Today’s song from 1967 is not a happy subject for this artist. Because of a contract he signed with the record company without legal advice, he has never received any royalties for writing or recording this song. The artist vented frustration about this unjust contract in his sarcastic nonsense song "The Big Royalty Check"
Today’s song features the Sweet Inspirations singing back-up and is considered to be this guy's signature song, even though he’s been quoted as saying “I've got about 300 songs that I think are better.”
A radio-edit of the song was released which removed the lyrics "making love in the green grass", replacing them with "laughin' and a-runnin', hey hey" from a previous verse.
As of 2015, it remains the most downloaded and most played song of the entire 1960s decade.
This song has been covered by hundreds of bands over the decades including Billy Ray Cyrus, Portland’s own Everclear and Bruce Springsteen.
In 2000, it was listed at No. 21 on the Rolling Stone/MTV list of 100 Greatest Pop Songs, 33 years after it’s release.