Songfacts®:

• In his memoir Almost Famous: Journey to the Summer of Love, songwriter Alan Lee Brackett wrote that "Too Many Do" was about, "being stared at for being different, in my case having long hair and a beard, which some people found unacceptable. I remember driving my Porsche around Hollywood and an old lady came up to me and spit on my car."
  
  The story sounds extreme, but "longhairs" in 1967 were considered by much of polite society to be no better than outright criminals. In many areas, being labeled a hippie could get one physically attacked or even harassed by police.
• In his book Brackett goes on to explain, "At the same time it was a love song about not getting along and having a partner that is not understanding or trusting and doesn't want to hold you when you're coming down from tripping. And after all, 'You should be smiling.'"
• The song is roughly six-and-a-half minutes long, which was unusually long for rock songs of the era.