Richard Field on Management and Information Science
Monkey Songs
My theory is that every artist has a song with the word "monkey" in the title or lyric. Here's a sample.
If you send me your artist/song/lyric I'll add it to the table. Richard.Field@ualberta.ca
I am told that December 11th is "National Monkey Day" in the U.S. Who Knew?
| Artist | Song or Album Title | Lyric |
| 5 Royales, the | Monkey Hips and Rice | |
| 10 Years After | Hard Monkey | |
| A Perfect Circle | Weak and Powerless | "Someone feed the monkey while I dig in search of China" |
| Aerosmith | Monkey On My Back | |
| alicedean | best friend | "I got a monkey, he lives on my back," |
| Alvin Cash & The Registers | The Boston Monkey (1965) | |
| Amy Winehouse | Monkey Man | |
| Annette Funicello & The Beach Boys | They Monkey's Uncle (1965) | From the Disney movie of the same name, this is a minor pop classic, but it never charted. The lyrics are great. |
| Baby Huey | Monkeyman | |
| Bad Haggis | Monkey Tree | |
| Baltimora | Tarzan Boy | Hide and seek, We play along while rushing cross the forest, Monkey business on a sunny afternoon |
| Bare Naked Ladies | If I had a Million Dollars | "Haven't you always wanted a monkey?" |
| Bare Naked Ladies | Another Postcard | "You can't imagine so many monkeys in the daily mail" |
| Beastie Boys | Brass Monkey | "drink brass monkey -- here's how you feel" |
| Beatles, The | Everybody's got something to hide except for me and | "Everybody's got something to hide except for me and |
| BellRays | Monkey House | |
| Bette Midler | One Monkey Don't Stop No Show | |
| Big Bad Voodoo Daddy | I Wanna Be Like You | "And be just like the other men I'm tired of monkeying around" |
| Big Bopper, The | You Made a Monkey out of Me | "I wanna walk like a monkey, I wanna talk like a monkey ... You made a monkey out of me" |
| Black Eyed Peas | Monkey Business (Album Title) | |
| Blue Oyster Cult | Donovan's Monkey | |
| Bob Dylan | Monkey and the Engineer | "Once upon a time there was an engineer, Drove a locomotive both far and near. Accompanied by a monkey that would sit on a stool, watching everything the engineer would move. " |
| Bon Jovi | Bad Medicine |
“I got a dirty down addiction that doesn't leave a track I got a jolt for your affection Like a monkey on my back” |
| Bonobo | Dial M for Monkey (Album Title) | |
| Boozoo Chavez | Who Stole My Monkey | |
| Brian Jonestown Massacre, the | Monkey Puzzle | |
| Bruce Springsteen | Part Man, Part Monkey | |
| Bush | monkey | |
| Butthole Surfers, the | The Lord Is A Monkey | |
| Captain Kangaroo? | Monkey Man? | "I am a big baboon" ?? |
| Chagall Guevara (1991) | Monkey Grinder | Collar goes tight,Fat man's cranking,And the monkey's reeled in,Don't he look a little blue? |
| Chemical Brothers, The | Galvanize | |
| Chris Mars | Monkey Sees | |
| Chubby Checker | Karate Monkey (1966) | Combining the Karate and Monkey dances |
| Chuck Berry | Too Much Monkey Business | |
| Clambake | Powder Monkey | |
| Coal Chamber | Shock the Monkey | "don't you know you gotta shock the monkey" |
| Collins and Harlan (1907) | In Monkey Land | |
| Coney Hatch | Monkey Bars | "We are playing in the monkey bars, Sittin' by the streets just countin' the cars" |
| Counting Crows | Monkey | "All dressed up, No place to go, Hey monkey, when you gonna show your face around me?" |
| Cracker | Guarded by Monkeys | |
| Dandy Warhols | Welcome to the Monkey House (Album Title) | |
| Dave Bartholemew | The Monkey (Speaks His Mind) | |
| Dave Matthews Band | Shake Me Like a Monkey | |
| Dave Matthews Band | Proudest Monkey | "Now I am the proudest monkey you've ever seen" |
| Debbie Reynolds | Aba Daba Honeymoon | "said the monkey to the chimp" |
| Delbert Mclinton | "When you turn a man into a monkey, that monkey's gonna monkey around" | |
