Monkey Man

The Rolling Stones

I'm a fleabit peanut monkey
And all my friends are junkies
That's not really true

I'm a cold Italian pizza
I could use a lemon squeezer
What you do?

But I've been bit and I've been tossed around
By every she-rat in this town
Have you babe?

But I am just a monkey man
I'm glad you are a monkey woman too

I was bitten by a boar
I was gouged and I was gored
But I pulled on through

Yeah, 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
But we love to play the blues

But well I am just a monkey man
I'm glad you are a monkey woman too
Monkey woman too babe

I'm a monkey man
I'm a monkey man
I'm a monkey man
I'm a monkey man
I'm a monkey
I'm a monkey
I'm a monkey
I'm a monkey
Monkey, monkey
Monkey

Monkey
I'm a monkey


Lyrics submitted by spliphstar

Monkey Man Lyrics as written by Mick Jagger Keith Richards

Lyrics © Abkco Music Inc.

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Monkey Man song meanings
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41 Comments

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  • +4
    General Comment

    think about it. All my friends are junkies? DRUGS obviously. the stones were huge into drugs. who doesnt know that. this song is about addiction. "im a monkey man" doesnt have anything to do with evolution. anyone who thinks that needs some help. the point is, he has a monkey on his back. hes addicted, but he doesnt necessarily want to give it up. so hes glad this girl doesnt want to either.

    gabbybaybeon October 21, 2009   Link
  • +3
    General Comment

    This has the absolute BEST INTRO TO ANY SONG EVER EVER EVER EVER EVER YEAH!

    Go listen to it now. Please. This song is far too underrated.

    pkjunon May 06, 2002   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    i read somewhere its about some junkie they knew. i mean.... there are only bajillion drug references.

    mammynunson December 22, 2004   Link
  • +2
    General Comment

    I think you need to look at this song in the context of the entire "Let It Bleed" album and all its country twang. This song is about the Stones coming to the United States and fitting into the mainstream. The Monkey Man IS the Stones, and the Monkey Woman is the United States.This is the only way this line makes sense: "Well, I hope we're not too messianic, or a trifle too satanic. We love to play the blues." They don't want to be thought of as the Beatles, or a bumch of devil worshippers. They're just some guys who like the same music we do.

    johnny_dagoon July 27, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I think this song is Mick and the Stones getting in touch with their primitive roots. The "Monkey Man" that Mick identifies himself here as calls to mind Darwin's theory of evolution and where we came from. The line "I was bitten by a boar, I was gouged and I was gored, But I pulled on through" illustrates the harsh evolutionary struggle and the survival of the fittest. Mostly this song reminds us of our own primal urges and the animal in us all. One of my favourite Stones tunes of all time.

    Keith Angus Pageon May 20, 2004   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Keith Richards is a brilliant fucking musician.

    JumpyJackon January 10, 2005   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    It's about a gay/bisexual black man on the rebound from a bad relationship. "Monkey Man" is blues slang for a man with very dark skin, and it obviously has racist origins. The jist of the song is that the guy got burned by a male ex-lover and has found a lesbian willing to hook up with him.

    He was "bitten" (hurt) by a boar (a stronger male lover) and "she-rats" (bisexual women). He wants someone to gratify him ("lemon squeezer" is someone who masturbates a lot).

    pthalomarieon April 02, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    i don't think that adds up. the songs on the album are too diverse to come up with a theme (a serial killer, easy women, anti-war protests, death personified, etc).

    the line "We love to play the blues" clinches it, and confirms connection to the blues slang throughout the song. the slang just fits too well together to ignore it.

    pthalomarieon August 07, 2008   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    I heard it was a whitty answere to the press, who were saying mick looked like a monkey at the time

    MrRobinsonon March 21, 2010   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    i think it's about how drugs and the addiction to drugs can drive you to act primitively and how the need for drugs unlocks the most primitive urges in humans.

    dugaponyon May 31, 2012   Link

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