Zombies – "She's Not There" (1964)

Please don’t bother trying to find her

She’s not there!

The Zombies’ debut single, “She’s Not There,” made it all the way to the #2 spot on the Billboard “Hot 100” the week of December 12, 1964. 

The Beach Boys, Beatles, Kinks, Rolling Stones, and Supremes all had singles in the top ten that week.  Each of those groups was far more successful than the Zombies, who had had only two other hit singles (“Tell Her No” and “Time of the Season”) before breaking up in 1968.

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“She’s Not There” was written by the Zombies’ keyboard player, Rod Argent.  

The best thing about the song is Argent’s keyboard work.  He played a Hohner Pianet, an electric piano that was first manufactured in 1962 and can also be heard on “Louie Louie,” “I Am the Walrus,” “These Eyes,” “Joy to the World,” and a number of other hit singles.

A Hohner Pianet electric piano

The Hohner Pianet had 61 keys, which ranged from F1 to F6.  (A standard piano has 88 keys.  The Hohner Pianet is missing the piano’s lowest eight keys and highest 19 keys.) 

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“She’s Not There” is a good example of a song whose lyrics aren’t that impressive when you read them on the printed page, but which work beautifully in the context of the recorded song.  

For example, here’s the chorus:

Well, let me tell you 'bout the way she looked

The way she acted, the color of her hair

Her voice was soft and cool

Her eyes were clear and bright

But she's not there

Not to be a nitpicker, but I would have ditched the initial “well” – you might as well start things off with a “you know.”

The singer promises to tell you about the way she looked, the way she acted, and the color of her hair – but he doesn’t.   And he describes her voice as “soft and cool” and her eyes as “clear and bright” – that’s pretty generic.  So you’re left with only a vague idea of what the femme fatale who is the subject of the song is like.

But no matter – it all works when you hear it, and God knows that few of the hit singles from this era have lyrics that are better.

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I was a seventh-grader when “She’s Not There” was released.  

I must have really liked the record because I paid cash money for it – and I bought very few singles.  (I’d be surprised if I bought as many as a dozen 45s altogether.  But the ones I bought were money – e.g., Bobby Lewis’s “Tossin’ and Turnin’,” Jan and Dean’s “Dead Man’s Curve,” and the Four Seasons “Rag Doll.”)

Click here to listen to “She’s Not There” – the first member of the 2021 class of the 2 OR 3 LINES “GOLDEN DECADE” HIT SINGLES HALL OF FAME.

Click below to buy the record from Amazon: