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.
Once upon a time at the foot of a great mountain
There was a town where the people known as happy folk lived
Their very existence a mystery to the rest of the world
Obscured, as it was, by great clouds
Here they played out their peaceful lives
Innocent of the litany of excessive violence that was growing in the world below
To live in harmony with the spirit of the mountain called Monkey was enough
Then one day, strange folk arrived in the town
They came in camouflage, hidden behind dark glasses, but no one noticed them
They only saw shadows you see, without the truth to the eyes
The happy folk were blind
Falling out of aeroplanes and hiding out in holes
Waiting for the sunset to come, people going home
Jump out from behind them and shoot them in the head
Now everybody dancing, the dance of the dead
The dance of the dead, the dance of the dead
In time, the strange folk found their way into the higher reaches of the mountain
And it was there that they found the caves of unimaginable sincerity and beauty
By chance, they stumbled upon the place where all good souls come to rest
The strange folk, they coveted the jewels in these caves above all things
And soon they began to mine the mountain
It's rich seam fueling the chaos of their own world
Meanwhile, down in the town, the happy folk slept restlessly
Their dreams invaded by shadowy figures digging away at their souls
Every day, people would wake and stare at the mountain
Why was it bringing darkness into their lives?
And as the strange folk mined deeper and deeper into the mountain
Holes began to appear
Bringing with them a cold and bitter wind that chilled the very soul of the Monkey
For the first time, the happy folk felt fearful
For they knew that soon the monkey would stir from it's deep sleep
Then there came a sound, distant first, that grew into castrophany so immense
That it could be heard far away in space
There were no screams, there was no time
The mountain called Monkey had spoken
There was only fire, and then
Nothing
Oh little town in USA, the time has come to see
There's nothing you believe you want
But where were you when it all came down on me?
Did you call me out?
There was a town where the people known as happy folk lived
Their very existence a mystery to the rest of the world
Obscured, as it was, by great clouds
Here they played out their peaceful lives
Innocent of the litany of excessive violence that was growing in the world below
To live in harmony with the spirit of the mountain called Monkey was enough
Then one day, strange folk arrived in the town
They came in camouflage, hidden behind dark glasses, but no one noticed them
They only saw shadows you see, without the truth to the eyes
The happy folk were blind
Falling out of aeroplanes and hiding out in holes
Waiting for the sunset to come, people going home
Jump out from behind them and shoot them in the head
Now everybody dancing, the dance of the dead
The dance of the dead, the dance of the dead
In time, the strange folk found their way into the higher reaches of the mountain
And it was there that they found the caves of unimaginable sincerity and beauty
By chance, they stumbled upon the place where all good souls come to rest
The strange folk, they coveted the jewels in these caves above all things
And soon they began to mine the mountain
It's rich seam fueling the chaos of their own world
Meanwhile, down in the town, the happy folk slept restlessly
Their dreams invaded by shadowy figures digging away at their souls
Every day, people would wake and stare at the mountain
Why was it bringing darkness into their lives?
And as the strange folk mined deeper and deeper into the mountain
Holes began to appear
Bringing with them a cold and bitter wind that chilled the very soul of the Monkey
For the first time, the happy folk felt fearful
For they knew that soon the monkey would stir from it's deep sleep
Then there came a sound, distant first, that grew into castrophany so immense
That it could be heard far away in space
There were no screams, there was no time
The mountain called Monkey had spoken
There was only fire, and then
Nothing
Oh little town in USA, the time has come to see
There's nothing you believe you want
But where were you when it all came down on me?
Did you call me out?
Lyrics submitted by adamr, edited by Spacebutters
Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey's Head Lyrics as written by Jamie Hewlett Damon Albarn
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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It's interesting, most people (I'm loosely summing up) characterized the Happyfolk as "us" and the Strangefolk as "them." My initial gut instinct was the exact opposite.
I mean, people obscuring their reality and hiding their true intentions, motivated by greed, sounds like Americans to me. And the notion that the average american is living in harmony with nature is absurd, not to metion, the Happyfolk were obscured from the rest of the world.
I read it more as a more "primitive" culture. For example, say, Tibet. Buddhism leapt immediately to my mind because of the Three Jewels of Buddhism (the buddha, dharma, sangha) & the jewels in the song. Tibet would be obscured from the rest of the world for centuries, but then when "discovered" by us Westerners, suddenly "zen" is a marketing tool. Just look at the gluttony of products that promise to be spiritual or zen - zen teas, soap, green tea everything. As though simplicity and right living can be purchased to somehow fix the unhappiness and restless we all hide behind our dark glasses.
And in our course of "mining" other cultures for what we want to fix ourselves, we invariably screw up things for the natives. Africa immediately pops into my head, a rich & varied, amazing continent pillaged & virtually destroyed for its diamonds. Look into the history of diamond mining in Africa and you'll know why I refused a diamond ring from my fiancee. I looked at it and saw blood.
Okay, I'm getting a little riled up. Sorry. The basic premise could be applied to a lot of things - one particular line actually made me think of Vietnam for some reason. The point is, that disrupting a natural culture living in harmony to satisfy the needs of some external imperial society always results in disruption.
Which, now that I think about it, could very well be applied to the middle east. I'm glad that people brought it up here, I didn't think of it. Of course, we're still not the Happyfolk.
I think the last line is pleading with the average "small town" americans that what they think they want - false desires brought on by advertising - will not really bring happiness. And why are we oblivious to the bad things happening in the world? Our country has been committing all sorts of atrocities for decades, and the average citizen never even knows about it. "Where were you when it all came down on me?"
Really love your take on this. kudos. Completely reshapes the way I see it.<br /> <br /> My initial thought was way underdeveloped, but the finale of the "Monkey" being awoken and destroying everything (especially "there was only fire, and then nothing") reminds me of greek mythology, largely due to just seeing wrath of the titans. Cronus (Kronos) in the movie is shown as a very immense being resembling lava and the cooled lava rock... he "erupts" out of a mountain and is so huge that every movement he makes flings lava about the world (only fire) causing "chaos" and burning things, it is said to be the end of the world.. (then nothing). So I was looking for more greek mythology within this song but quite frankly didn't find much.<br /> <br /> And before reading your take I actually saw the "happyfolk" and the "strangefolk" as two in the same.<br /> <br /> We are the happy folk in that we are innocent, happy, and truly good beings in many senses, but strangefolk in our overall view in what we do.<br /> <br /> The strangefolk are hidden to the happy because we do not ever see any bad within ourselves. It is rare for people to admit their faults and mistakes. So as we continue to destroy what is good (the earth perhaps) by "mining" for the sincerity and beauty we all seek, we are wondering why we are haunted. <br /> The song says the happy folk are haunted in their dreams... which points to us not seeing it as reality, we think of our impact as minimal and of little significance so we are confused as to why things are getting bad.<br /> <br /> And then when it says "the happyfolk are finally fearful" i think it points to the fact that we will not fully understand and fear our own destructive nature until it is to late, when the monkey awakens and is a small noise, their is no stopping it from reaching "castrophany"<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> Your take is great, however, without that premise and I like your view a lot.<br /> Thanks