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Porcelain Monkey Lyrics
He was an accident waiting to happen
Most accidents happen at home
Maybe he should have gone out more often
Maybe he should have answered the phone
Hip-shakin' shoutin' in gold lame
That's how he earned his regal sobriquet
Then he threw it all away
For a porcelain monkey
He threw it away for a porcelain monkey
Gave it all up for a figurine
He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas
And his face on velveteen
From a shotgun shack singing Pentacostal hymns
Through the wrought iron gate to the TV room
He had a little world, it was smaller than your hand
It's a rockabilly ride from the glitter to the gloom
Left behind by the latest trends
Eatin' friend chicking with his regicidal friends
That's how the story ends
With a porcelain monkey
He threw it away for a porcelain monkey
Gave it all up for a figurine
He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas
And his face on velveteen
Hip-shakin' shoutin' in gold lame
That's how he earned his regal sobriquet
Then he threw it all away
For a porcelain monkey
He threw it away for a porcelain monkey
Gave it all up for a figurine
He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas
And his face on velveteen
Most accidents happen at home
Maybe he should have gone out more often
Maybe he should have answered the phone
That's how he earned his regal sobriquet
Then he threw it all away
For a porcelain monkey
Gave it all up for a figurine
He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas
And his face on velveteen
Through the wrought iron gate to the TV room
He had a little world, it was smaller than your hand
It's a rockabilly ride from the glitter to the gloom
Eatin' friend chicking with his regicidal friends
That's how the story ends
With a porcelain monkey
Gave it all up for a figurine
He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas
And his face on velveteen
That's how he earned his regal sobriquet
Then he threw it all away
For a porcelain monkey
Gave it all up for a figurine
He traded it in for a night in Las Vegas
And his face on velveteen
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
The Porcelain Monkey was a white figurine of a Monkey that was on a table in Elvis Presley's T.V. Room in Graceland.
Here is a picture of said Monkey: http://jezsik.smugmug.com/Travel/USA/Memphis/i-jztjGs3/1/L/JEZ20050b-L.jpg
Here is an interview with Warren Zevon where he explains how the song came about: http://zevonaticism.tripod.com/elvis.htm
I remember thinking from the first time I heard this song that it's about the decline and fall of Elvis Presley, but I could never fit in what the actual porcelain monkey was supposed to be. I tossed it back and forth from something to do with drugs (he had a monkey on his back?) or the fact that The King died on the crapper.
I read Crystal Zevon's bio of Warren and it turned out to be a literal porcelain monkey that Elvis had in his living room, which Warren saw in a picture of the place. A piece of kitsch that for some reason Elvis liked.
One of his more ambiguous and mysterious songs. And that's saying a lot. I think it's a sort of negative look at materialism/commercialism in the modern world.
The Porcelain Monkey was a white figurine of a Monkey that was on a table in Elvis Presley's T.V. Room in Graceland.
Here is a picture of said Monkey: http://jezsik.smugmug.com/Travel/USA/Memphis/i-jztjGs3/1/L/JEZ20050b-L.jpg
Here is an interview with Warren Zevon where he explains how the song came about: http://zevonaticism.tripod.com/elvis.htm
It\'s not mysterious at all! It\'s about the tragic decline of Elvis Presley and the guilt of the "regicidal" users around him. It\'s harsh, straight up and tragic.