It’s hard not to smile listening to the music of the 1960s. That decade saw some of rock music’s biggest classics released, including these three songs. All out in 1967, it’s likely that every 60s kid can still sing them by heart today.
“Brown Eyed Girl” by Van Morrison
Van Morrison’s first single, “Brown Eyed Girl” is on his freshman Blowin’ Your Mind album. The song is written by Morrison.
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“Brown Eyed Girl” begins with, “Hey, where did we go / Days when the rains came? / Down in the hollow / Playing a new game / Laughing and a-running, hey, hey / Skipping and a-jumping / In the misty morning fog with / Our, our hearts a-thumping / And you, my brown-eyed girl / You, my brown-eyed girl.”
A Top 10 hit for Morrison, “Brown Eyed Girl” was later inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Still, Morrison rarely performed the song in his live shows for years,
“‘Brown Eyed Girl’ I didn’t perform for a long time, because for me it was like a throwaway song,” Morrison says. “I’ve got about 300 other songs I think are better than that.”
“I Dig Rock And Roll Music” by Peter, Paul and Mary
Peter, Paul and Mary include “I Dig Rock And Roll Music” on their Album 1700 record. “I Dig Rock And Roll Music” is written by band member Paul Stookey, along with James Mason and Dave Dixon.
A tongue-in-cheek, slightly irreverent song about their dismay over the changing music scene, “I Dig Rock And Roll Music” says, “I dig rock and roll music / I could really get it on in that scene / I think I could say something if you know what I mean / But if I really say it / The radio won’t play it / Unless I lay it between the lines.”
“Penny Lane” by The Beatles
“Penny Lane” is the first song The Beatles released in 1967. It is also the first single from The Beatles’ Magical Mystery Tour project.
Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney, “Penny Lane” says, “On the corner is a banker with a motorcar / The little children laugh at him behind his back. And the banker never wears a mac / In the pouring rain, very strange Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes / There beneath the blue suburban skies / I sit, and meanwhile back.”
“Penny Lane’ became a hit single for The Beatles, but it isn’t their only hit from Magical Mystery Tour. That record also includes “All You Need Is Love” and “Hello, Goodbye”.
Photo by PoPsie Randolph/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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