Manic Monday

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Manic Monday

performed by The Bangles
written by Prince (as “Christopher”)
released on December 23, 1985

[Verse 1]
Six o’clock already, I was just in the middle of a dream
I was kissin’ Valentino by a crystal blue Italian stream
But I can’t be late, ’cause then I guess I just won’t get paid
These are the days when you wish your bed was already made

[Chorus]
It’s just another manic Monday (Ooh-oh)
Wish it were Sunday (Ooh-oh)
‘Cause that’s my fun day (Ooh-oh)
My I-don’t-have-to-run day (Ooh)
It’s just another manic Monday

[Verse 2]
Have to catch an early train, got to be to work by nine
And if I had an aeroplane, I still couldn’t make it on time
‘Cause it takes me so long just to figure out what I’m gonna wear
Blame it on the train, but the boss is already there

[Chorus]
It’s just another manic Monday (Ooh-oh)
Wish it were Sunday (Ooh-oh)
‘Cause that’s my fun day (Ooh-oh)
My I-don’t-have-to-run day (Ooh)
It’s just another manic Monday

[Bridge]
Of all of my nights, why did my lover have to pick
Last night to get down? (Last night, last night)
Doesn’t it matter that I have to feed the both of us?
Employment’s down
He tells me in his bedroom voice
“C’mon, honey, let’s go make some noise” (I can’t resist)
Time, it goes so fast (When you’re having fun)

[Chorus]
It’s just another manic Monday (Ooh-oh)
Wish it were Sunday (Ooh-oh)
‘Cause that’s my fun day (Ooh-oh)
My I-don’t-have-to-run day (Ooh)
It’s just another manic Monday (Ooh-oh)
Wish it were Sunday (Ooh-oh)
‘Cause that’s my fun day (Ooh-oh)
It’s just another manic Monday

____________________________________

Can a song be both racy and corny? Of course. That was the lane that pop music in the 1980s lived in.

For almost 40 years now, no song has been more synonymous in the Western world, with a single day of the week, than this one is with Monday. (‘Monday, Monday’ by the Mamas and the Papas didn’t have the same cultural staying power as this one.) That’s fascinating to me. But is it healthy to collectively define our Mondays this way? Or is it just accurate? I, unfortunately, do not possess those answers. I just think it’s interesting. We’re always so careless with our words and the power they have.

When you think about it, at least in the U.S., calamity often happens on Tuesday. The ‘Great Crash’ of 1929 was on a Tuesday. The Space Shuttle Challenger accident was on a Tuesday. September 11, 2001, was a Tuesday. Maybe Monday gets a bad rap. Or maybe it’s Manic because it feels Tuesday right behind it? Who knows.

I am not inclined to hold The Bangles at fault for anything, or Prince either, if it comes to that. The world was all too willing to embrace the label. If we’ve had bad Mondays since then, I suppose it’s on us to embrace a more positive message for our future Mondays. Can someone write a “It’s Monday, let’s get this bread” anthem?

Charts

Weekly chart performance for “Manic Monday
“Chart (1986–1987)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)	3
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)	2
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)	19
Canada Top Singles (RPM)	2
Europe (European Hot 100 Singles) Japan (Oricon)	6
Ireland (IRMA)	2
Japan (Oricon)	56
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)	24
Netherlands (Single Top 100)	22
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)	5
Norway (VG-lista)	4
South Africa (Springbok Radio)	1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)	4
UK Singles (OCC)	2
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)	10
US Billboard Hot 100	2
US Cash Box	3
West Germany (Official German Charts)	2

This is probably more common knowledge than it was for me, but I did not know that Prince wrote this song until I looked into it for this post. Of course, now that I know, I cannot help but hear his style all over it. (via wiki)

“Manic Monday” is a song by the American pop rock band the Bangles, which was the first single released from their second studio album, Different Light (1986). The song was written by American musician Prince, under the pseudonym “Christopher”. Originally it was intended for the group Apollonia 6 in 1984. Lyrically, it describes a woman who is waking up to go to work on Monday, wishing it was still Sunday so that she could continue relaxing.

The single, released by Columbia Records in late December 1985, received generally positive reviews from music critics, with comparisons being made to the Mamas & the Papas‘ “Monday, Monday“. It became the Bangles’ first hit, reaching No. 2 in the United States (coincidentally, the song was kept from the top spot by Prince’s “Kiss“), the United Kingdom, Austria, Canada, Germany, and Ireland, and peaked within the Top 5 in Australia, New Zealand, Norway, and Switzerland. It was later certified silver in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

Background and composition

Prince wrote “Manic Monday” in 1984, and recorded it as a duet for the band Apollonia 6‘s self-titled album, but he eventually pulled the song. Two years later, he offered the single to the Bangles under the pseudonym “Christopher”, a character he played in the 1986 film Under the Cherry Moon. It was rumored by various writers that after Prince listened to the band’s 1984 debut album All Over the Place, he gave the song to Bangles rhythm guitarist Susanna Hoffs, in hopes of winning her affection. An original demo with Apollonia and Prince appeared in the 2001 bootleg, The Work – Volume 1. It was another 18 years before an official version was posthumously released with Prince as the primary vocalist. That recording appears on the 2019 demo compilation, Originals.

Susanna Hoffs on “Manic Monday”

“When I first heard that ‘oh whoa’ melody I thought of the Velvet Underground. Then when I heard the title I thought of Jimi Hendrix [who sang ‘Manic Depression‘]. But then with the Monday part & the harmonies I thought of the Mamas & the Papas. It has a lot of the elements of emotion & style that [the Bangles] connect to. And [young people] really pick-up on the nursery rhyme appeal[:] like ‘Sally Go ‘Round the Roses‘, [there’s] a nice simplicity to it.”

In an interview with MTV UK in 1989 Debbi Peterson explained why Prince gave them the song: “[Prince] really liked our first album. He liked the song ‘Hero Takes a Fall’, which is a great compliment, because we liked his music. He contacted us, and said, ‘I’ve got a couple of songs for you. I’d like to know if you’re interested,’ and of course we were. One of the songs Prince brought to the group was ‘Manic Monday’, written under the pseudonym of Christopher.” Peterson talked about the evolution of what Prince brought them: “It was a Banglefication of a Prince arrangement. He had a demo, that was very specifically him. It was a good song, but we didn’t record it like ‘This is our first hit single! Oh my God! I can feel it in my veins!’ We just did the song, and the album, and then sat back and thought about it.”

A pop song written in D major, “Manic Monday” moves at a tempo of 116 beats per minute and is set in common time. The song has a sequence of D–A₇–G–D–A₇–G as its chord progression. Lyrically, the song is about someone waking up from a romantic dream at six o’clock on Monday morning, and facing a hectic journey to work when she would prefer to still be enjoying relaxing on Sunday—her “I-don’t-have-to-run day”. Actor Rudolph Valentino is referred to in the first verse.

I, for one, hope that your next Monday is not ‘Manic’ but if it turns out that way, I hope you survive and have a fantastic Ruby Tuesday. Don’t lose your dreams, or your mind, if you can help it. (Does that restaurant chain still exist? I hope so.)

Here is the official music video for ‘Manic Monday’ by the Bangles. Enjoy your day!