| Derrick Harriot | Monkey Ska | |
| Devo | Go Monkey Go | |
| Diana Krall | Straighten up and fly right | |
| Dillinger Four | It's a fine line between the monkey and the robot -- on the album "Midwestern Songs of the Americas" | |
| Dim Stars, the | Monkey | |
| Divinyls, The | Monkey Grip (Album Title) | |
| Dukes of Hamburg, the | Monkey Monkey | |
| Elliot smith | new monkey | |
| Elvis Costello & The Imposters | Monkey to Man | |
| Elvis Presley | Too Much Monkey Business | "Too much monkey business for me to be involved in" |
| Eurythmics | Missionary Man | "There was a woman in the jungle, And a monkey on a tree" |
| Fabulous Thunderbirds, The | The Monkey Speaks His Mind, from the album "The Essential Fabulous Thunderbirds" | |
| Foo Fighters | Monkey Wrench | "I'll Never Be Your Monkey Wrench " |
| Foo Fighters | Monkey Wrench | |
| Freddy Cannon | Everybody Monkey (1963) | released during the "Monkey" dance craze |
| Gary Glitter | The Clapping Song | "The monkey chewed tobacco on the street car line" |
| Gear Daddies, the | Spider Monkey | |
| Genesis | Tonight, Tonight, Tonight | "I'm coming down, coming down like a monkey, but its alright Like a load on your back that you cant see, ooh but its alright Try to shake it loose, cut it free, just let it go, get it away from me." |
| George Michael | Monkey | "Why can't you do it? Why can't you set your monkey free" |
| George Michael | Cowboys and Angels | "When your heart's in someone else's hands, Monkey see and monkey do, Their wish is your command, You're not to blame, Everyone's the same" |
| Gino Washington | Come Monkey With Me | |
| Gorillaz | Fire Coming Out of a Monkey's Tree | |
| Gov't Mule | Monkey Hill -- from the album "Gov't Mule" | "Down on monkey hill, saw a brother screaming on the corner" |
| Grateful Dead, The | Accompanied by a monkey that would sit on a stool | |
| Groucho Marx | Hooray for Captain Spaulding |
(Jamison) He went into the jungle where all the monkeys throw nuts. (Spaulding) If I stay here I'll go nuts. (All) Hooray, Hooray, Hooray. |
| Headstones, The | Tweeter and the Monkey Man | "Tweeter and the Monkey Man were hard up for cash" |
| Honey Cone, The | One Monkey Don't Stop No Show | |
| Hot Chip | Over and Over | "Over and over and over and over, like a monkey with a miniature symbol" |
| Ian Brown | Dolphins Were Monkeys | The dolphins were monkeys that didn't like the land, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGG4bAXJzFs&feature=related, Ian Brown calls himself "King Monkey", so he should definitely be in the list.and his first solo album was called "Unfinished Monkey Business" that was also a song title on the album, but not a single. |
| Ida Cox | Monkey Man Blues | |
| Ideals, The |
Gorilla (1963) Mo Gorilla (1964) Go-Go Gorilla (1966) |
A trilogy of singles from a group that recorded little else. At one point, they sing that the "Gorilla" dance "should have happened before the Monkey." The second single, "Mo Gorilla," is a simulated live concert. However, it was recorded in-studio. |
| J. Geils Band | Monkey Island | |
| James Blunt | Out of My Mind | "It's touching that the monkey sits on my shoulder" |
| Jeff Beck | Grease Monkey from the album "Jeff" | "Hey grease monkey, show me what you got" |
| Jeff Beck | Line Dancing with Monkeys -- Also from the album Jeff | instrumental |
| Jerry Warren | Monkey Walk | |
| Jethro Tull | Steel Monkey | "I'm a monkey puzzle and the lid is on" |
| Jethro Tull | Bungle in the Jungle | "Walking through forests of palm tree apartments, scoff at the monkeys who live in their dark tents" |
| Joe Henry | Monkey -- on the album "Fuse" | "I'll keep your monkey, I'll treat him good" |
| Joe Johnston | Monkey Versus Robot | |
| Johnny Hodges | Monkey Shack | Instrumental from 1963 |
