Monkey Man – The Rolling Stones

Hell would be coming back as Keith Richards’ teeth, or mine for that matter. For that reason, I bought this two-litre bottle of mouthwash yesterday to help protect my gums, especially where all my fillings decided they’d had enough, or fell in love with my chewing gum, swearing never to part.

I heard Monkey Man at the gym yesterday and thought to myself – “Are you insane – how is this not on my blog?” So here we are today trying to make amends. Give me a wide-scoping rock-blues guitar epic with glorious piano interludes like Monkey Man every day of the week and twice on Sundays. Yes, this song ticks all the boxes of what I love in hard-hitting rock.

The guitar tone and pitch in Monkey Man are very similar to those in another Stones masterpiece from the same 1969 album (Let It Bleed) – Gimme Shelter. You can tell they are cut from the same cloth – at least guitar-wise.

To me there is a bit of a psychedelic feel in Monkey Man, but also a certain underlying realism and truth in its message. The song strips away the facades and coverings we put on to be civilised, revealing something of who we really are underneath. Also, in keeping with this, Mick’s vocals on this song are so raw and wild.

Let me digress. Take, for example, my description below (which I posted on..oooh….a good while back) of how Sigmund Freud viewed the conflict between our civilised selves and our more primitive instincts, and then put that into the context of the feel and lyrics of Monkey Man, especially the second paragraph:

The Ego tortured by the ‘Id’ – underlying biological forces such as impulsive actions and urges, but also severely limited and repressed by the Super-Ego (Civilization and Society).

We are embedded in our animal-selves and there’s a strong connection between his theories and that of evolutionist’s ‘natural selection’. We are driven more by our innate and natural aggression instincts and sexual urges. The rationalist conscious over-pinning barely just tinkers.

The song to me at least represents the bare essentials of who we really are when it comes down to it – and there really should be no shame in it. It’s the 60’s, baby, YEH! You dig?

I just love the unique instrumentation and gritty energy of this classic hard rock track, and I wonder how I didn’t discover and enjoy it much earlier in life. This was a looked-over Stones song on my part, perhaps because it wasn’t one of their big radio hits. I can understand why Monkey Man seems to be a top-tier favourite amongst die-hard Stones fans.

[Verse 1]
I’m a flea-bit peanut monkey
All my friends are junkies
That’s not really true
I’m a cold Italian pizza
I could use a lemon squeezer
Would you do?
But I’ve been bit, and I’ve been tossed around
By every she-rat in this town
Have you, babe?

[Refrain]
Well, I am just a monkey man
I’m glad you are a monkey woman too

[Verse 2]
I was bitten by a boar
I was gouged, and I was gored
But I pulled on through
Yes, I’m a sack of broken eggs
I always have an unmade bed
Don’t you?
Well, I hope we’re not too messianic
Or a trifle too satanic
We love to play the blues

[Refrain]
Well, I am just a monkey man
I’m glad you are a monkey, monkey woman too, babe

[Outro]
I’m a monkey! I’m a monkey!
I’m a monkey, babe! I’m a monkey, babe!
I’m a monkey! I’m a monkey! I’m a monkey! I’m a monkey!
M-m-m-monkey! M-m-m-m-monkey! I’m a m-m-m-monkey!
M-m-m-ma ma ma ma!
Ma ma ma ma ma
Ma ma ma ma ma monkey!
Ah! I’m a monkey!
Ah! Ah! Ah! Ah! ….

References:
1. Monkey Man (Rolling Stones song) – Wikipedia