Someone once called this song the “the unofficial anthem of the counterculture movement of the 1960s,” and that sounds about right – I mean it’s got “flowers in your hair” right there in the title.
An interesting fact about this one, written as it was by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas and sung by Scott McKenzie, is that it was used as a promo piece for the Monterey International Pop Music festival held in June of 1967, and then just sort of took off from there. Of course the song not only helped to bring ticket buyers to a particular festival, but also acted as something of a siren song bringing thousands of kids to San Francisco during the late 1960s.
The release date for the single was May 13, 1967, after which it became a hit almost immediately, reaching number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in the U.S. by mid-summer and staying there for four weeks.
The lyrics are pretty direct. The title might well have been “You Really Should Come to San Francisco – It’ll be Fun, and There’s No Telling Who You Might Meet.” Seductive stuff.