brenner@aruba.DEC (04/18/84)
(okay, here goes nuthin') People have already responded helpfully about the usage of "monkey" in "Red Red Wine" and "Shock the Monkey", but I thought I'd throw in my two cents on other monkeys. (Be it known I'm no expert (not that it looks like that's a prerequisite round here :-) ), I'm just a gifted amateur music listener.) I've heard the terms "monkey man" and "monkey woman" occur in old-time down-and-dirty Black blues, usually signifying persons of great sexual prowess. Low-down blues, by the way, abounds with marvelous slang for sexy stuff, like "mojo", "jelly roll", etc. Anyone want to go off on a tangent and discuss that topic? Anyhow, lots of white rock'n'rollers picked up those terms along with the blues mode and sound. I think especially of the Rolling Stones song "Monkey Man", whose lyrics make pretty clear what the term is all about. It also occurs in the Steely Dan song "Gold Teeth" (that's version one, not "Gold Teeth II") -- the line is "There ain't nothin' in Chicago for a monkey woman to do." And I'm sure it occurs in many other places. Signing off on my maiden transmission to net.music, Ellen Brenner ...decvax!decwrl!rhea!aruba!brenner
peters@cubsvax.UUCP (Peter S. Shenkin) (04/19/84)
The old white country blues -- originally by the Delmore Bros., I
believe, ca. 1940 -- called "Railroad Blues" contains the verse:
Two little monkeys, settin' up in a tree
Two little monkeys, settin' up in a tree
One says to the other, come on let's-a make whoopie.
Also, I've heard a verse from a black blues of the same era that says:
Monkey and a black girl settin' in the grass
One say no and the other say yass...
{philabs,cmcl2!rocky2}!cubsvax!peters Peter S. Shenkin
Dept of Biol. Sci.; Columbia Univ.; New York, N. Y. 10027; 212-280-5517
"In accordance with the recent proclivity for clever mottos, this is mine."rob@ctvax.UUCP (04/24/84)
#R:decwrl:-718700:ctvax:39000012:000:462
ctvax!rob Apr 24 11:27:00 1984
Rot13:
Qba'g sbetrg gung zneiryybhf yvar:
"Lbh pna fdhrrmr zl yrzba 'gvy gur whvpr eha qbja zl yrt."
V qba'g erzrzore juvpu fbat Yrq Mrc fgbyr vg sebz.
Nyfb ersreraprf gb n jbzna'f "zbarlznxre".
Naq yrg'f abg sbetrg Pncgnva Orrsurneg'f oyhrf cnebql:
"Nu Srry yvxr Nu Fvq" sebz Fgevpgyl Crefbany;
"Fur tbg qrz ovt oebjaf fgvpxvat bhg,
Jbb, ovt puvpxra yrtf."
Ebo Fcenl
hhpc: ... {qrpink!pbearyy!|hpoink!aoverf!|{nyyrten|vuac4}!pbairk!}pgink!ebofauntsu@hplabsc.UUCP ( root) (04/25/84)
According to an article about DeLorean's trial in this morning's Chronicle, "monkey" is a code word for cocaine.
gds@mit-eddie.UUCP (Greg Skinner) (05/01/84)
You're probably right that "monkey" has some sort of sexual connotation,
because on "The Monkey Time" (covered by The Tubes & Martha Davis), the
dialogue goes something like this:
Martha: Are you ready?
Tubes: I'm ready and my monkey's ready.
Martha: You'd better put that thing on a leash!
(If the words are wrong, tell me and I'll get the right ones ... I just
don't feel like listening to the tape right now.)
--
Be ye moby,
for I am moby.
Greg-bo, Prince of Eternia
{decvax!genrad, eagle!mit-vax, ihnp4}!mit-eddie!gdscak@CS-Arthur (Christopher A Kent) (05/14/84)
Indeed, to "have a monkey on one's back" always meant a heroin addiction to me; this gleaned from various lyrics and readings during the 60's... Cheers, chris