| Jonathan Coulton | Code Monkey | "Code Monkey think maybe manager want to write god damned login page himself" |
| Jonathan Coulton | My Monkey | "I’m sick or your smile, your nothing to say. Your monkey, your middle" |
| Jonathan Coulton | The album "Smoking Monkey" | |
| Jonathan Coulton | De-evolving | "There's a monkey in the future for you, and there's nothing modern science can do" (De-evolving) |
| Jonathan Coulton | SkullCrusher Mountain (?) | "I made this half-pony half-monkey monster to please you" |
| Josh Homme et al. | Monkey in the Middle -- from the album Desert Sessions vol 1-2 | |
| Josh Pyke | Monkey with a Drum | |
| jungle book soundtrack | I Wan'na Be Like You | I wanna be a man, mancub and stroll right into town And be just like the other men, I'm tired of monkeyin' around, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOcyYyxqN_g |
| Kid Congo Powers & the Pink Monkey Birds | Gorilla Rose | |
|
King Blues, The
|
Chimp in a 3 Piece Suit Headbutt |
|
| Kinks, The | Ape Man | |
| Klute | Monkey Say Monkey Do | |
| Lambchop | Style Monkeys -- from the album "Tools in the Dryer" | |
| Laurie Anderson | The Monkey's Paw | |
| Leo Kottke | Monkey Lust | |
| Leonard Cohen | First We Take Manhattan | "I loved those presents that you sent me, the monkey, the plywood violin" |
| Little Eva | Makin' With the Magilla (1965) | From the "Magilla Gorilla" cartoon of the same name. "Do you want to do a dance that's funky? I've got something and it's kinda monkey." |
| Low | Monkey | "Tonight you will be mine, Tonight the monkey dies" |
| Mac Davis | Hey Monkey (1963) | Country music genre |
| Mad Tea Party | On the album...73% Post-Consumer Novelty (2004) | "Like a monkey likes coconuts" |
| Major Lance | Monkey Time | "Well, you get yours, cause-a I got mine, For the Monkey Time (Monkey Time)" |
| Manu Chao! | Bongo Bong | Every monkey like to be in my place instead of me ‘cause I’m the King Of Bongo!….” |
| Mark Knopffler | Save the organ grinder, kill the monkey | |
| Martha Reeves and the Vandellas | Mickey's Monkey | Cover version of the song by the Miracles |
| Marty Crawfitt | Be nice to my monkey | |
| Menomena | The Monkey's Back -- from the album "I am the fun Blame Monster!" | |
| Minus the Bear | Monkey! Knife! Fight! | |
| Miracles | Mickey's Monkey | |
| Moaners, the | Monkey Tongue | |
| Monkees, The | Hey Hey We're the Monkees | "Hey Hey we're the monkees" theme song for their TV Show |
| Nat King Cole | Straighten up and fly right | |
| New York Dolls | Dance Like A Monkey | |
| Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds | Fable of the Brown Ape | |
| Oingo Boingo | Album is "Dark at the End of the Tunnel" -- Song is "Right to Know" | "No one knows what's on his mind except him and his monkey" |
| Omar and the Howlers | Monkey Man, from the album of the same name, 1990 | |
| Patti Smith Group | Space Monkey | |
| Persians, The | Let's Monkey Again | |
| Peter Gabriel | Shock the Monkey |
Cover me when I run Cover me through the fire Something knocked me out' the trees Now I'm on my knees Cover me, darling please Monkey, monkey, monkey Don't you know when you're going to shock the monkey |
| Pixies, The | Monkey Gone to Heaven | "this monkey's gone to heaven" |
| Pixies, The | Palace of the Brine | (about sea monkeys, which are technically brine shrimp) |
| Primal Scream | Jailbird | Scratchin' like a tom cat got a monkey on my back I'm gonna push and pull and howl like wolf and drive my Cadillac http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKYx_duhG1s |
| Pygmies, The | Don't Monkey With Tarzan | |
| Quartjar | Evolution Works |
I was a skinny little
monkey, Now I'm a grape old ape, I was a skinny little monkey ... once,
Now I'm a ripe old ape http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_3268717 |
