Really? Thanks! I'm going to look for that streaming video.
And here I could've sworn PolesApart76 (1st post) had it right.
The lyrics seem to allude to the invention of the wheel and the discovery of fire , not to mention being knocked "out' the trees," lol. They would seem to depict evolution, both biological and cultural, in a negative light, processes of "learning" that "the monkey" would rather go without (e.g. "don't like it" or "I can't take any more").
If you decide to watch the video, which is availiable on Gabriel's site, you'll notice he appears as a well-dressed man, before him a desk littered with papers; he's in a dark room watching what appears to be a documentary film on primates. He acts in angry, vexed sort of way, at one point slamming his fists into the desk. He's also shown panicking in several situations: as the room grows smaller around him, as he runs through the woods, presumably being pursued, and as water rains down from the ceiling.
These various effects, I believe, serve to show the discomfort of modern man, the proud descendent of primitive man, as he gracelessly surrenders to the pokes and prods of modern life, the mass neurosis that is civilization.
If you're at all familiar with the idea of learned helplessness, you'll understand what I mean when I say that "the monkey" has likely been "hurt" too many times to believe that he could ever better his lot (If not, I think you still get the picture.). At least, this is what we have been led to think, by the middle of the song!
There is, however, a ray of hope. Note his repeated cries to his "darling," which I think would be either his god, mother earth, his system of living (family, job, the whole bit), or all three. Note also his repeated pleas for "cover" perhaps clothing, shelter (for the primitive monkey) or salvation (for the modern monkey). These cries and pleas are obviously for naught, as the monkey continues to be shocked (and complain about it too, lmao). Yet, throughout the video one sees Gabriel in an alternate setting, a far brighter room, in lighter colored clothes, wearing whitish-colored tribal face paint. This setting appears with increasingly frequency, until we find it's the original office-worker who's wearing the face paint, staring determinedly into the camera! Instead of simply being shocked, the monkey has been "shocked to life"!
Well, it made sense to me. I'm not sure about masturbation; I would bet that the Pop Up Videos was just poking fun at the lyrics, not interpreting the song.
Really? Thanks! I'm going to look for that streaming video.
And here I could've sworn PolesApart76 (1st post) had it right.
The lyrics seem to allude to the invention of the wheel and the discovery of fire , not to mention being knocked "out' the trees," lol. They would seem to depict evolution, both biological and cultural, in a negative light, processes of "learning" that "the monkey" would rather go without (e.g. "don't like it" or "I can't take any more").
If you decide to watch the video, which is availiable on Gabriel's site, you'll notice he appears as a well-dressed man, before him a desk littered with papers; he's in a dark room watching what appears to be a documentary film on primates. He acts in angry, vexed sort of way, at one point slamming his fists into the desk. He's also shown panicking in several situations: as the room grows smaller around him, as he runs through the woods, presumably being pursued, and as water rains down from the ceiling. These various effects, I believe, serve to show the discomfort of modern man, the proud descendent of primitive man, as he gracelessly surrenders to the pokes and prods of modern life, the mass neurosis that is civilization. If you're at all familiar with the idea of learned helplessness, you'll understand what I mean when I say that "the monkey" has likely been "hurt" too many times to believe that he could ever better his lot (If not, I think you still get the picture.). At least, this is what we have been led to think, by the middle of the song! There is, however, a ray of hope. Note his repeated cries to his "darling," which I think would be either his god, mother earth, his system of living (family, job, the whole bit), or all three. Note also his repeated pleas for "cover" perhaps clothing, shelter (for the primitive monkey) or salvation (for the modern monkey). These cries and pleas are obviously for naught, as the monkey continues to be shocked (and complain about it too, lmao). Yet, throughout the video one sees Gabriel in an alternate setting, a far brighter room, in lighter colored clothes, wearing whitish-colored tribal face paint. This setting appears with increasingly frequency, until we find it's the original office-worker who's wearing the face paint, staring determinedly into the camera! Instead of simply being shocked, the monkey has been "shocked to life"!
Well, it made sense to me. I'm not sure about masturbation; I would bet that the Pop Up Videos was just poking fun at the lyrics, not interpreting the song.