The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
What have we done with innocence?
It disappeared with time, it never made much sense
Adolescent resident
Wasting another night on planning my revenge
One in ten
One in ten
One in ten
Don't wanna be your monkey wrench
One more indecent accident
I'd rather leave than suffer this
I'll never be your monkey wrench
All this time to make amends
What do you do when all your enemies are friends?
Now and then I'll try to bend
Under pressure, wind up snapping in the end
One in ten
One in ten
One in ten
Don't wanna be your monkey wrench
One more indecent accident
I'd rather leave than suffer this
I'll never be your monkey wrench
Temper
Temper
Temper
One last thing before I quit
I never wanted any more
Than I could fit into my head
I still remember every single word you said
And all the shit that somehow came along with it
Still, there's one thing that comforts me
Since I was always caged and now I'm free
Don't wanna be your monkey wrench
One more indecent accident
I'd rather leave than suffer this
I'll never be your monkey wrench
Don't wanna be your monkey wrench (fall in, fall out)
Don't wanna be your monkey wrench (fall in, fall out)
Don't wanna be your monkey wrench (fall in, fall out)
Don't wanna be your monkey wrench
It disappeared with time, it never made much sense
Adolescent resident
Wasting another night on planning my revenge
One in ten
One in ten
One in ten
Don't wanna be your monkey wrench
One more indecent accident
I'd rather leave than suffer this
I'll never be your monkey wrench
All this time to make amends
What do you do when all your enemies are friends?
Now and then I'll try to bend
Under pressure, wind up snapping in the end
One in ten
One in ten
One in ten
Don't wanna be your monkey wrench
One more indecent accident
I'd rather leave than suffer this
I'll never be your monkey wrench
Temper
Temper
Temper
One last thing before I quit
I never wanted any more
Than I could fit into my head
I still remember every single word you said
And all the shit that somehow came along with it
Still, there's one thing that comforts me
Since I was always caged and now I'm free
Don't wanna be your monkey wrench
One more indecent accident
I'd rather leave than suffer this
I'll never be your monkey wrench
Don't wanna be your monkey wrench (fall in, fall out)
Don't wanna be your monkey wrench (fall in, fall out)
Don't wanna be your monkey wrench (fall in, fall out)
Don't wanna be your monkey wrench
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Here's what Dave said about Monkey Wrench in an interview ...
Dave Grohl: "This is a song about realising that you are the source of all of the problems in a relationship and you love the other person so much, you want to free them of the problem, which is actually yourself."
It's about his ex-wife, they got divorced during the making of "The Colour and the Shape." album.