Hits"?

[clenbullard]

Dang.  This is fantastic.

[alphaql]

uh....did he burp at 2:04/2:05? LOL!!!!!

[sgtpepper1138]

@alphaql No, I think he had phlegm in his throat.

[monkeywrench666]

It's about group sex, not gang rape.

[alphaql]

@monkeywrench666 thank u for clearn that up....sheesh!

[tesserzz]

THE BICYCLES (Toronto indie pop band) have a fab cover of this on their first album.

[hondasfour]

I suspect not too many people know what a fabulous songwriter was. The Beatles knew it...

[99nicegirl]

The song is about a cad who has dumped a woman after having sex and is saying things to justify himself and make the woman feel cheap.

[99nicegirl]

The song is about a cad who is dumping a girl, and saying things to justify himself and make her feel cheap. It may well be about Davy Jones. I don't know.

[bdicat]

I thank you so much for this.

[matonmagic]

WOW He was so amazing so many gifts to so many people except himself. Thankyou for keeping the history.

[HotBroodish]

this was an amazing song.

[sweetlorraine0]

I think it's a terrific pop song with the oddball lyrics. I think it's a sheer exaggeration to say that it's about "gang rape" or something, like one said below. I think it's about a promiscuous girl, a socialite (like Holly Golightly from "Breakfast at Tifanny's").

[BunyipBlueEyes]

@sweetlorraine0

it's song by a boy with a broken heart who's trying to convince himself he isn't still in love

[TheWendylouwho]

this is amazing

[2giggle24]

What a vicious, cruel song against young women. And he disguises it with such a cute title-cuddly toy. iheard it was really about a gang rape. He has this innocent look, then such pain on the inside.

[weenyone]

Mmm. Cruel, vicious. . . Harry Nilsson. . .I don't think so 2giggle24. You've got issues

[2giggle24]

Sorry but just a little research on your part would enlighten. But I think he is an awesome song writer.

[uncleelmer]

@2giggle24 wrong. Please post knowing your facts. This is just a tune. Harry wrote many. I have to take my valuable time straightening you out.

[DomenicDee]

Great stuff! He's defintely one of the most underrated musicians from the era. Harry Nilsson wrote and recorded some truly memorable tunes back in the day.

[clemdane]

God I love this. Someone else posted it a few months ago and Youtube deleted it.

[apeshitdig]

Man hell yeah, just the insight I needed.

[MusicForYourFunk]

i like how he wrote it as a Davy song and that what it became..

[markerfkd]

@MusicForYourFunk ..he didnt write it for davy..its one song of a few it wrote and played for the monkees..the mokees liked it and used it

[MusicForYourFunk]

@markerfkd

im glad you have thoughts about it...

i was just going by the conversation that was at the beginning of this clip:

producer: uh ... this is a davy ones song...

harry: yeah... i don't really have a title yet ...

i guess to avoid having to point this out, i should have said "he wrote it then recorded it for this session with the intention of it being for davy."

better ?