Song Information Song Title: Tweeter and the Monkey Man Artist: Traveling Wilburys Album: The Traveling Wilburys, Vol. 1 Track Number: Length: Last Played: Last Requested: 9 5 minutes, 28 seconds Saturday, December 13 @ 1:09 PM Friday, May 26 @ 4:56 PM Lyrics: Tweeter and the Monkey Man were hard up for cash They stayed up all night selling cocaine and hash To an undercover cop who had a sister named Jan For reasons unexplained she loved the Monkey Man Tweeter was a boy scout before she went to Vietnam And found out the hard way nobody gives a damn They knew that they found freedom just across the Jersey Line So they hopped into a stolen car took Highway 99 (Chorus) And the walls came down all the way to hell Never saw them when they're standing Never saw them when they fell The undercover cop never liked the Monkey Man Even back in childhood he wanted to see him in the can Jan got married at fourteen to a rackateer named Bill She made secret calls to the Monkey Man from a mansion on the hill It was out on thunder road - Tweeter at the wheel They crashed into paradise - they could hear them tires squeal The undercover cop pulled up and said "Everyone of you's a liar If you don't surrender now it's gonna go down to the wire (Chorus) An ambulance rolled up - a state trooper close behind Tweeter took his gun away and messed up his mind The undercover cop was left tied up to a tree Near the souvenir stand by the old abandoned factory Next day the undercover cop was hot in pursuit He was taking the whole thing personal He didn't care about the loot Jan had told him many times it was you to me who taught In Jersey anything's legal as long as you don't get caught (Chorus) Someplace by Rahway prison they ran out of gas The undercover cop had cornered them said "Boy, you didn't think that this could last" Jan jumped out of bed said "There's someplace I gotta go" She took a gun out of the drawer and said "It's best if you dont' know" The undercover cop was found face down in a field The monkey man was on the river bridge using Tweeter as a shield Jan said to the Monkey Man "I'm not fooled by Tweeter's curl I knew him long before he ever became a Jersey girl" (Chorus) Now the town of Jersey City is quieting down again I'm sitting in a gambling club called the Lion's Den The TV set been blown up, every bit of it is gone Ever since the nightly news show that the Monkey Man was on I guess I'll to to Florida and get myself some sun There ain't no more opportunity here, everything's been done Sometime I think of Tweeter, sometime I think of Jan Sometime I don't think about nothing but the Monkey Man (Chorus) Information The original Wilburys were a stationary people who, realising that their civilisation could not stand still for ever, began to go for short walks - not the "traveling" as we now know it but certainly as far as the corner and back. They must have taken to motion, in much the same way as penguins were at that time taking to ledges, for the next we hear of them they were going out for the day (often taking lunch or a picnic). Later - we don't as yet know how much later - some intrepid Wilburys began to go away for the weekend, leaving late Friday and coming back Sunday. It was they who evolved simple rhythmic forms to describe their adventures. A remarkable sophisticated musical culture developed, considering there were no managers or agents and the further the Wilburys traveled the more adventurous their music became and the more it was revered by the elders of the tribe who believed it had the power to stave off madness, turn brunettes into blondes and increase the size of their ears But as the Wilburys began to go further and further in their search for musical inspiration they found themselves the object of interest among many less developed species - nightclub owners, tour operators and recording executives. To the Wilburys, who had only just learnt to cope with wives, roadies and drummers, it was a blow from which many of them never recovered. They became hairdressers or tv rental salespersons. But a tiny handful survived the last of the traveling Wilburys - and the songs gathered here represent the popular laments, the epic and heroic tales which characterise the apotheosis of the elusive Wilbury sound. The message of the music travels, as indeed they traveled and as I myself must now travel for further treatment. Good listening, good night and let thy Wilbury done.