How fitting that green is the background color of the CD, for the animals after which the group named itself are green. On the front cover are six men crouching down in the middle of a road--hopefully a country road with little traffic.
1. It Ain't Me Babe (2:07) - This song, slightly faster than moderate, features a tambourine; so do the next two songs. A girl peers through the narrator's window, hoping to make him her boyfriend for eternity. But he tells her to remove herself from the window, for he is not the man she's looking for.
2. Let Me Be (2:22) - The tempo is moderately fast. Here, the narrator asserts his right to be himself. "Don't try to change me or rearrange me / To satisfy the selfishness in you," he tells the girl.
3. Eve Of Destruction (2:40) - The tempo is moderate. Drum rolls fill the first few seconds; the drums also roll alone as the song fades. "You're old enough to kill, but not for votin'," the narrator complains, referring to the 18-year-old male of the 60s who was drafted into the Vietnam War. (This complaint was later mollified with a Constitutional amendment lowering the minimum voting age from 21 to 18.) The narrator sees the war--and incidents of hate and violence elsewhere--as a prelude to the destruction of the entire human species. The hit version of this song was sung by Barry McGuire.
4. You Baby (2:17) - I like this moderately fast song a lot because of the lyric "Yes, the candy is sweet, but it just can't compete with you, baby." The narrator also tells his girlfriend that the love she gives him is "the greatest thing since rock 'n' roll." Most of all, he loves no one except her.
5. Grim Reaper Of Love (2:42) - This moderately slow, 6/8 song opens with 7 seconds of eerie chanting. Instruments and sound effects include a tambourine, hand-clapping, and probably either a harpsichord or an organ (either of which would fit an eerie setting).
6. Can I Get To Know You Better (2:37) - This song, with a moderate tempo, somewhat resembles "You Baby." Chimes are featured here. The question asked here is one that any guy would ask a girl he finds attractive. For that matter, the inverse is also true.
7. Outside Chance (2:06) - Cymbal drums are used heavily in this moderately fast song. The girl is in love with the narrator, but he's not so interested in her; he tells her that she doesn't "stand an outside chance" of winning his heart.
8. Happy Together (2:53) - After the previous 3 songs failed to hit, this one reached #1. The tempo is moderate. Instruments include a piano, an oboe, and horns. The narrator and his girlfriend are so in love that he can't see himself loving any other woman for the rest of his life. Each is the only one for the other; it had to be that way "no matter how they tossed the dice." The volume is soft in the beginning, but toward the end you might want to turn it down, for the horns are loud.
9. She'd Rather Be With Me (2:18) - This song, slightly faster than moderate, features horns. "Some girls like to run around," but the narrator's girlfriend prefers to stay with him instead. In the second verse, he says that the inverse is also true. Although his girlfriend is good at lying, she doesn't do it to him.
10. Me About You (2:29) - This moderate-tempoed song opens with a 3 1/2-second bass solo. Other instruments include chimes, horns, and orchestral strings. I like how the verses are sung in 16th notes. The narrator knows nothing yet about his new girlfriend, but he doesn't have the slightest doubt that she really loves him. From now on, everything he does will revolve around her.
11. Guide For The Married Man (2:41) - Although this moderately fast song wasn't a hit, it was the theme song for a movie of the same title. This would be the male counterpart to the 1990s book The Rules, which was written for women regarding how to get the best out of their dealings with men.
12. She's My Girl (2:31) - Turn the volume up to bring this song to par with the songs preceding it. The prevalent tempo is slightly faster than moderate. From 1:23 to 1:37, the tempo is slower and in 6/8 time. The night before the setting of the song, the narrator met a girl with glowing eyes and took her for a ride. So now he has a new girlfriend.
13. You Know What I Mean (1:59) - This slow, swing-tempoed song features chimes, horns, and orchestral strings. When the narrator says things such as that he'll give sunshine only to his girlfriend, she knows what he means--that he'll love her and only her for eternity.
14. Sound Asleep (2:26) - The tempo is moderate. Instruments include horns and an instrument that resembles the snapping of fingers. I also hear a sound effect similar to someone sawing wood. Most of the time, the voices and instruments are so loud as to hardly match the peaceful setting. As the narrator sleeps, his girlfriend remains on his mind--in his dreams, that is.
15. Elenore (2:29) - After another no-hit season from the previous 5 songs, the group re-entered the charts with this song. The original volume of this disc also returns, so turn it down a bit when this song comes. The main instrument here is a piano. Although Elenore's parents don't approve of the narrator, he's still crazy about her. He asks her if she'll go to a movie with him and, more importantly, whether she loves him like he does her.
16. You Showed Me (3:13) - This moderately slow song, the group's last hit, was written by Gene Clark and Roger McGuinn of the Byrds. Classical string instruments are featured. The girl showed the narrator how to say and do the things she said and did to make him fall in love with her. Now that he has practiced these same heart-winning techniques on her, she loves him also.
17. The Story Of Rock 'n' Roll (2:36) - This song, with a moderate swing tempo, does little to live up to its title. Instruments include a piano, a sax, and a bass horn, but the lyrics don't tell much about how rock 'n' roll began. There's no mention whatsoever of the music's founding fathers such as Chuck Berry and Bill Haley. The guys got one thing right, though--that's the kind of music that really reaches MY soul, anyway.
18. You Don't Have To Walk In The Rain (2:38) - The tempo is somewhat faster than moderate. The narrator and the girl have both been lonely after a long time away from each other. But now that they've reunited, she no longer has to "walk in the rain" (be without a lover); she'll be "home" in the narrator's arms.
19. Love In The City (3:38) - The tempo is moderate. Instruments include an organ. You have to listen closely to hear the words, but the narrator and his girlfriend enjoy walking hand-in-hand along the streets of the city in which they live.
20. Lady-O (2:52) - Following the example of the Beatles, who had formed Apple Corp., the Turtles formed their own record label, Blimp. One artist who signed with this new label, folk singer Judy Sills, wrote this song for the guys to sing themselves. A guitar solo fills the first 9 seconds; shortly after the half-minute mark, orchestral strings (the only other instruments here) enter. The woman to whom the narrator sings has caused him heartaches, and he's tried hard not to leave her. Still, his love for her increases.