The Monkey Man

"The Monkey Man" is a song from The Residents' 2005 album, Animal Lover. It is sung by Molly Harvey from the perspective of an old lady who is infatuated with a mysterious "monkey man" who watches her from outside her window at night. Sequentially, this is the final appearance of Molly Harvey on a Residents studio album.

The Residents seem to be quite fond of this song, as it has been performed live on several different occasions, and often included in compilations representing the group's best work.

History

The song dates back to 2001, when Charles Bobuck recorded sketches for a proposed album about the American Civil War, which was soon shelved in favor of the Demons Dance Alone album. A sketch rendering of the folk song "Lily of the West" was eventually revisited and fleshed out into "Monkey Man".

• Note: "Lily of the West" shares melodic material with another folk song covered in the Civil War album sessions, "The Lakes of Pontchartrain", which was eventually fleshed out into "My Window". No further connection between these two songs is evident.

The song was eventually performed live for the first of several times in 2013 during the Wonder of Weird 40th Anniversary tour. This arrangement was later revisited for the 2017–2018 In Between Dreams tour (which revisited many other WoW arrangements).

The song was revisited once more for the Faceless Forever 50th Anniversary tour, and was even performed on the 50th Anniversary secret show, with collaborator Peter Whitehead on vocals. This performance was left off the Secret Show album, but is seen on the concert film DVD.

Lyrics

I see him when I'm dreaming;
His teeth are white and bare.
He's riding on a stallion;
The wind is in his hair.
If he were made of china
he'd have a special stand
beside my china ponies;
I love the monkey man.

I wake up every morning
and smell his golden hair;
He stands outside my window
and watches me with care;
He smiles at all my ponies
and dances when he can;
I'll look for him tomorrow;
I love the monkey man.

Monkey man
Monkey man
Monkey man
Monkey man

The Monkey Man

The monkey man is never there. The monkey man is everywhere. But usually the monkey man is right outside the old woman's window. He shelters her. He protects her. He gives her something to believe in.

Other people say bad things about the monkey man. They say he killed a woman two days ago. Last week, they say, a man fell from his roof trying to escape from the monkey man. Large groups of people carrying torches roam the streets at night, searching for the monkey man.

And maybe it's all true, but the monkey man holds a special place in the old woman's heart, and he has one for her. She senses his essence and senses his center - soft, sweet, and silent. Like any wise being, the monkey man knows the hollow nothingness of words, seeing them for what they are - a pathetic and feeble attempt to label life, a farce for fools afraid of living. So he speaks with his eyes. Knowing eyes, giving eyes, all seeing and often sad eyes.

Living alone is a lonely life, unless you have a monkey man.

Appearances

• Animal Lover (2005)
• Animal Lover Instrumental (2008)
• Lost in a Vacant Lot (2010)
• The Wonder of Weird (2014)
• Marching to the See! (2014)
• 80 Aching Orphans (2017)
• In Between Dreams Live (2019)
• Secret Show (2024) (DVD only)
• The Residents... Are Faceless! (2024)
• Animal Lover (Evolution Edition) (2026)

External links and references

• Animal Lover at The Residents Historical