Tweeter And The Monkey Man

Album: Volume One (1988)
Play Video
  • Tweeter and the Monkey Man were hard up for cash
    They stayed up all night selling cocaine and hash
    To an undercover cop who had a sister named Jan
    For reasons unexplained she loved the Monkey Man

    Tweeter was a Boy Scout 'fore she went to Vietnam
    And found out the hard way, nobody gives a damn
    They knew that they found freedom just across the Jersey line
    So they hopped into a stolen car, took Highway 99

    And the walls came down
    All the way to hell
    Never saw them when they're standing
    Never saw them when they fell

    The undercover cop never liked the Monkey Man
    Even back in childhood he wanted to see him in the can
    Jan got married at fourteen to a racketeer named Bill
    She made secret calls to the Monkey Man from a mansion on the hill

    It was out on Thunder Road, Tweeter at the wheel
    They crashed into paradise, they could hear them tires squeal
    The undercover cop pulled up and said "Everyone of you is a liar
    If you don't surrender now it's gonna go down to the wire"

    And the walls came down
    All the way to hell
    Never saw them when they're standing
    Never saw them when they fell

    An ambulance rolled up, a state-trooper close behind
    Tweeter took his gun away and messed up his mind
    The undercover cop was left tied up to a tree
    Near the souvenir stand, by the old abandoned factory

    Next day the undercover cop was hot in pursuit
    He was taking the whole thing personal, he didn't care about the loot
    Jan had told him many times, "It was you to me who taught
    In Jersey anything's legal as long as you don't get caught"

    And the walls came down
    All the way to hell
    Never saw them when they're standing
    Never saw them when they fell

    Some place by Rahwey Prison they ran out of gas
    The undercover cop had cornered them, said
    "Boy, you didn't think this could last?"
    Jan jumped out of bed, said, "There's someplace I gotta go"
    She took the gun out of the drawer, said, "It's best that you don't know."

    The undercover cop was found face down in a field
    The Monkey Man was on the river bridge, using Tweeter as a shield
    Jan said to the Monkey Man, "I'm not fooled by Tweeter's curl
    I knew him long before he became a Jersey Girl"

    And the walls came down
    All the way to hell
    Never saw them when they're standing
    Never saw them when they fell

    Now the town of Jersey City is quieting down again
    I'm sitting in a gambling club called the Lion's Den
    The TV set was blown up, every bit of it is gone
    Ever since the nightly news showed that the Monkey Man was on

    I guess I'll go to Florida and get myself some sun
    There ain't no more opportunity here, everything's been done
    Sometimes I think of Tweeter, sometimes I think of Jan
    Sometimes I don't think about nothing but the Monkey Man

    And the walls came down
    All the way to hell
    Never saw them when they're standing
    Never saw them when they fell

    And the walls came down
    All the way to hell
    Never saw them when they're standing
    Never saw them when they fell Writer/s: Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 1

  • Harrymac from Aston PaReally like this song it has charisma, good rhythm and cool lyrics.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Daryl Hall

Daryl HallSongwriter Interviews

Daryl Hall's TV show is a hit, and he's been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - only one of these developments excites him.

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"

Ian Anderson: "The delight in making music is that you don't have a formula"Songwriter Interviews

Ian talks about his 3 or 4 blatant attempts to write a pop song, and also the ones he most connected with, including "Locomotive Breath."

Early Days of MTV

Early Days of MTVFact or Fiction

If you can recall the days when MTV played videos, you know that there are lots of stories to tell. See if you can spot the real ones.

Pam Tillis

Pam TillisSongwriter Interviews

The country sweetheart opines about the demands of touring and talks about writing songs with her famous father.

Jules Shear - "All Through The Night"

Jules Shear - "All Through The Night"They're Playing My Song

Shears does very little promotion, which has kept him secluded from the spotlight. What changed when Cyndi Lauper had a hit with his song? Not much, really.

Church Lyrics

Church LyricsMusic Quiz

Here is the church, here is the steeple - see if you can identify these lyrics that reference church.