| R L Burnside | Monkey in the Pool Room | on the album Acoustic Stories |
| Ren and stimpy | I want to be a monkey | |
| Richard Thompson | Bad Monkey -- from the album "Sweet Warrior" | "Shame, shame on you, you bad monkey" |
| Robbie Williams | Me and My Monkey | "There was me and my monkey ... "He said 'Son, you ever been to Vegas?'" |
| Rick Springfield | Human Touch | 'she's got the love monkey riding on her back, we all need the human touch, we all need it, I need it too!" |
| Robert Plant | Monkey -- from the album "Band of Joy" | "Tonight the monkey dies" |
| Rocket From the Crypt | Raped by an Ape | |
| Rolling Stones | Monkey Man | "I'm a fleabit peanut monkey" |
| Rush | The Main Monkey Business | |
| Sage | Monkey Bars | Different from the Coney Hatch song |
| Saves the Day | Monkey (Will Bite) | |
| Simon & Garfunkle | At the Zoo | "The monkeys stand for honesty, giraffes are insincere..." |
| Skid Row | Monkey Business | "To me it's just monkey business" |
| Smokey Robinson and the Miracles | Mickey's Monkey | |
| Soft Machine | Sly Monkey | |
| Specials, The | Monkey Man | "This one's for the bouncers. Big, big Monkey Man" |
| Squirrel Nut Zippers | Trou Macacq | "This is the story of the trou macacq, the pine box derby, the monkey track" |
| Steely Dan | Your Gold Teeth -- I am told this is a cover song of "Goin' to Chicago", sung by Jimmie Rushing in the 1930s with the Count Basie Orchestra. | "There ain't nothing in Chicago for a monkey woman to do" |
| Steely Dan | Monkey in Your Soul (from Pretzel Logic) | |
| Steve Pineo | If You're Doin' Wrong | |
| Stereophonics | Bank Holiday Monday | |
| Sufjan Stevens & Osso | Year of the Monkey -- from the album "Year of the Monkey" | instrumental |
| T Bone Burnett | Monkey Dance | |
| Talking Heads | Album "Naked", song "The Facts of Life" | "Monkey see, Monkey do" |
| Tempos, The | Monkey Doo | |
| Ten Years After | A space in time | "Got no monkey on my back" |
| Terence Trent d'Arby | Wishing Well | "Hugging like a monkey see, Monkey do." |
| th' Legendary Shack*Shakers | Monkey on the Doghouse | |
| The Five Du-Tones | Monkey See Monkey Do | |
| The Flares | The Monkey Walk | |
| The Golden Catalinas | Can Your Monkey Do the Dog? | |
| The Kills | Monkey 23 | |
| Three Dog Night | Play Something Sweet (Brickyard Blues) | "Play somethin' sweet and make it funky, Just let me lay back and grin like a monkey" |
| Thrills, The | Big Sur | |
| TLC | shock dat monkey | |
| Tokens, The | Monkey Vendor | |
| Tom Waits | Mysery is the River of the World | "The higher that the monkey can climb, the more he shows his tail..." |
| Too Short | Shake That Monkey | |
| Tool | right in two | |
| Toots and the Maytals | Monkey Man | This is the original reggae version covered by Amy Winehouse, No Doubt and many others. |
| Traditional | The Monkey's Wedding | "The monkey married the baboon's sister" |
| Traveling Wilburys | Tweeter and the Monkey Man | |
| Tubes, The | Monkey Time (cover on 1983's "Outside Inside") | |
| Usherhouse | Monkey Strange | |
| Warren Zevon | Monkey Wash, Donkey Rinse | |
| Warren Zevon | Genius | "I've got a bitter pot of je ne sais quoi, guess what, I'm stirring it with a monkey's paw." |
| Warren Zevon | Leave My Monkey Alone | Chorus: Leave my monkey alone ... |
| Warren Zevon | Gorilla You're a Desperado | |
| White Zombie | Grease Paint and Monkey Brains | |
| Widespread Panic | Sleepy Monkey | "I woke to the noise of monkey's knuckles, Knocking loud on my door." |
| XTC | The Smartest Monkeys | "We're the smartest monkeys" |
| Yes Yes Juliette | Monkey God | |
For a website about old-time monkey songs, see:
http://parlorsongs.com/issues/2003-10/thismonth/featurea.asp
http://parlorsongs.com/issues/2003-10/thismonth/featureb.asp