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
“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand
I’ve never had a cavity LOL
That’s a joke, right?
No, that’s the God-honest truth. No cavities. Ever.
My one front tooth is a crown ~ solid gold ~ I knocked the tooth out carrying wood when I was 20. I had too big of a load & the top piece of wood fell & hit me in the face, knocking out my tooth.
I paid $800 out of pocket for that crown. I imagine that it would be much more expensive now.
I get my dental care at UB School of Dentistry. I pay nothing, since I am alumni & on SSI/SSD. I never need more than a cleaning LOL
That’s remarkable. Well, I’m in an equal state of envy and shock ;-P
That story about the crown is something else too. Neat too, how you don’t have to pay for dental work. Cheers.
This song is one of my favorite of the Stones period…such a down and dirty sound. You feel like you need a shower after hearing it…I love it.
Hey, your description is great Max!
Good luck to your boys today. Cheers, man.
Thanks! They will need it against the Brewers.
They needed more than luck as it turned out. Ouch!
I don’t think it’s their year man…they look listless out there…but I have NO reason to bitch at all. 2 years in a row! Oh hell yes. So I’m happy either way.
Listless exactly. Flat. Even Freeman looked clumsy at first and Ohtani cooked. The dual pitching and batting caught up with him in the latter part of season. Real shame, ’cause before the All Star break his name was being tossed about CY Young discussion.
I was hoping for a threepeat, but it would take a remarkable comeback from here. But who knows. Baseball’s a funny thing. Personally, I wouldn’t mind seeing Milwaukee or Tampa get their first WS. Cheers have a good day.
Like I said…I’m perfectly happy…hell two in a row I’ve never seen before and 3 out of the last 6 I’m good with. This means that they will start bringing the youngsters up which I have wanted all along…they have a guy named DePaula…he is one to keep your eye on.
Yeah, two in a row and three in the last six is pretty good. That’s similar to what happened with my beloved Richmond Tigers when they went on a maul from 2017 to 2020 — two in a row and three in four years.
Since then, they’ve been bottom of the barrel.
I hope the Dodgers remain competitive, which I’m sure they will, given their fricken spending capacity!
“There are rich teams and there are poor teams. Then there’s fifty feet of crap, and then there’s us.” Haha.
DePaula, rightio. They seem to need to let some of the ol’ guard go and bring up those youngsters.
Also the Dodgers pickup players that other teams give up on. Max Muncy is one…they got him for nothing. The same with a lot of pitchers. The difference between them and other big money teams are…they know how to spend the money better than the Mets, Yankees, Blue Jays, Cubs, and the other big money teams. The Pirates owner is a billionaire…so there is no reason the more bottom teams can’t spend.
My prediction is…a salary cap is NOT going to happen…the players union is one of the strongest, if not the strongest in the world. There will be more rules…but the Dodgers also have one of the top minor league systems…and they never draft high…they trade very well. They need to start bringing those guys up like DePaula and get young…they are getting older…they need to surround those older players with young guys.
Firstly, it’s a shame the Dodgers fell short of the three-peat. But as you’ve said, they’ve had an almighty run.
Regarding the rich-club thing, I remember you making this strong counterpoint to my cynicism about rich clubs before. It’s similar to some of Australia’s more successful and wealthier football clubs, which are restricted by the player draft system – like all clubs are based on their success. Take Richmond, for example. When they were flying high, they could only get low draft picks and eventually ended up back at the bottom of the barrel. But other popular, wealthy clubs subject to the same system have remained competitive, namely Geelong and Collingwood (the LA Dodgers equivalent of your argument). Richmond, on the other hand, haven’t recruited well and lack the football management prowess of those two clubs – which sucks.
I can see why you compare them…the Dodgers trade some of their average up and coming players to other teams…for young players they see greatness in…and it pays off.
I just realized something Matt… next year I will be a fan of the Dodgers for 50 years! In 1977 is when I started to be one. In 50 years of following them…they have won… 5 World Series. That sounds like a lot…but it’s not really.
I’m rooting for the Brewers I believe for here on out!
The funny thing is…no 100 win Dodger team ever won a World Series…which is crazy to me.
5 WS in 50 years is pretty darn good. Winning one WS every 10 years on average, when there are 30 teams competing, is a pretty good rate. Yeh, that’s a weird stat about going over 100 win season without a WS!
Yeh, I’ll probably go with the Brewers too.
Personally I think they are the best team…not because they beat the Dodgers. I didn’t mind getting beat by them…I just didn’t want to get beat by the two teams I hate…the Padres or the Braves…lol…so I’m alright!
The Dodgers won when I was 14 and then when I was 21…THEN….they waited until I was 53 lol.
Every she rat in this town, my ex maybe…love this Matt just classic
Yeh Tom – ‘she rat’. Haha.