I thought Pleasant Valley Sunday was about the town we'd just moved to, and (as an 11-year-old) I thought it was complementary. The irony and snarkiness of it went right over my head.
Interesting how so many of their songs were not about love, romance, attraction, etc., but were about ideas and concepts. Daydream Believer was an insightful song.
I recently watched a youtube video titled The Legends Of Laurel Canyon and Mickey Dolenz was one of the host. If you haven’t seen it already try to watch it...you and I are about the same age and have a lot of the same musical experiences...I think you’ll enjoy it.