The Monkey

The monkey speaks his mind And three monkeys sat in a coconut tree Discussing things as they are said to be Said one to other now listen, you two “There’s a certain rumour that just can’t be true That man descended from our noble race Why, the very idea is a big disgrace, yea” No monkey ever deserted his wife Starved her baby and ruined her life Yea, the monkey speaks his mind And you’ve never known a mother monk To leave her babies with others to bunk And passed them on from one to another ‘Til they scarcely knew which was their mother Yea, the monkey speak his mind And another thing you will never see A monkey build a fence around a coconut tree And let all the coconuts go to waste Forbidding other monkeys to come and taste Why, if I put a fence around this tree Starvation would force you to steal from me Yea, the monkey speaks his mind Here’s another thing a monkey won’t do Go out on a night and get all in a stew Or use a gun or a club or a knife And take another monkey’s life Yes, man descended, the worthless bum But, brothers, from us he did not come Yea, the monkey speaks his mind Yea, now the monkey speaks his mind

The Monkey Written by Dave Bartholomew & Pearl King Performed by Elvis Costello & The Imposters Produced by Dennis Herring & Elvis Costello Musicians Elvis Costello - recitation, Gibson Super 400 guitar Steve Nieve - upright piano Davey Faragher - Hofner bass Pete Thomas - drums Dennis Herring - Magnatone Typhoon electric guitar Recorded April 15, 2004, Delta Recording, Clarksdale, MS Released September 22, 2004 Albums The Delivery Man (bonus track on vinyl & Japan CD), 2004 The Clarksdale Sessions, 2005 The Delivery Man (Deluxe Edition), 2005 Singles Monkey To Man, 2004 Various Artists collections Lost Highway Sampler Vol. 4, 2004 Length 2:37 First known performance:  September 17, 2004, Memphis, TN Last known performance:  May 5, 2022, New Orleans, LA      (32 known performances, 2 as a snippet) Alternate versions The Monkey (Live 2004) Performed by Elvis Costello & The Imposters Musicians Elvis Costello - vocal, guitar Steve Nieve - keyboards Davey Faragher - bass Pete Thomas - drums Recorded September 17, 2004, Hi-Tone Cafe, Memphis, TN Released April 19, 2005 Videos Club Date: Live In Memphis, 2005 The Monkey (Live for iTunes) Performed by Elvis Costello & The Imposters Musicians Elvis Costello - vocal, guitar Steve Nieve - keyboards Davey Faragher - bass Pete Thomas - drums Recorded September 23, 2004, Avatar Studios, New York Released November 30, 2004 Downloads Futurama Sessions, 2004 Length 2:22 The Monkey (Live 2005) Performed by Dave Bartholomew & Elvis Costello with Diana Krall & The Dirty Dozen Brass Band Musicians Elvis Costello - vocal Dave Bartholomew - vocal, trumpet Diana Krall - piano Gregory Davis - trumpet Roger Lewis - saxophone Kevin Harris - saxophone Terence Higgins - drums Jamie McLean - guitar Efrem Towns - trumpet Michael Foster - sousaphone Revert Andrews - trombone Recorded September 20, 2005, New York, NY Released August 22, 2006 Videos From The Big Apple To The Big Easy: The Concert For New Orleans, 2006

Internal links

• Elvis Costello Home Page: The Delivery Man | chords | TDM info page 1
• Lyrics